ON S. LUCIUS OF CYRENE.
FIRST CENTURY.
CommentaryLucius of Cyrene (S.)
G. H.
[1] The memory of this Saint is celebrated by most Martyrologists, ancient and more recent, Usuard, Ado, Notker, Bellinus, Greven, Maurolycus, Molanus, Galesinius, Canisius, who assert that he was first ordained Bishop at Cyrene by the Apostles. Memory in the fasti In the Roman Martyrology only this is said: At Cyrene of S. Lucius the Bishop, whom in the Acts of the Apostles S. Luke commemorates: namely at the beginning of chapter XIII, where these things are read: There were in the Church, and Acts of the Apostles, which was at Antioch, Prophets and Doctors, among whom Barnabas, and Simon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manahen, who was foster-brother of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them: Separate me Saul and Barnabas for the work to which I have called them. Then fasting and praying and laying hands upon them, they sent them away. And these things almost alone are certain about them.
[2] Peter de Natalibus, Bishop of Equilio, in book 4 of his Catalogue chapter 136 brings forth this eulogy: Lucius Bishop of Cyrene, of whom S. Luke in Acts XIII makes mention, was first ordained Pontiff by the holy Apostles at Cyrene: which office of preaching having been most faithfully performed, conspicuous in sanctity and doctrine, he rested in peace, on the day before the Nones of May, as says Jerome in his Martyrology. But S. Jerome does not mention Lucius, Whether he was Bishop of Cyrene? but Ado and Usuard, of whom Peter seems to have had some copy attributed to S. Jerome. Nor is it clear from the words of S. Luke that he was a Bishop, and various interpreters opine that he is called "of Cyrene" because he was born at Cyrene. And Cyrene or Cyrena is an Episcopal city of Pentapolis in Libya, under the metropolis Ptolemais and the Patriarchate of Alexandria; which is now called Cairoon, situated in the kingdom of Barca. In the Synopsis of the LXX disciples, under the name of Dorotheus, Lucius is said to be Bishop of Laodicea in Syria: but in that which is extant under the name of Hippolytus, Bishop of Olympias or Olympia, a city of Elis in the Peloponnese. It seems better that the title of Doctor and Prophet under the grace of the New Testament can be attributed to him, as it is given to S. Manahen his companion on May XXIV by the Roman Martyrology, likewise by Usuard, Ado, Notker and others: on which day we explain the rest.