Anathalon (or ''Anatalius'', ''Anatolius'', it, Anatalone, Anatalo, Anatolio,

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman c ...

: ''Ανατόλιος'') was the first recorded

Bishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan ( it, Arcidiocesi di Milano; la, Archidioecesis Mediolanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has lon ...

and lived at the end 2nd-century or early 3rd-century. He is honoured as a

Saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

and his feast day is on September 25 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

. A late tradition made him the first bishop of

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and '' comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

where his feast day is celebrated on September 24.

Life

Almost nothing is known about the life and the episcopate of Anathalon, except that he had a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

name, that he was bishop of Milan at the end 2nd-century or early 3rd-century, and that he died during a pastoral trip in

, which was under his jurisdiction. Middle age texts add biographic details which are to be considered legendary. The treatise ''De Episcopis Mettensibus'' of

Paul the Deacon Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, ...

(8th-century) narrates that Anathalon was a pupil of

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

who sent him as bishop in

, while the ''Historia Dataria'' (11th-century) explains that Anathalon was a disciple of the Apostle

Barnabas Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...

who came to preach in Italy and consecrated him as bishop of Milan. Another legend says that Anathalon built a church in Milan dedicated to the

Savior Savior or Saviour may refer to: *A person who helps people achieve salvation, or saves them from something Religion * Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for seven, nine or nineteen years * Maitreya * Messiah, a saviour or ...

over an ancient pagan temple dedicated to Mercury, in an area where now stand the church of

San Giorgio al Palazzo San Giorgio al Palazzo is a baroque-style, Roman Catholic church in central Milan, region of Lombardy, Italy. History The church was founded around 750 by archbishop Natalis, and was modernized in Baroque style by Francesco Maria Richini in 16 ...

Veneration

The older place of veneration for this saint was the basilica ''ad Concilia Sanctorum'' in

, today no more extant, near the present church of

San Babila San Babila is a Romanesque-style Roman Catholic church in Milan, region of Lombardy, Italy. It was once considered the third most important in the city after the Duomo and the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio. It is dedicated to saint Babylas of An ...

. Only in 1268 his relics were discovered in Brescia and

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

into the church of Saint Florian. In 1472 his relics were translated to the Old Cathedral of Brescia where are today.

Notes

External links

Saints.SQPN: Anathalon of MilanCatholic Online: Anatahalon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anathalon 01 Of Milan, Bishop Bishops of Milan 3rd-century Christian saints Saints from Roman Italy