Anathalon (, , ,

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) 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 F ...

: ) was the first recorded

Bishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan (; ) 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 long maintained its own Latin liturgical rite usage, the Ambr ...

and lived at the end 2nd-century or early 3rd-century. A later tradition made him the also the first bishop of

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

. He is honoured as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

in the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

es, which celebrate his feast day on 24 September. In

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, however, this is commemorated on 25 September.

Life

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

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

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. Medieval texts add biographic details which are to be considered legendary. The treatise 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, sc ...

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

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

who sent him as bishop in

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

Barnabas Barnabas (; ; ), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christians, Christian, one of the prominent Disciple (Christianity), Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jews, Cyprio ...

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 li ...

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

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

now stands.

Veneration

The older place of veneration for this saint was the basilica in

, no longer extant, near the present church of San Babila. 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 they remain. The saint's feast is observed on 24 September, the traditional date of his death. In

, its celebration was transferred in the Middle Ages to the day following, on which date it is still celebrated in that city. This is due to, historically, a clash of saints' days: At that time, the feast of the patron saint of the basilica church of

Santa Tecla, Milan Basilica di Santa Tecla was a former, paleo-Christian basilica church in Milan, region of Lombardy, Italy. It was originally established in 350 and demolished in 1458. Remnants of the structure have been excavated underneath the Milan Cathedral ...

, of importance locally, was already being held on the earlier date; 25 September has ever since been designated there for Anathalon.

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