Syrus of Pavia (), also spelled Sirus, is traditionally said to have been the first
bishop of Pavia
The Diocese of Pavia () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Italy. It has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan only since 1817.De laudibus Papiæ'' (''In the Praise of Pavia''), states that Syrus was the boy with the five loaves who appears in the
Gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...
. As
Hippolyte Delehaye
Hippolyte Delehaye, S.J., (19 August 1859 – 1 April 1941) was a Belgian Jesuit who was a hagiographical scholar and an outstanding member of the Society of Bollandists.
Biography
Born in 1859 in Antwerp, Delehaye joined the Society of Jesu ...
writes, "To have lived amongst the Saviour's immediate following was...honorable...and accordingly old patrons of churches were identified with certain persons in the
gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...
or who were supposed to have had some part of
Christ
Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...
's life on earth." Syrus is said to have followed
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
to Rome and from there he was sent to the
Po valley
The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain (, , or ) is a major geographical feature of northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetian Plain, Venetic extension not actu ...
to preach and convert the people to the Christian faith. He preached in all of the major cities of
northern Italy
Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...
.
Another tradition, dating back to the 8th century, makes Syrus a disciple of Hermagoras, who in turn was the disciple of
Mark the Evangelist
Mark the Evangelist (Koine Greek, Koinē Greek: Μᾶρκος, romanized: ''Mârkos''), also known as John Mark (Koine Greek, Koinē Greek language, Greek: Ἰωάννης Μᾶρκος, Romanization of Greek, romanized: ''Iōánnēs Mârkos;'' ...
. Hermagoras was the founder of the diocese of
Aquileia
Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river Natiso (modern Natisone), the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times. Today, the city is small ( ...
. Together with Juventius of Pavia, he was sent there by Hermagoras. Both Juventius and Syrus are reported to have been the first bishops of Pavia. Syrus worked to challenge and convert those who followed
Arianism
Arianism (, ) is a Christology, Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is co ...
in his diocese.
Veneration
Syrus is the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of Pavia.
Bramante
Donato Bramante (1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance style to Rom ...
designed the chapel of San Siro in the city's cathedral, which contains the saint's
relics
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...
.
Notes
*
Hippolyte Delehaye
Hippolyte Delehaye, S.J., (19 August 1859 – 1 April 1941) was a Belgian Jesuit who was a hagiographical scholar and an outstanding member of the Society of Bollandists.
Biography
Born in 1859 in Antwerp, Delehaye joined the Society of Jesu ...
, ''The Legends of the Saints'' (Dublin, Four Courts Press, 1955), 37.
*N. Everett, "The Earliest recension of the Life of S. Sirus of Pavia (Vat. lat. 5771)", ''Studi Medievali'' 43 (2002), 857-957 (Latin text, Eng. trans., commentary).
*N.Everett, ''Patron Saints of Early Medieval Italy AD c.350-800. History and Hagiography in Ten Biographies''. PIMS / Durham University Press, 2016.
Italian Wikipedia
The Italian Wikipedia () is the Italian language, Italian-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was created on 10 May 2001, and first edited on 11 June 2001. As of , it has articles and more than registered accounts. It is the -largest W ...