Gaudentius of Rimini | |
|---|---|
 Gaudentius' sarcophagus by theTempio Malatestiano inRimini, September 2013 | |
| Martyr | |
| Born | c. 280 AD Ephesus,Roman Empire |
| Died | (360-10-14)14 October 360 Rimini, Roman Empire |
| Venerated in | |
| Feast |
|
| Patronage | Rimini, Garaguso,Ostra, Montefabbri (Vallefoglia) |
Gaudentius of Rimini (Italian:San Gaudenzo di Rimini, sometimes spelledGaudenzio) (c. 280 AD – 14 October 360) was abishop of Rimini, who is venerated as amartyredsaint in theCatholic Church andEastern Orthodox Church.
The accounts of Gaudentius' life vary.[1][2] According to one account, Gaudentius was born inEphesus in around 280 AD, consecrated as a bishop inRome, and sent to preach inAriminum (Rimini). He founded an early Christian community in the city,[1] and ordainedSaint Marinus as a deacon.[3][4] In another account, in 359, he participated in theCouncil of Ariminum, and was killed by a mob on 14 October 360, either by supporters ofArianism or imperial guards.[4][5]
As well as being thepatron saint of Rimini, Gaudentius is celebrated inOstra, in theMarche region,Garaguso, inBasilicata, both of which host some of hisrelics.[4][6] In Rimini, his feast day of 14 October is celebrated as a holiday.[7][8]
The contents of Gaudentius'hagriographic tradition vary.[1][2] He was born inEphesus, inAsia Minor,[1][9] in around 280 AD.[1] Gaudentius came from a wealthy Christian family, allowing him to be educated. His parents were killed byManichaeans, and Gaudentius fled toRome,[1][3] where he wasbaptised, became a priest, and was consecrated as a bishop.[1][9]
Pope Sylvester I sent Gaudentius was to preach the Gospel inAriminum (Rimini);[3][9] he is considered to be the city's first proto-bishop.[1][9] He founded a Christian community that met in adomus ecclesiae.[1] During his episcopate, he ordained the stonemasonSaint Marinus, who would found theRepublic of San Marino, as a deacon.[3][4] Some sources claim that Gaudentius also ordainedLeo of Montefeltro, after whomSan Leo is named, as priest.[2][3]
Several miracles are attributed to Gaudentius during his life:[1] that he exorcised a manpossessed by the devil and that he transformed the waters of theMisa river inSena Gallica (Senigallia) into wine for his travelling companions.[4]
In one group of legends,[2] in 359 AD, Gaudentius participated in theCouncil of Ariminum,[1][9] called by EmperorConstantius II, where he condemned theArian heresy.[9] The council was called to reconcileArius' supporters with his detractors. Constantius had visited Rimini in 357, and commissioned thepraetorian prefect,Taurus, to prepare the city for the council; the location was likely chosen because local clergy were sympathetic toArianism. The council was hosted in the city between May and October 359.[1] Gaudentius was against Arianism.[1][9][2]
Once it seemed certain that the Arian camp would lose,[1][9] or to flee violence in the city,[3] with seventeen other bishops, Gaudentius retreated to a nearby town,[1][9] which tradition says was renamedCattolica (lit. 'Catholic') after their retreat.[1][3] On his return to Rimini, Gaudentius was arrested. On one account, he was charged with condemning Arianism;[9] in another, his miracles led him to be accused of the deaths in close succession of two imperial troops.[1] A mob snatched him from the hands of the city's magistrates: in one account, he was lynched or stoned to death by Arian's supporters;[4][9][6] in another, he was stoned to death forperduellio.[5]
Gaudentius was martyred on 14 October 360.[5][6] He was killed in a marshy area south of the city'sArch of Augustus, which became known asLacus Martyrum (Lake of the Martyr); it is believed to be the etymology of Via Lagomaggio and Rimini's eponymous suburb.[1][6]
The account of Gaudentius' participation in the Council of Ariminum is considered inconsistent with earlier legends about his life, because another bishop in Rimini is attested as early as 313. A separate legend claims that Gaudentius fought a heretical priest known as Marciano, leading Gaudentius to flee to the bishop ofForlì. A similar tradition holds that Gaudentius was killed by soldiers of aconsul, also named Marcianus, who denied the resurrection of the dead.[2]
Sincetime immemorial, Gaudentius has been thepatron saint of Rimini.[1][9] In theBavarian Code [it], a codex containing the church ofRavenna's investitures between the 8th and 10th centuries,[1] Rimini's Arch of Augustus is called the Gate of Saint Gaudentius;[2] the city'snecropolis was outside the city walls here, with Gaudentius as its most famous burial.[1][5] The site of the cemetery, which formerly housed a chapel and abbey, is now a sports centre adjacent to theStadio Romeo Neri.[5] A nearby street is named after Gaudentius.[3]
Rimini's first cathedral, between the ancientVia Flaminia and the sea, is recorded in his dedication in the eleventh century.[2] Rimini's medieval San Gaudenzo became one of the city's important and best-endowed abbeys; it was deconsecrated and sold underNapoleon.[3]
Today, Gaudentius' feast day, 14 October, is celebrated annually in the city.[4] It marks the start of the diocese's pastoral year, and is celebrated with atombola, sports competitions, music concerts, and other cultural activities.[7][8]Piada dei morti, asweetfocaccia topped withraisins,almonds,walnuts, andpine nuts,[10][11] is typically tasted as part of the festivities,[12][13] despite being proper toAll Souls' Day.[13][14]
Gaudentius is also the patron saint ofOstra, in theMarche region,Garaguso, inBasilicata, and Montefabbri, a hamlet ofVallefoglia, in the Marche.[4][6] Both Ostra and Garaguso host relics of Gaudentius.[1] In Garaguso, he is celebrated on 14 August not to interrupt the mid-October sowing season.[6]
Le glorie riminesi nella vita, e martirio di S. Gaudentio by the Giovanni Francesco Mainardi, printed in Rimini by Simbene Simbeni in 1659, provided one of the first written hagiographic accounts of Gaudentius and his devotional tradition.[1]
Mainardi recorded than in 430,[1] an angel instructed Abortina, a blind woman from Ravenna, to go to Rimini and warn the abbot of the Church of San Gaudenzo to give a worthy burial to the remains of saints Gaudentius, Valentino, and Vittore, who lay forgotten at the bottom of a well covered by a marble slab. The angel miraculously transported the woman to Rimini, and regained her sight once the remains of the saints were identified. Gaudentius was reburied in asarcophagus, still extant in the courtyard of Rimini's Curia next to theTempio Malatestiano.[1][4][6] Pilgrims to Gaudentius' tomb includedAmato Ronconi, a 13th-century saint from nearbySaludecio.[15]
With the incursion of barbarian invaders, in 590,[1]Theodelinda, Queen of theLombards, did not consider Gaudentius' relics safe in Rimini.[1][6] Gaudentius' remains, except his skull, were moved toSenigallia,[1][6] where they were welcomed by the local bishop. TheHouse of Malatesta placed the relics in a stone sarcophagus, now located in thechapter house ofSenigallia Cathedral [it]. An abbey complex dedicated to Gaudentius was founded in Senigallia's outskirts, where the remains were subsequently relocated.[6]
By 1520,[6] the abbey had fallen into ruin, and the remains were transported to the Montalboddo (modern-dayOstra), where they are still found today.[1][6] In 1702, CardinalGaspare Carpegna donated a leg bone to the parish priest of St Nicholas of Myra inGaraguso, and in 1794,Fortunato Pinto [it], the bishop ofTricarico, donated an arm bone to the same parish.[6]
In 1857,Pope Pius IX donated a silver reliquary to Rimini's Tempio Malatestiano to house Gaudentius' skull.[1][6] Some of Gaudentius' relics are in thechurch of San Giovanni Battista, in Rimini's northern Borgo San Giovanni.[6]
Many popular devotional prints and engravings depicting Gaudentius date from the eighteenth century, including an engraving byGiacomo Zampa [it].[1]
In 1797, the bronze sculpture in Rimini's Piazza Cavour, sculpted byNicolas Cordier andSebastian Sebastiani between 1611 and 1614 and dedicated toPope Paul V, was modified to resemble Gaudentius, to save it from destruction by theCisalpine Republic.[1][6] Thepapal triregnum was swapped for a bishop'smitre, with the statue holding acrosier in its left hand and the palm of its right hand open.[1] After theRimini earthquake on 17 May 1916,Il Resto del Carlino reported: "The bronze statue of S. Gaudenzo in Piazza Cavour has moved from its base and the crosier has broken".[16] The sculpture was restored to its original appearance by sculptor Filogenio Fabbri in 1939,[1][6] restoring the three fingers of the right hand raised in an act of blessing, and the keys to the city in the left hand.[1] Restoration in the winter of 2003–04 discovered that the triregnum had been engraved with 'Year XVI of theFascist Era'.[6]
Alessandro Bornacci's etchingIl Conciabolo in Rimino (1820) depicts Gaudentius as part of the camp defending theNicene faith at the Council of Ariminum, being attacked by imperial guards.[1]
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