Apollinaris of Ravenna

Saint Apollinaris
Portrait Mosaic of Saint Apollinaris at the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna
Martyr
Born	Antioch, Syria (now Antakya, modern-day Turkey)
Died	Ravenna, Italy
Venerated in	Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	July 20 (in Roman Rite of Catholic Church) July 23 (pre-1969 General Roman Calendars, Eastern Orthodox Church)
Attributes	Sword
Patronage	epilepsy; gout; Emilia-Romagna region (Italy) Aachen, Burtscheid, Düsseldorf, Ravenna, Remagen

Apollinaris of Ravenna (Italian: Apollinare; Greek: Ἀπολλινάριος, Apollinarios, Late Latin: Apolenaris) is a Syrian saint, whom the Roman Martyrology describes as "a bishop who, according to tradition, while spreading among the nations the unsearchable riches of Christ, led his flock as a good shepherd and honoured the Church of Classis near Ravenna by a glorious martyrdom."^[1]

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[MUSIC PLAYING] SPEAKER 1: We're in the church of Sant'Apollinare in Classe just outside of Ravenna. This was once the port for the Roman Empire in the early first century. SPEAKER 2: Right. There had once been a large lagoon in between the two towns. That's long gone. This was actually the site of an ancient Roman cemetery. And there is every possibility that the first bishop of Ravenna, Saint Apollinaris, was actually buried here on this site. SPEAKER 1: And we see Saint Apollinaris right here in the center of the apse. But before we get to that, let's talk about the church for a second. We're in a basilica. And like so many churches in Ravenna, it's been through many phases. And just like Sant'Apollinare in Nuovo, there would have been mosaics all along the nave, but those are gone. SPEAKER 2: What we do have is an extraordinary apse mosaic. It's huge. SPEAKER 1: Let's start with the archway around the apse. SPEAKER 2: That's known as the triumphal arch. SPEAKER 1: And in the top center, we see a bearded image of God holding a book, and on either side of him the symbols of the four Evangelists. SPEAKER 2: Right. John is an eagle. Matthew is the man. Mark is the lion. And Luke is the ox. SPEAKER 1: And they're in a sky filled with blue and red clouds. Below them, we see on the left the city of Jerusalem, on the right Bethlehem. And from those two very symbolically represented cities, we see lambs emerging. SPEAKER 2: Walking up a mountain, up towards the clouds, up towards Heaven. SPEAKER 1: So clearly, a purely symbolic representation, and that continues in the apse mosaic itself. SPEAKER 2: Largest and most central is a gold cross. In the center of the cross you can see a small bust of Jesus Christ. Surrounding it is a blue field with 99 gold stars. SPEAKER 1: On either edge of the short arm of the cross we see the Greek letters alpha and omega, the idea that Christ is the beginning and the end, that Christ is all things. So what we have symbolically represented here is the story we call the Transfiguration, the moment when Christ revealed his divine nature to three of his apostles, Peter, James, and John. And they're shown here as sheep in a field. Christ is symbolically represented as the cross. SPEAKER 2: On either side, we do see two human figures, half-length representations. One is Moses, and one is Elijah. SPEAKER 1: And in the story of the Transfiguration, when Christ revealed his divine nature and was filled with white light, Moses and Elijah appeared with him. And God the Father spoke and said, "This is my son whom I love, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him." And so this is the moment of divine revelation, this appearance of Christ the man as God. SPEAKER 2: It's so easy to imagine a sixth-century worshipper sitting here, understanding that this is a sort of extraordinary opportunity to have these sacred truths revealed to them as they sit before it. SPEAKER 1: The figures of Moses and Elijah in a golden sky in the realm of the eternal, below Sant'Apollinare in a more earthly realm, but one represented very schematically and decoratively. SPEAKER 2: And of course the sheep are wonderful, especially down at the bottom. There are 12 of them, and it's clearly the reference to the apostles. SPEAKER 1: And Sant'Apollinare himself stands frontal. We can see his name written on either side of him, just in case we're going to forget or be confused. SPEAKER 2: That's right. We can't do that. SPEAKER 1: And he's got his arms raised in prayer, which is actually a position we often see in early Christian imagery. SPEAKER 2: So in these churches in Ravenna, we see here an apse. In another church, the apse might be missing. But we have the mosaics on the walls of the nave, and we can begin to fit together what these churches would have looked like when they were new in the fifth and sixth century. [MUSIC PLAYING]

Biography

It is not certain what was his native place, though it was probably Antioch in the Roman province of Syria. It is not certain that he was one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ, as has been suggested, but he was apparently a disciple of Saint Peter, who may have consecrated and commissioned him as the first Bishop of Ravenna during the reign of the Emperor Claudius, the fourth Roman emperor from 41 to 54 A.D. The precise date of his consecration as Bishop cannot be ascertained. He dedicated himself to the work of evangelization in Emilia-Romagna.^[2] During his twenty-six year tenure as bishop of Ravenna, he faced nearly constant persecution.

Christian inscriptions dating from the 2nd 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 2nd century, placing his martyrdom possibly under Emperor Septimius Severus.

The Passio Sancti Apollinaris presents historical difficulties. It was probably written by Archbishop Maurus of Ravenna (642-671), who presumably wanted to demonstrate the early origin of his see and a connection to Saint Peter, in an effort to achieve a degree of autonomy from Rome.^[3] (In 666 Emperor Constans II granted the request of Bishop Maurus, allowing Ravenna to consecrate its bishop without approval from Rome, and declared that the Pope had no jurisdiction over the Archbishop of Ravenna, since that city was the seat of the exarch, his immediate representative.)

Traditional narrative

The miracles Apollinaris wrought 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.^[4]

He then journeyed to Aemilia. A third time he returned to Ravenna. Again he was captured, beaten and tortured, and flung into a 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.^[4]

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.^[4]

Veneration

His movement quickly spread beyond the city limits. Popes Simmachus (498-514) and Honorius I (625-638) encouraged its spread to Rome, while the Frankish king Clovis dedicated a church to Apollinaris near Dijon. In Germany it probably spread thanks to the Benedictine and Camaldolese monasteries. A church was also dedicated to him in Bologna in the area of the Palazzo del Podestà, but was demolished in 1250.^[2]

Feast day

In the Tridentine calendar his feast day is July 23, the day he is alleged to have been martyred,^[1] and his feast is ranked as a lesser Double. The present General Roman Calendar devotes this day to Saint Bridget of Sweden, since it is also the day she died and she is now better known in the West than Saint Apollinaris, being one of the patron saints of Europe. Owing to the limited importance of Saint Apollinaris' feast worldwide, his liturgical celebration was in 1969 removed from the General Roman Calendar, but not from the Roman Martyrology, the official list of saints.^[5] His memorial was restored to the General Roman Calendar in the 2002 edition of the Roman Missal, with the date of celebration changed to July 20, the nearest day not taken up with other celebrations. The Roman Martyrology mentions Saint Apollinaris both on July 20 (with the above-quoted text) and also more briefly^[a] on July 23.^[1]

Relics

His relics were held at the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, on the traditional site of his martyrdom. In 856, they were transferred to the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna^[6] because of the threat posed by frequent pirate raids along the Adriatic coast. There are also relics of Apollinaris at (St. Lambertus (Düsseldorf) [de]).^[7] Additional relics are housed at the Apollinariskirche, Remagen.

There are churches dedicated to him in Aachen, and Burtscheid and 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 Apollinaris also existed in Bologna, but was destroyed in 1250. Bořivoj II, Duke of Bohemia, founded a church with a collegiate chapter dedicated to Saint Apollinaris in Sadská (then an important centre of the Czech state) in 1117/1118. On behalf of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, the chapter was later transferred from Sadská to recently founded New Town of Prague in 1362 and another church of St Apollinaris built there. Both of these churches in Bohemia stand to the present time. In 1957, a church venerating St. Apollinaris was founded in Napa, California.

Patronage

Apollinaris is the patron saint of Ravenna, and Emilia-Romagna. He is also the patron saint of Düsseldorf, Germany. A noted miracle worker, Saint Apollinaris is considered especially effective against gout, venereal disease^[8] and epilepsy.

Iconography

Saint Apollinarus is represented with a pastoral staff, palm, and pallium.^[2] The story of Saint Apollinaris is told in stained glass in the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Troyes.^[9]

Sant'Apollinare in Classe
Sant'.Apollinare.Nuovo, Ravenna
Apollinariskirche Remagen
Church of S. Apollinaris, Sadská, Czech Republic
Church of S. Apollinaris, Prague

Notes

^ "At Classis, near Ravenna in Flaminia, the martyrdom of Saint Apollinaris, bishop, whose memorial is celebrated on 20 July."

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7)
^ ^a ^b ^c Arduino, Fabio. " Sant' Apollinare di Ravenna Vescovo e martire", Santi e Beati, April 24, 2006
^ Duffy, Patrick "St Apollinaris (1st or 2nd century) bishop", Catholic Ireland, 20 July, 2012
^ ^a ^b ^c Campbell, Thomas Joseph (1907). "St. Apollinaris (1)" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
^ Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 131
^ "Apollinaris of Ravenna", Saints Resource, BCL Benziger
^ Annette Fimpeler-Philippen, Sonja Schürmann: Das Schloß in Düsseldorf. Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1999, ISBN 3770011201, S. 17–18
^ "Popular Saints – Saints & Angels".
^ Stracke, Edward. "Apollinaris in Art", Christian Iconography

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Campbell, Thomas Joseph (1907). "St. Apollinaris (1)". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Sources

Nicholas Everett, Patron Saints of Early Medieval Italy AD c.350-800 (PIMS/Durham University Press, 2016), pp.139–170.
Ælfric of Eynsham (1881). "Of Saint Apollinaris" . Ælfric's Lives of Saints. London, Pub. for the Early English text society, by N. Trübner & co.