February 17 -- Feast of Saint Silvinus et al.

Last year on February 17, I  noted that the day is rich in saints but poor in dramatic stories.  I haven't found much in the intervening year to change that, so it might be a good day to pose some questions to some of the saints.

Silvinus

Saint Silvinus, you were a courtier to King Childeric II and Theodoric III, but gave up the dulcet life to be an evangelizing priest.  On your pilgrimage, you carried a pack full of stones just to make life that much harder.  You preached for forty years and won a plethora of converts in Therouanne, the area of France where you were bishop.  You also distinguished yourself by ransoming slaves and by refusing to eat anything except fruit and herbs.  It's this austere diet that I am wondering about.  Was Communion an exception to the no-bread rule, or did you even go decades without that? 

Theodore(s)

Saint Theodore Tyro, you were a recruit in the Roman army stationed Galatia (Turkey).  When you got busted as a Christian, your superiors decided it was just an error in judgment on your part and let you off with a warning.  Once free, you burned down a pagan temple and were subsequently flayed to death. Saint Theodore Stratelates, the same thing happened to you, except it was in Heraclea and you were an officer.  Aren't you both the same guy, just with slightly different details in the story? 

Mods forever, Evermod!

Saint Evermod, apart from having a very cool name, you are noted for being an Apostle to the Slavs.  But when you went to the Elbe region to preach, you stocked your diocese with Christian Saxons whom you invited to dispossess the heathen Slavs living there.  Is that really evangelizing, or did you just Christianize by colonization? 

Fly away, little birdies!

Saint Andrea d'Anagni, you came from one of the aristocratic families in Italy.  Your uncle was a pope.  You could have been a cardinal, but you turned it down to live as a Franciscan friar.  They say your were plagued by demons, and that sometimes you were so tormented you would not even eat.  A friend brought you some roasted birds, but you wouldn't eat them.  Instead, you prayed for them and miraculously, their lives and feathers were restored so they could fly away.  Did you remember to thank your friend for his gesture, even though you declined to eat?