Ovidius (), also ''Saint Auditus'', was the third Bishop of Braga; he is a Portuguese

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 ...

Hagiography

According to

hagiographies A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...

of the 16th century, Ovidius was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

citizen of Sicilian origin. Tradition states that he was sent to

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

Pope Clement I Clement of Rome (; ; died ), also known as Pope Clement I, was the Bishop of Rome in the late first century AD. He is considered to be the first of the Apostolic Fathers of the Church. Little is known about Clement's life. Tertullian claimed ...

, where he served as the city's third bishop around 95.Borrrelli, Antonio. "Sant' Audito (Ovidio) di Braga", Santi e Beati, September 16, 2002
/ref> He is said to have

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

Saint Quiteria Quiteria was a second-century virgin martyr about whom little is certain except her name, the day and the place of her death, and her cult. She is listed under the date of 22 May in the ''Roman Martyrology''. She is one of the patron saints of T ...

and her sisters after they were abandoned by their mother. He was

martyred A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloquial ...

for his

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

faith in 135.

Veneration

The Portuguese call him ''Santo Ovídio'', and sometimes, by the folkloric ''São Ouvido'' (literally "Saint that is heard" or "Saint Ear"), a

folk-etymological Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...

translation of the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name ''Auditus''.Young, John Riddington. "Patron saints of the ear", ''ENT & Audiology News'', Vol. 31 Issue 1 March/April 2022
/ref> His relics were elevated in 1527, thus giving official recognition to his cult.Holweck, Frederick George. ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints: With a General Introduction on Hagiology''
United Kingdom, B. Herder Book Company, 1924. 762 Accounts of the 17th century assert that in Lusitanian archaeological sites, Saint Ovidius was depicted in episcopal robes or in the garments of a hermit; these depictions testify to an ancient veneration. His sepulcher can be found in the Braga Cathedral, cathedral of Braga. Because of his name, Saint Auditus or Ovidius was traditionally invoked against auditory diseases. Under the base of his sepulcher in the cathedral, there were two holes into which the

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

would slip their fingers. They would then place their fingers into their ears and pray for a cure through the intercession of this saint. His feast day is June 3.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ovidius 135 deaths Portuguese Roman Catholic saints Sicilian saints Bishops of Braga 1st-century bishops in Hispania 2nd-century bishops in Hispania Deaf culture Burials at Braga Cathedral 2nd-century Christian martyrs Year of birth unknown