St. Bruno

St. Bruno was the founder of the Carthusian Order of monks. He lived in the 11th century, and he was the mentor of Pope Urban II. A bishop had a vision of him and six other monks under a chaplet of seven stars, and as a result of the vision provided them with land on which they could build a monastery. As a result, Bruno is often depicted with seven stars above his head. He is also inexplicably (as far as I have been able to research, anyway) shown with a skull in his hand. I have no idea what this means. But that's how you can tell it's Bruno - he's holding a skull. Here's the statue of him in St. Peter's Basilica:

So, skulls and stars. My top today is glittery on the pattern, so that's serving as my "stars" part. And I'm wearing my memento mori earrings with the skeletons on them which are the "skulls" part. So, here's my St. Bruno outfit:

St. Maurus

St. Maurus lived in Italy in the early 6th century. He was of noble birth, and his parents sent him to be raised as a monk when he was still very young. He is considered by many to be the very first follower of St. Benedict.

The most notable story about him is that he saved the life of his fellow monk Placidus. Placidus has gone to draw water and fell into the swiftly flowing river. St. Benedict saw the boy's distress in a vision and sent Maurus to rescue him. When Maurus reached the river, he miraculously walked on top of the water and pulled the drowning Placidus to safety.

Maurus also had a powerful gift of healing as he is known to have cured a man of a gangrenous arm and restored another man's crushed leg by making the sign of the cross over them. Because of this gift, there is a blessing named after him which is still said over sick people today.

Today's outfit is inspired by Benedictine robes since Maurus was the first official Benedictine monk. Benedictine robes were black which led to the order's followers being called the "black monks." So, I'm wearing my black dress. This is a repeat from last semester, but I'm really not sure how to be creative with the "little black dress." Add a cardigan? Colored shoes? I don't know. So, here it is: