ON ST. ELEUCHADIUS, BISHOP OF RAVENNA IN ITALY, Historical commentary.
The year 112.
HISTORICAL COMMENTARY.
Eleuchadius, Bishop of Ravenna in Italy (S.)
BHL Number: 2448
By G. H.
Section I. The Episcopate, sacred cultus, and translated relics of St. Eleuchadius.
[1] We give here the third Bishop of Ravenna this month, inscribed along with others in the Roman Martyrology, in which the following is read at the 14th of February: the sacred cultus of St. Eleuchadius on February 14. "At Ravenna, St. Eleuchadius, Bishop and Confessor." Hermann Greven in his additions to Usuard incorrectly calls him a Priest. With a more fitting encomium, Galesin, Felic, and Ferrarius celebrate him, from the records of the Church of Ravenna and the history of Girolamo Rossi; various summaries of his Life, and Ughelli, in volume 2 of his Italia Sacra, under the Archbishops of Ravenna, presents a similar eulogy. A certain summary of his Life, but a very slight one, was copied for us by Johannes Gamans from a manuscript codex of the monastery of Bodeken in Westphalia. Another, not sufficiently complete, history of the lives of Saints Aderitus and Eleuchadius, excerpted from Rossi, is found in Surius. St. Aderitus, his predecessor, is venerated on the 27th of September. We treated on the 11th of February of St. Calocerus the Bishop, once his fellow-student under St. Apollinaris, the first Bishop of Ravenna; and from his Life, to be discussed on the 23rd of July, and a homily of St. Peter Damian, we gave some things common to St. Calocerus and St. Eleuchadius, which the reader may consult. Finally, St. Peter Damian adorned his feast day with a homily.
[2] St. Apollinaris was a native of Antioch; sent from Rome to Ravenna by St. Peter, he is ordained Deacon by St. Apollinaris: he converted many there, among whom appears to have been this Eleuchadius, Greek by nationality, a philosopher by training, ordained by him as Deacon together with St. Marcian within the first twelve years, just as Saints Aderitus and Calocerus were ordained as Priests. When Apollinaris was exiled and absent for three years and more, these Priests and Deacons governed the Church at Ravenna, which was done likewise when he was held captive for four years. When at last he obtained the palm of martyrdom under the Emperor Vespasian, he succeeds St. Aderitus, Aderitus succeeded him in the Episcopate, who is reported to have discharged all the duties of an excellent Bishop until the hundredth year of Christ, and to have left the See to St. Eleuchadius as his successor. Concerning him, Rossi writes in Book 1 of his History of Ravenna:
[3] "When Aderitus died and the people of Ravenna had assembled to discuss the election of a Bishop and had prayed to God that He would wish to have elected one elected by the sign of a dove, who might preside over the people according to the divine will, immediately, as had happened in the case of Aderitus, a dove descending from heaven settled on the head of Eleuchadius, a Greek man and a great philosopher, whom Apollinaris had already initiated in the sacred mysteries. Learned in both Greek and Latin, he interpreted most gravely from the divine books many passages, and wrote most elegantly on the conception and birth of Christ from the Virgin, and on His death; he writes books: but the injury of time has consumed all these things. In the one hundred and twelfth year from the birth of Christ, on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of March, he died; he was buried he dies in the year 112 outside the walls of Classis, where not long afterward a temple was built in his name, which in the time of Peter Damian still stood, and in which anniversary rites were performed."
[4] "His bones were then, as most believe, translated by Aistulf, King of the Lombards, to Pavia, and placed in the church of St. Michael. In a certain book of that church, he is transferred to Pavia: where mention is made of the relics of the Saints deposited there, the following is read concerning Eleocadius: 'On the right side, in the corner of the same church, is the body of St. Eleocadius, Archbishop of Ravenna, who, while he most zealously assailed the faith of Christ on account of his philosophy, in which he was most expert, was at length overcome and converted by Blessed Apollinaris, the disciple of the Prince of the Apostles and heavenly Keybearer, Peter. After his conversion he wrote and debated marvelously about the faith of Christ, so much so that in his time he was called the fear of the heretics. And he was the first in Italy to ordain the nocturnal as well as the diurnal office, solemnly distinguishing the books of the New and Old Testaments, as they are read today throughout the Church in Matins. And his body was translated here from Ravenna by the most Christian Emperor Constantine, born of St. Helena, under Constantine the Great? who founded this basilica in the year of the Lord's nativity 315, on account of the glorious triumph which he then obtained against the Gauls who had not respected the Empire, through the prayers of the standard-bearer St. Michael.'" So far that text.
[5] Sigonius, in his work on the Western Empire, Book 3, at the year 314, narrates these things as follows: "Constantine is also said to have built a temple to St. Michael at Pavia on account of a victory over the Franks obtained through the prayers of that same Archangel, and to have transferred there from Ravenna the body of St. Eleocadius." The same things, both about the church of St. Michael built by Constantine and the relics of St. Eleuchadius translated there, are found in Stephanus Breventanus, Book 4 of his History of Pavia, but he gives the year as 325. Antonio Maria Spelta, writing on the Bishops of Pavia, under Thomas, the eleventh Bishop, confirms what we said about the church of St. Michael built by Constantine. But Bernardus Saccus, Book 8 of his History of Pavia, chapter 1, says only that it is established that the church of St. Michael was built before the settlement of the Goths. Giacomo Gualla, Book 4, chapter 1, of his Sanctuary of Pavia, thinks as follows: "That temple of St. Michael the Archangel was built not by the first Constantine, after whom several Princes of the same name are reported by faithful testimony of the writings to have ruled in Italy, it is preserved in the church of St. Michael, but by another King of Italy, as the Chronicles of Pavia attest; and the same Constantine was buried in it. Of what lineage and time he was, I shall not report, since it escapes me... The basilica itself is adorned with the venerable relics of Ennodius, Bishop of Pavia... The venerable body of Eleuchadius, a Greek by nationality, of great sanctity, learning, and virtue, Archbishop of Ravenna, was also brought to Pavia, as the ancient writings of the same city attest, and is preserved in the same church." The ancient writing attributes this to Constantine the Great; if others attribute it to another, let them bring forth their evidence. But how does Rossi preface the same writing by saying that the bones of St. Eleuchadius were, "as most believe," translated by King Aistulf of the Lombards? Who are those many who so believe? Or did he perhaps read the words cited by Gualla, "by another King of Italy," as "by King Aistulf"? Aistulf reigned in the eighth century of Christ, in the time of Pippin and Charlemagne, Kings of the Franks, with whom he waged wars.
Section II. Excerpts from the sermon of St. Peter Damian on St. Eleuchadius, Bishop and Confessor.
[6] "Today's feast, dearest brothers, St. Eleuchadius is to be praised together with St. Apollinaris, his master, heaps up a twofold joy for your, nay our, holy devotion: because while we celebrate the solemnities of the venerable Confessor Eleuchadius, we necessarily also soon recall to memory the illustrious deeds of the blessed champion of Christ, Apollinaris. For, as Solomon says, a wise son is the glory of his father, so the cause of one depends on the other: so that whoever worthily recounts the praises of one cannot be silent about the distinguished praise of the other as well... Blessed Apollinaris had four distinguished disciples, succeeding him in the governance of the Church after his blessed glory of martyrdom: namely Aderitus, and this Blessed Eleuchadius whom the present discourse is to serve, then Marcian, and lastly Calocerus. Prov. 10:1 Now this Eleuchadius was a philosopher, as is narrated in the very history of his blessed master. The wisdom of Plato was therefore overcome by a disciple of the Fisherman. converted by him from the wisdom of the world to the simplicity of Christ, He cast the net of the word of God into the deep brine of the Ravennate ocean and drew a great golden fish to the shore of faith. Moreover, he whose master once knew how to guide his little boat across all the waters of the lake taught his disciple to dispute with the sharp cunning of the dialecticians; he taught, I say, his disciple to confound men of keen wit and sharp eloquence with a simple speech, he who was accustomed to tie worthless nets to catch fish in the depths of the sea. Plainly, after the boatman of the sea was made the Keybearer of heaven, the disciples of the fishermen became masters of orators, and the wisdom of the world was vanquished by the simplicity of Christ. With this simplicity Blessed Apollinaris confounded the philosopher Eleuchadius in the city of Ravenna, who himself, when consulted about his skill in healing, answered that he knew nothing without the name of Jesus..."
[7] "The blessed Eleuchadius, then a great philosopher, was therefore ground down like a golden calf by the hammer of preaching, and made a Doctor of the Church, and was poured into the members of the body of Christ. Then a teacher of earthly wisdom, he was now made a master of ecclesiastical discipline. Then he searched out the investigation of natural causes; now he clearly contemplates the Author of all natures Himself. And he who then perhaps had marked the stars with a pointer now looks on with joy as the frame of heaven together with its stars revolves beneath him. He who had formerly been a philosopher of vanity, being converted to the Lord, was made a preacher of truth: the third, that is, from the Blessed Apostle Peter in the order of discipleship, and the third likewise from Blessed Apollinaris in the pinnacle of the Pontificate. And the order of persons was indeed extended, but the same purity of faith which had proceeded from the highest and original source flowed down through the declining course of the channel. For from Christ to Peter, from Peter to Apollinaris, from Apollinaris to Eleuchadius, the river of heavenly eloquence poured forth, so that the proclamation of the Psalmist might be fulfilled: 'He sendeth forth His word upon the earth; His word runneth swiftly.' Ps. 147:15 The blessed cultivators and helpers of Christ, Apollinaris and Eleuchadius — father and son, master and disciple — undertook the ministry of one work, the cultivation of one field, so to speak, the tenancy of one vineyard: he brought to perfection what St. Apollinaris had well begun: the former indeed to cut down the dark thickets of the forest, the latter to uproot from the ground the remaining stumps of trees and the brambles of bristling thorns. The former to cleave open the hard lands of the barren desert with the sharp ploughshare of the word; the latter likewise to break up with the hoe of holy preaching the clods of swelling vices after him, and to clothe the newly tilled ground, diligently cultivated, with the harvests of good works. The former to plant with Paul; the latter to water with Apollos. And, to reach further back, the former with Moses transported the people of the Lord into the desert, dividing the Red Sea; the latter, succeeding his master like Joshua, was the first to lead the same people into the promised land. The former taught how Israel, a sojourner, should spurn Egypt; the latter, how they should possess the land flowing with milk and honey, with lots distributed among them. The one admonished them to shake their necks from the iron yoke of Pharaoh; the other, to trample upon the conquered necks of the enemy with triumphing feet. The one taught them how swiftly they should flee the disgrace of servitude; the other, how most cautiously they should guard the very titles of their liberty."
[8] "Nor indeed should it be believed, my brothers, that Blessed Eleuchadius, while he still lived, was deprived of the labors of martyrdom, he is to be regarded as a Martyr, even though he was not consummated by martyrdom. He saw, indeed, that some remnants of the recently extinguished paganism still survived; he grieved that even the last traces of a superstitious rite had remained among the people committed to him; and therefore, although the hands of persecutors did not draw swords, his holy soul was tortured, consumed by the fire of pious zeal and paternal compassion. For what does it profit if someone believes as a Catholic and lives as a pagan? ... Wherefore the blessed Bishop Eleuchadius endured a not inconsiderable martyrdom in the very peace of the Church, since he is proved to have waged an irreconcilable conflict, if not with those who believed perfidiously, then with those who lived perversely. Moreover, we gather not without reason that he labored in the teaching of the faith, since we recognize that the cities and towns of all the dioceses adjacent to the metropolitan see of Ravenna contained scarcely any Martyrs. Whence we cannot worthily marvel at how great the glory and how great the excellence of Blessed Apollinaris is: whose martyrdom, having been prolonged through a space of twenty-nine years through innumerable torments, he alone accomplished so much that anyone else, anywhere in all those regions, who might have died for the testimony of the faith, was not to be found. But if perhaps anything remained, the venerable succession of his disciples supplied it; among whom Blessed Eleuchadius, like a golden star, shone forth, and in accordance with the etymology of his name, carried back the tokens of his father's brightness and splendor, as a true son. named from brightness: For Eleuchadius in Greek is understood in Latin as 'candidus' (bright, shining). Nor was this undeserved. For he was indeed of the number of those of whom it is said: 'Her Nazarites were whiter than snow, they gave their splendor to God, and were curdled like milk...'" from Lam. 4:7
[5] St. Paulianus was one of the first Bishops of the Vellavi, before the See was transferred to Le Puy. That he died and was buried in the territory of Velay is a constant tradition, in the town which, having discarded the appellation of the old city, took its name from St. Paulianus himself, on account of the frequent gatherings of pious people at the tomb of this blessed Bishop, where he shone with wonderful displays of miraculous power for many. miracles, In that town there is to be seen a church dedicated to the blessed Bishop himself and named after him, where his sacred relics are preserved, together with the relics and bones of Saints Valentine and Albinus, relics with those of Saints Valentine and Albinus, placed in a stone casket under the high altar. That St. Paulianus was buried in the territory of Velay is attested by the Martyrology of Le Puy at the 16th day before the Kalends of March. So much for that. Besides those cited, Jean Chenu and Claude Robert treat of St. Paulianus in their Catalogue of the Bishops of Le Puy.
[6] Who Saints Valentine and Albinus are, whose bones are entombed with the relics of St. Paulianus, on what day they are venerated, and whether any special honors are exhibited to them on a fixed day, whose Acts are likewise unknown, we have not been able to ascertain thus far. There are certain men named Albinus and Valentine in Gaul, but their remains are preserved elsewhere, and they are generally said to have been Martyrs or Bishops; whereas neither of those titles is attributed to these. Therefore, lest the memory of these perhaps be lost, we have inscribed their names at this day together with St. Paulianus, with whom they are entombed in the same stone chest.