ON SAINT ANNO
BISHOP OF VERONA IN ITALY.
ABOUT 780.
Acts from Valerius Augustinus and Ferdinand Ughelli.
Anno, Bishop of Verona in Italy (S.)
BY G. H.
[1] Augustine Valerius Bishop of Verona, in
the ancient monuments of the holy Bishops
of Verona, wrote this epitome of the deeds
concerning S. Anno: Anno, a Veronese citizen,
born of parents distinguished by religion and nobility of family,
Made Bishop unwillingly, previously made Presbyter, in the place of the deceased
Bishop of Verona, with the great consent of Clergy and people,
on account of his eminent doctrine and admirable sanctity,
unwillingly is elected Bishop. That he might not however oppose
the will of God, with many demanding it of him,
he undertook the most weighty office imposed on him: in which
he assiduously bore himself, that the examples of his pristine religion and sanctity
he gave more illustrious daily. The blessed
Bishop and pious Father, while in the great calamity of the Veronese
people, on account of long drought of heaven laboring with dire
famine and plague, was wasted with grief, with assiduous
prayers and tears with Mary his sister also weeping
(who was afterwards surnamed Consolatrix)
a most holy Virgin, transfers the bodies of SS. Firmus and Rusticus, of so great calamity by divine
monition learned the cause. For by Angelic ministry
it was revealed to both on one and the same night, that not
before would Verona by the hand of the Lord be liberated from that calamity,
than the bodies of the blessed Martyrs Firmus and Rusticus
were brought back into it; that there in due
honor placed they might rest, where for the glory of Christ
they received the crown of martyrdom. So with great diligence,
by what means those holy bodies could be found,
many and various consultations through him with
the Clergy and men of the people excelling in piety and prudence
were held. and SS. Teuteria and Tusca. But they were found, and by the work of S. Mary
Consolatrix translated to Verona. Furthermore B.
Anno flourished about the year of the Lord 755. He consecrated
the church of SS. Teuteria and Tusca the Virgins,
and placed their bodies in a marble ark.
He died on the tenth Kalends of June. Now in the Cathedral Church,
beneath the altar of S. Andrew, Body in the altar: in a marble ark
his body has been placed. In the consecration of the high altars
of the church of S. Mark of Verona, the church
of the nuns of S. Catherine the Virgin and Martyr, and
of the church of the nuns of S. Mary Magdalene, among the others
of other Saints, were placed in them also Relics
of this holy Bishop. Thus there on folio 37, but on folio 5
these things are further indicated: "The body of S. Anno Bishop of Verona
rests in the Cathedral Church, in
the altar of S. Andrew near the northern door, in
a marble ark, in which these verses are inscribed.
'Bishop of Verona, who shines in the citadel of heaven,
Here is placed Saint Anno, illustrious Father of the city.'
B. Anno flourished about the year of the Lord 760.
In the cloth of that altar is the image of S. Anno in Pontifical
habit, and in the same church is the title of S. Anno …
In an old Psalter from membranes in the church
of the holy Apostles these things about S. Anno: 'In the year
of the Lord seven hundred fifty-one
lived S. Anno Bishop of Verona, brother of S. Mary
Consolatrix, who consecrated the church of the holy
Virgins, in the said church in the present ark, and
gave a great indulgence with very many others.' Relics elsewhere.
In the church also of the holy Apostles, as
from the aforesaid book, was consecrated the altar of S. James,
with the relics also of S. Anno the Bishop; and the high altar
of the church of S. Mary Magdalene in the Campus Martius of Verona,
consecrated in the year of the Lord 1318, as from
an old tablet among the nuns of the said church: likewise
the altars of the church of All Saints, as from a tablet
in the sacristy of the same church: likewise a portable altar, placed
over the high altar of the church of S. Clement of Verona,
as from the portable altar itself: likewise the high altars
of the church of S. Mark and S. Catherine the Virgin and Martyr.
In the church of S. Zeno in the oratory, among the Relics
which are kept in the right and left horn of the high
altar, and in the churches of the Most Holy Trinity and
of Mark. In the Discipline also of S. Mary of the House, situated
in the vicinity of S. Mary at the Bean, among the Relics
which there are kept, are also Relics of S. Anno
the Bishop." Thus there: and they are confirmed in the Index of Relics, there printed from page 76: where furthermore some
Relics of the same S. Anno are said to be kept in the churches
of S. Cecilia and S. Gabriel. The Acts of SS. Teuteria and
Tusca we gave on May 5, intending to give of S. Mary Consolatrix on the Kalends
of August, and of SS. Firmus and Rusticus the Martyrs on the 9th day
of the same August. Ferdinand Ughelli among the Bishops of Verona
establishes S. Anno as the 41st Bishop of this Church,
transfers the bodies of SS. Primus, Marcus, Lazarus and Apollinaris, and believes the bodies of SS. Primus and Marcus, Lazarus and
Apollinaris the Subdeacon and Martyrs from the Tergestine
city to have been translated to Verona by S. Mary Consolatrix,
and stored by S. Anno the Bishop in the year
755 in the church of S. Firmus major, in the crypt under the confession
of the same church, behind the high altar in a marble
sepulchre, where behind the altar itself are these letters
depicted in two tablets, also in Augustine Valerius
on folio 17 reported.
"The translation of the holy Martyrs, here resting,
was made on the 11th Kalends of June in the year of the Lord 755,
by B. Anno then Bishop of Verona,
celebrated with the whole Clergy and people."
Of these Saints S. Lazarus the Deacon is venerated on April 12,
where more about this Translation will be found. But the Acts of SS. Primus and
Marcus the Martyrs we gave on May 10. he died about the year 780. S. Apollinaris
the Subdeacon and Martyr is venerated on December 6. Finally
Ughelli adds that S. Anno, having deserved excellently of the Veronese
Church, died under King Charlemagne, about
the year of the Lord 780. Which the same things plainly are read
in Onuphrius Panvinius in book 5 of the Antiquities of Verona
chapter 15. Him celebrates Ferrarius in the general Catalogue
and the other of the Saints of Italy; and Galesinius, who
calls him Ammonius, but in his Notes says he is rather called Anno.