ON SAINT BERYLLUS, BISHOP OF CATANIA IN SICILY.
FIRST CENTURY
CommentaryBeryllus, Bishop of Catania in Sicily (S.)
[1] The first Bishop of Catania, the celebrated city of Sicily, was Saint Beryllus, appointed by the Prince of the Apostles, Saint Peter, whom the people of Catania venerate in the city and throughout the diocese with an Ecclesiastical Office under the rite of a double of the second class, Sacred cult. transferred to the twenty-third day on account of the feast of Saint Benedict the Abbot. Among his successors as Bishops, there ruled in the eighth century Saint Leo the Wonderworker, whose Life, written by a contemporary author, we published from a Greek manuscript on the twentieth of February: in which, at section 2, the following is read: Upon the death of Bishop Sabinus, while the inhabitants of this city were in tumult investigating who might be worthy of the office of the priesthood in succession, memorial in the Acts of St. Leo. they chose this one most suitable person, Blessed Leo, a pillar of all virtues, who would adorn the Chair of our Archbishop Saint Beryllus, illustrious not only in name but much more by his deeds and character. And this is the most ancient memorial of Saint Beryllus, who is called Archbishop, as if Proto-Bishop.
[2] A second mention of him may be considered that which was inserted in the tenth century into the Greek manuscript Menologion, in the Menologion of the Emperor Basil. compiled by order of the Emperor Basil Porphyrogenitus: in which the following is found: Memorial of Saint Beryllus, Bishop of Catania. Our Holy Father Beryllus was born at Antioch in Syria. Having become a disciple of the Holy Apostle Peter, he was ordained by him Bishop of Catania in Sicily. Admirably pasturing the flock of his sheep, he led them into salutary pastures: and having brought many of the unbelievers to the faith of Christ, he was deemed worthy of the gift of very many miracles: of which it is fitting to commemorate one single one here. There was a spring near that place, flowing with very bitter water, which he transformed into a sweet drink by pouring out prayers to God. When a certain Pagan, most fiercely devoted to idolatry, saw this, he embraced the Christian faith, and with him many others. And when he had performed other miracles, and those not few, and had reached a profound old age, he departed to Christ, endowed by Him with eternal life. His venerable Relics are placed with due honor on that island: and whoever approaches them with true faith obtains health to this very day. The same things, but in altered phrasing, are read in the manuscript Synaxarion of Paris of the Clermont College of the Society of Jesus, and in other Menaia both printed and handwritten. But in the Synaxarion he is written as Byrillus, whence with the first letter distorted, in the Menaia and the Chiffletian Synaxarion he is found as Cyrillus. Synaxarion, Menaia, And this distich is sung to him, not without allusion to the etymology of the name received, from Kyrios, lord, whence kyrieuō, I rule, I have in my power.
Diplā
thanōn
heuretai
Kyrillos
stephē,
Hōs
kyrieusas
kai
pathōn
kai
daimonōn.
Cyrillus dying bore away double crowns, and the Menologion of Sirletus. As Lord equally of passions and of demons.
In the Menologion translated by Cardinal Sirletus, another error crept in, since in place of "Our Father" the name of "Martyr" was written, and therefore we judge it should be read thus: Of our Most Holy Father Birillus, Bishop of Catania. This Saint Birillus, from Antioch of Syria, since he was a disciple of the Holy Apostle Peter, was appointed by him Bishop of the city of Catania in Sicily, rightly pasturing that flock, he converted many Gentiles to the faith of Christ: distinguished for his preaching and the multitude of his miracles, when he had reached the utmost old age, he departed to the Lord.
[3] And these are from the Greeks, whom the Latins followed and also inserted into their own sacred calendars, and in today's Roman Martyrology the following is read: in the Latin calendars: At Catania, Saint Birillus, who, ordained Bishop by Blessed Peter, after converting many of the Gentiles to the faith, rested in peace in extreme old age. The same is reported by Ferrarius in the Catalogue of Saints of Italy, Ghinius in the Birthdays of the Holy Canons, Octavius Caietanus in the Sicilian Martyrology, and in volume 1 of the Lives of the Saints of Sicily, page 18, where among other things he writes thus about the episcopal consecration.
[4] In what year of Christ he was made Bishop, I would not dare to affirm with certainty, at what time was he made Bishop? but I conjecture it should be assigned to the year of Christ forty-four. For Saint Peter, coming to Rome at that time, as we have narrated in the Life of Saint Pancratius, turned aside to Tauromenium, and I would believe that he then especially provided for the Church of Sicily, which, having received the first seeds of the Christian faith through the agency of Marcianus and Pancratius, had given hope of a most abundant harvest: for if he so greatly cared for the Church of Tauromenium that, while Pancratius was still alive, he had already consecrated a successor: it must be believed all the more that he then gave Bishops to other and especially neighboring cities, who would promote the Christian cause. I therefore think that Beryllus, whom Saint Peter had brought with him as a companion for the voyage, stopped at Tauromenium, and from there either first brought the light of the Gospel to the nearby city of Catania, or, if it had perhaps already shone there, spread it greatly far and wide. So much from that source. Among the cited Saints, Marcianus Bishop of Syracuse is venerated on the fourteenth of July, Pancratius Bishop of Tauromenium on the third of April, and Maximus his successor on the twelfth of January.
[5] chapel of St. Beryllus, The same Caietanus adds: At Catania a small chapel was dedicated to Saint Beryllus near the ancient church of the Blessed Agatha and her prison. Whether however he was buried there, we do not know. As for what is added about miracles, I believe they continued until the Saracen devastation of Sicily: on which occasion also the tradition and the memory of the place where those most holy Relics lie was extinguished. In the Ecclesiastical Office everything is taken from the Common of a Confessor Pontiff. The Introit of the Mass begins: "Your priests." The Epistle is "Remember," and the Creed is said. Also treating of Saint Beryllus are Rochus Pirrus in book 3 of Sacred Sicily, page 2, Petrus Carrera in the History of Catania, volume 1 at the end of book 4 and volume 2, book 1, page 123, Cardinal Caesar Baronius in the Ecclesiastical Annals at year 46, number 2, and others.