Portal:Catholicism/Patron Archive/January 23

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Saint Ildefonsus or Ildephonsus (rarely Ildephoses; died 23 January 667) was the metropolitan bishop of Toledo from 657 until his death. He was a Visigoth and his Gothic name was Hildefuns, which evolved into the Castilian name Alfonso. Ildefonsus, however, is known as San Ildefonso in Castilian and there are several places named after him. He was canonised and his feast day is 23 January, the date of his death. His writings were less influential outside of Hispania, but he remained a potent force in the peninsula for centuries. Like several of his seventh-century predecessors, Ildefonsus was a monk from Agali, and specifically abbot, before being raised to the metropolitan see of Carthaginiensis.

Theologically, Ildefonsus regarded the Nicene Creed as sufficientem scientiam salutarem (sufficient knowledge for salvation) and as a foedus (compact) between believer and God. Like Isidore of Seville before him, he regarded the creed as foming "two pacts" between God and believer: that renouncing the devil and the statement of belief itself. Ildefonsus encouraged frequent Communion, implying that normal practice was infrequent, and insisted upon preparation, which may have discouraged many.

Ildefonsus' De viris illustribus emphasises the monasticism of the earlier bishops of Toledo. Nonetheless, the "pastoral concern" and emphasis on praedicatio (preaching) is noted by modern editors.

Ildefonsus' most important work, however, is his De perpetua virginitate Mariae contra tres infideles, which imitated an earlier work of Jerome's. In it he utilises the "synonymous method" of Isidore for theological purposes, introducing the so-called Synonyma Ciceronis, wherein he repeats every phrase several times in different, purportedly identical, ways. The identifications reveal the arguments in a rhetorically strong way. The synonyms Ildefonsus uses are of interest to lexicographers.

Ildefonsus himself was included in a continuation made to the De viris illustribus by his later successor, Julian. His immediate successor was Quiricus, the dedicatee of Ildefonsus' De perpetua virginitate.
Attributes: a bishop or a monk with virgin mary giving him a white cloth
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