St. Ninian

St. Ninian was the first missionary to the Picts who lived in southern Scotland. He died in about 432, and his life and miracles are recounted both in Bede's Ecclesiastical History and a more detailed but less reliable work by Aelred of Rielvaux.

The Picts have come down to us in popular culture as the warriors who painted themselves blue as seen in movies like Braveheart and the most recent King Arthur movie.

Their stone carvings are scattered throughout Scotland. This one is in Abermenlo, Scotland, and serves as a fairly typical example:

Lots of geometric patterns and swirly designs. Circles, circles, circles.

So, I've loosely based today's outfits on the geometric pattern of the stone with a splash of blue. This dress is a hand-me-down from Erin again. I've never been a huge fan of dresses like these, but I liked the pattern on this one, so I decided to give it a try. The belt makes a huge improvement. Remember when I said I was giving up belts? Well, I guess I lied. Because sometimes belts are the most flattering thing in the world. I just had to figure out how I want to wear them.

St. John Chrysostom

St. John Chrysostom lived in the mid-4th century and died in 407. He was born in Antioch in what is now Turkey and after his conversion to Christianity became one of the major church fathers as well as a renowned theologian and preacher. He developed a liturgy which many Orthodox, and even some Catholic churches, follow today. He also wrote a variety of hymns and homilies which also survive. Here is an icon of him from the Hagia Sophia church in Constantinople:

Since he was such a scholarly-type, I went with a scholarly outfit for the day - bun and all:

St. Notburga

St. Notburga lived in Rattenburg, Austria in the 13th century. She was a cook in the house of a nobleman, and she used to sneak food to the poor. At another job she had, she refused to skip mass in order to work, and when her boss tried to insist on it, she threw her sickle up into the air and exclaimed, "Let my sickle be the judge between me and you!" The sickle miraculously remained suspended in the air. I presume her boss let her go to church after that, although the Catholic Encyclopedia does not mention it. In her iconography, she is often depicted with a sickle and/or flowers, and she is the patron saint of peasants. That's a nice medieval notion!

Well, medieval peasants make me think of earth tones: grays and browns. So, my outfit is gray and brown: