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'Saint Apollinare' (also known as 'Apollinaris') is a Syrian Roman Catholic saint. The Roman Martyrology states he became a disciple of Saint Peter, was ordained by him, and then sent to Ravenna, Italy, where he was martyred under Vespasian (other legends have him living in the 2nd century and being martyred under Valens).

Contents

Biography

Veneration

Other Apollinares

Sources

External links

Biography

According to tradition, he was a native of Antioch in Syria. As the first bishop of Ravenna, he faced nearly constant persecution. He and his flock were exiled from Ravenna during the 79 persecutions of Emperor Vespasian (or Nero, depending on the source). On his way out of the city he was identified, arrested as being the leader, tortured and martyred by being run through with a sword. Centuries after his death, he appeared in a vision to Saint Romuald.
The early 20th century ''Catholic Encyclopaedia'' rendered the traditional version as follows:

He was made Bishop of Ravenna by Saint Peter himself. The miracles he wrought there soon attracted official attention, for they and his preaching won many converts to the Faith, while at the same time bringing upon him the fury of the idolaters, who beat him cruelly and drove him from the city. He was found half-dead on the seashore, and kept in concealment by the Christians, but was captured again and compelled to walk on burning coals and a second time expelled. But he remained in the vicinity, and continued his work of evangelization. We find him then journeying in the Roman province of Aemilia [in Italy]. A third time he returned to Ravenna. Again he was captured, hacked with knives, had scalding water poured over his wounds, was beaten in the mouth with stones because he persisted in preaching, and was flung into a horrible dungeon, loaded with chains, to starve to death; but after four days he was put on board a ship and sent to Greece. There the same course of preachings, miracles and sufferings continued; and when his very presence caused the oracles to be silent, he was, after a cruel beating, sent back to Italy. All this continued for three years, and a fourth time he returned to Ravenna. By this time Vespasian was Emperor, and he, in answer to the complaints of the pagans, issued a decree of banishment against the Christians. Apollinaris was kept concealed for some time, but as he was passing out of the gates of the city, was set upon and savagely beaten, probably at Classis, a suburb, but he lived for seven days, foretelling meantime that the persecutions would increase, but that the Church would ultimately triumph. It is not certain what was his native place, though it was probably Antioch. Nor is it sure that he was one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ, as has been suggested. The precise date of his consecration cannot be ascertained, but he was Bishop of Ravenna for twenty-six years.

The acts of the martyrdom of Saint , however, have scarcely any historical value; they were probably written by Archbishop Mauro of Ravenna (642-671), who presumably wanted, together with the alleged apostolic origin of the See of Ravenna, to abet his political aspirations against the influence of both Rome and Constantinople. However, Christian inscriptions dating from the second century have been discovered near Classe, confirming the presence of Christianity in Ravenna at a very early date. According to the list of the bishops of Ravenna compiled by Bishop Marianus (546-556), the 12th Bishop of Ravenna was named Severus; and he is among those who signed at the Council of Sardica in 343. Thus, the epoch of Saint Apollinaris may be estimated as possibly to the last decades of the second century, placing his martyrdom possibly under Septimius Severus.

Veneration

A noted miracle worker, Apollinare is considered especially effective against gout and epilepsy. His relics are at the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo (which housed his relics from the 9th century to the 1748 reconsecration of Sant' Apollinare in Classe) and the 6th century Benedictine Basilica of Sant' Apollinare in Classe (on the traditional site of his martyrdom), both in Ravenna and in Saint Lambert's church, Düsseldorf, Germany. There are also churches dedicated to him in Aachen, Burtscheid and Remagen in Germany, where his veneration was probably spread by Benedictine monks. The Frankish king Clovis built a church dedicated to him in Dijon, and another dedicated to Saint Apollinare also existed in Bologna, but was destroyed in 1250.
His memorial day is 23 July (his birthday, or the day of his martyrdom); the liturgical feast has been confined to local calendars since 1969 by Roman Catholics.

Other Apollinares

Two other Apollinares are known:

★ Saint Apollinare, 2nd century bishop of Gerapoli in Phrygia, commemorated 8 January

★ Saint Apollinare, abbot of Montecassino, commemorated 27 November

Sources

★ [1]

External links

★ Page at santibeati.it

★ American Catholic "Saint of the Day"