ON SAINT AMANTIUS THE BISHOP,
AT COMO IN ALPINE ITALY.
ABOUT THE YEAR 446.
CommentaryAmantius, Bishop of Como, in Alpine Italy (St.)
BY G. H.
The most ancient memory of the ecclesiastical veneration which the Holy Bishop here enjoys is extant in the old Breviary of Como, in which a hymn of this kind is prescribed to be recited:
Great indeed then was the grace that entered the Como country, Cult from the Breviary, When the Blessed Amantius was ruling this Church. For here succeeding as the third benevolent Bishop Amantius, Benevolently, as was fitting, he held the Seat of the Shepherd. Who now entering the end of life, to Abundius Commits the rule of the flock, lest the enemy might lose the sheep. Let there be praise to the Father for the gift, for so great a holy Bishop, And to the Son with the Paraclete, in one and triune dominion. Amen.
His predecessor was Saint Provinus, his successor Saint Abundius: the Acts of the former we gave on March 8, and from the calendars: of the latter on April 2. The name of Saint Amantius, Bishop and Confessor of Como, is celebrated in the Roman Martyrology: where in the Notes it is wrongly said that he succeeded Saint Felix, who lived in the times of Saint Ambrose, whose epistle to him is extant. This one is held the first Bishop of the Church of Como, and between him and Saint Amantius sat the already mentioned Provinus. Galesinius in his Martyrology composed this eulogy: "At Novocomum, of Saint Amantius, Bishop and Confessor: who under Leo the First Pope, flourishing in the praise of Episcopal virtues and holiness, fell asleep in the Lord."
[2] More things about him are found in Ferrarius in the Catalogue of Saints of Italy, family, in Ughelli tome 5 of Sacred Italy column 238, and in Franciscus Ballarinus in the Chronicle of Como page 94. And first they hand down that it is held by some that he was a nephew of Emperor Theodosius the Younger through his sister, and was born at Canterbury in England. Which things are less approved by us, although on this account he has been inscribed in the Spanish Martyrology of Tamayo Salazar. Theodosius had as sisters Saint Pulcheria, who lived with her husband Emperor Marcian in chastity, and also Arcadia and Marina,
who by the admonition of Saint Pulcheria persevered in the purpose of virginity, as Theophanes hands down, at the year of the death of Emperor Arcadius, their father; who reigned in the East, and is not known to have ever been in Britain, afterwards called England. But omitting these things, let us proceed to more certain matters, which Ughelli hands down thus: "Setting out for Italy, he came to Como, and fixed in the contemplation of Provinus' virtues, Episcopate, he eagerly applied his hands to the same labors of piety in which his master was engaged at that time; so that he was held worthy to be substituted in the Episcopate in place of the deceased Provinus." Thus Ughelli: and others have similar things. We have indicated with Ballarinus that Saint Provinus departed this life about the year of Christ 420: with whom if Saint Amantius lived for some time, he could not have been born from any sister of Theodosius the Younger. Concerning the things done in his Episcopate, the same Ughelli hands down these things along with others: "He was at Rome in the times of Leo the Great, by whom he was presented with some Relics of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and returning to Como, he honorably placed them in the church dedicated to the same holy Apostles, Relics of Saints Peter and Paul given by Saint Pope Leo: which thereafter he used as his Cathedral; since the temple of Saint Carpophorus, in which the earlier Bishops had fixed their Seat, seemed to be too far distant."
[3] That temple of the Apostles was, in the year 1095 on the 3rd day of June, dedicated by Pope Urban II in honor of Saint Abundius the Bishop: in whose Life these things about Saint Amantius are found: "This one, affable with Greek and Latin charm, intimate familiarity with Saint Abundius his successor, and illustrious with titles of sanctity, became familiar with Saint Amantius: whom mutual affection joined with such love of a mutual compact that it was doubtful which of them loved the other more. Yet so was the balance of both that they excelled in the pastoral dignities, and the devoted sheep served at the Shepherd's nod. Much concord the Republic of the holy Church received from such a leader and such a soldier, and avoided many inconveniences. Thus their life was delightful, praiseworthy, and salutary to those known and unknown, so that these by the presence of religion, those by fame alone profited, while they enjoyed such concord of mutual love. It happened that Amantius became ill and drew near to the end of life. Immediately he summoned Abundius, as Elijah Elisha, whom by the providence of God and the presence of witnesses the Bishop ordained Bishop, a worthy survivor of his government." Thus there: but in what time this happened, it is not added. Ballarinus and Ughelli assert that Saint Amantius flew away to heaven in the year 448, Ferrarius however about the year 460 departed to the other life; but with manifest error, and perhaps typographical, for which, if there be place for conjecture, time of death: I would rather read the year 446: and then Saint Abundius would have succeeded him, whose virtue when it was already openly known everywhere, he himself was sent by Saint Pope Leo to Constantinople in the year 450 to Emperor Theodosius, as was said at his Life on April 2.
[4] After his death Saint Amantius was given an honorable burial in his Cathedral of the Apostles Peter and Paul, burial, afterwards called of Saint Abundius, where he rested until the year 1590: at which time Ptolemy Gallius of Como, Cardinal of the H. R. Church, Commendatory of the Como Abbey of Saint Abundius, restored the church of that place, falling into decay from age, almost from the foundations: where also he reverently deposited in a more honorable place the bodies of many Saints, Bishops of the Como Church, resting there, which he found: when he gave the body of Saint Amantius to the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, to be placed in their church, dedicated to Saints Amantius and Felix: translation of the body to the church of the Society of Jesus dedicated to him. concerning which translation of the body the annual letters of the Society for the said year 1590 have these things on page 138: "The body of Saint Amantius, gift of Cardinal Ptolemy, was translated this year with exceptional pomp into our church. A frequent multitude gathered from the neighboring towns, aware of the time, eager for the spectacle. The city was arched at the heads of the streets, adorned with tablets and signs and a continuous carpet: but the courtyard of the college and the church were most especially illustrious, gleaming with manifold devices, written in verse and painted, with alternating fabric: of which the ignorant crowd esteemed the abundance, the learned the elegance. The sacred pledge was buried in a marble chest beneath the high altar: and around, votive offerings received on account of benefits, whose images and letters testifying to the cause, expressed in gold and silver, are a present miracle, a monument for posterity."