Saint Hermagoras

Hermagoras of Aquileia (also spelled Hermenagoras, Hermogenes, Ermacoras) (, , ; fl. 3rd century – c. 305) is considered the first bishop of Aquileia, northern Italy. Christian tradition states that he was chosen by Mark to serve as the leader of the nascent Christian community in Aquileia, and that he was consecrated bishop by Peter. Hermagoras and his deacon Fortunatus (Italian: , Friulian: , Slovene: ) evangelized the area but were eventually arrested by Sebastius, a representative of Nero. They were tortured and beheaded.

Veneration

"Hermagoras" was listed as the name of the first bishop of Aquileia. He was probably a bishop or lector living in the second half of the 3rd century or at the beginning of the fourth.Santi Ermagora e Fortunato di Aquileia
santiebeati.it. However, because the name or origins of the very first bishop was unknown, Aquileian traditions arising in the 8th century made Hermagoras a bishop of the apostolic age, who had been consecrated by Peter himself. As Hippolyte Delehaye writes, "To have lived among the Savior's immediate following was...honorable...and accordingly old patrons of churches were identified with certain persons in the gospels or who were supposed to have had some part of Christ's life on earth." Thus, false apostolic origins were ascribed to Hermagoras and the church at Aquileia. The tradition that Fortunatus was Hermagoras' deacon is also probably apocryphal, but a Christian named Fortunatus may have been a separate martyr at Aquileia.

Hermagoras and Fortunatus may have been martyrs killed in Singidunum (today's Belgrade). There, around 304 during the religious persecutions led by Emperor Diocletian, Hermagoras, or Hermogenes, was a lector and Fortunatus a deacon. Their relics may have been brought to Aquileia a century later, and that city became the center of their cult as it was at Aquileia that the belief in their apostolic origin arose. Aquileia was one of the first cities in which Christianity could be practised unhindered; the Patriarch of Aquileia was the second most important person of the Western Church after the bishop of Rome.Hermagoras
in ''Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon''.

Their feast day was recorded as 12 July, which was further recorded in the ''Roman Martyrology'', the Church of Aquileia, and in various other Churches. However, Venantius Fortunatus did not mention Hermagoras in his works, but mentioned the name of Fortunatus twice: once in a life of Martin of Tours: ''Ac Fortunati benedictam urnam'', and the second time in his ''Miscellanea'': ''Et Fortunatum fert Aquileiam suum''. The ''Martyrologium Hieronymianum'' mentions Hermagoras, but in a corrupted form: ''Armageri, Armagri, Armigeri''. There is some confusion, as the ''Martyrologium Hieronymianum'' also lists "sanctorum Fortunate Hermogenis" under 22 or 23 August. The Bollandists considered this simply a repetition of the same saints. However, the cult of Saint Felix and Saint Fortunatus of Aquileia was also mentioned in calendars for 14 August.

Hermagoras' name survives in the Carinthian city of Hermagor, in the modern state of Austria. His cult was also popular in Udine, Gorizia and Gurk. The basilica of Aquileia today contains 12th-century frescoes, one of which depicts Hermagoras and Peter.

Hermagoras and Fortunatus have been particularly venerated among the Slovenes because they were Christianised by missionaries from Aquileia. Since 1961, St. Hermagoras and St. Fortunatus have been the secondary patrons of the Archdiocese of Ljubljana

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