Donatus of Arezzo

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Donatus of Arezzo
Filippino Lippi: Portrait of St. Donatus
Filippino Lippi : Portrait of St. Donatus
Born at 300 (Nicomedia)
Deceased August 7, 362 (Arezzo)
Holiday August 7th (Catholic)
Place of worship Arezzo Cathedral , Meissen Cathedral
Patron saint the baker and epileptic; of Arezzo and the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen
Attributes Book, chalice, dragon, sword

Donatus von Arezzo (Italian: San Donato d'Arezzo ) (* around 300 in Nicomedia , † August 7, 362 in Arezzo ) is the patron saint of Arezzo and was the city's second bishop . He is venerated as a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church . In the Martyrologium Hieronymianum Donatus is described as a bishop and confessor of the faith. In an early hagiography from the time of Gregory the Great , Donatus is mentioned as a martyr in the persecution of Christians under Emperor Julian the Apostate . According to tradition, he came from Nicomedia (today's İzmit) and died on August 7, 362 under the reign of Emperor Julian. According to other sources, the date of death is August 7, 304.

Legend

Bishop Severin from Arezzo reports in his “Passio Donati” that Donatus came to Rome from Nicomedia with his family as a child . After losing his parents, he was tutored by the Christian priest Pymenius. After persecuting Christians in Rome, Donatus fled to Arezzo and worked with the monk Hilarian to spread the Christian faith. Donatus was ordained a deacon and priest by the bishop of Arezzo , later the saint Satyrus of Arezzo , and from then on preached in the city and in the region. In 346 he was ordained bishop by Pope Julius I and referred to as the "Apostle of Tuscany". Donatus was a supporter of the Council of Nicaea and an opponent of Arianism . After the death of Bishop Satyrus, Donatus was appointed second bishop of Arezzo, a man named Anthimus was his deacon.

According to legend, his work in evangelizing the Gentiles was very successful and he also performed numerous miracles. According to Severin, Donatus is said to have brought a woman named Euphrosina back to life and fought and killed a dragon. He restored sight to a blind woman named Syriana and exorcised a demon that had attacked the son of the Roman prefect of Arezzo. Among the many miracles, the legend of the goblet miracle is the best known. During a mass he is said to have miraculously reassembled a broken communion chalice and in it passed the wine to the believers, whereupon 79 pagans converted to Christianity.

In February 362 Emperor Julian announced the Rhetorenedikt to the freedom of religion guarantee, but in reality he wanted the influence of Christianity decrease. A short time later, Bishop Donatus and the monk Hilarian were arrested by the Prefect of Arezzo. Hilarian was martyred on July 16, 362, and Donatus was beheaded on August 7 in Arezzo after numerous tortures.

Adoration

His successor, Bishop Gelasius, built a memorial on the site of his tomb on the Pionta hill in Arezzo, where the first Arezzo cathedral was built later . The bones of Donatus came from Arezzo to the parish church of the municipality of Castiglione Messer Raimondo ( province of Teramo ), the glass coffin with the bones is carried here in procession through the streets every five years .

In 1612 relics of the saint were also brought to the parish church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Acerno ( province of Salerno ). Every year on August 7th, the silver bust with its relics is carried through the town in procession.

In the crypt of the parish church of Santa Maria della Pieve in Arezzo a reliquary bust of St. Donatus shown from 1346. In 1384, the French military leader Enguerrand VII de Coucy captured Arezzo and plundered it. With the valuable head relic of St. Donatus he crossed the Apennines . In Forlì , the relic was released by the mayor and kept with great veneration until it returned to Arezzo.

A large silver reliquary bust of Donatus from the 13th century is now in the National Museum of Naples .

In 1125 the bones of St. Donatus of Evorea (former Bishop of Eurea on the island of Cyprus ) was brought to the church of Santa Maria e San Donato on the island of Murano near Venice . These relics (as well as some of the bones of the dragon he killed - in fact, they are whale bones) were kept in the main altar. Today, however, St. Donatus of Arezzo venerated, see note .

In August there is a “Palio di San Donato” in Cividale del Friuli and Terno d'Isola . Donatus of Arezzo and St. Emidius are the patron saints of Guardiagrele . Every year between August 6th and 8th, a festival in honor of this saint is held in this town, during which the image of Donatus is carried in procession through the streets of Guardiagrele.

The liturgical feast day of St. Donatus is August 7th . His attributes are book, chalice, dragon and sword. He is the patron saint of Arezzo and the patron saint of bakers. He is also considered the protector of epileptics because he is associated with the miraculous healing of a child from this disease. The German ethnologist Thomas Hauschild researched the cult of St. Donatus in Ripacandida in southern Italy in the province of Potenza ( Basilicata ) from 1982 to 2000 . As the “saint who beats” Donatus has been venerated there with penitential rites since at least the 12th century as a helper in hunger-related cramps, mental handicaps, epilepsy and madness. To date, the pilgrimage from August 5th to 7th attracts tens of thousands of pilgrims.

Donatus of Arezzo was also patron of the old diocese of Meissen and is next to St. Benno one of the patrons of today's diocese of Dresden-Meißen .

Donatus is venerated as a patron saint in many Italian municipalities, e.g. B. in

The patronage of many churches refers to him, e.g. B.

In Germany this is the Meißner Dom St. Johannis and St. Donatus. In Freiberg there was a Donatskirche in the Middle Ages, the Donatsturm and Donatsfriedhof still exist today .

The patronage of St. Donatus of Arezzo must not be confused with that of other Donatus churches that refer to other saints with the same name, cf. Saint Donatus , e.g. B. Donatus of Münstereifel († before 180), Donatus of Evorea († around 381) or Donatus of Zadar († around 811).

Representations of St. Donatus in art

  • Arezzo Cathedral (13th to 15th centuries)

  • The marble sarcophagus of St. Donatus in Arezzo Cathedral (15th century)

  • Tomb of St. Donatus of Arezzo in Arezzo Cathedral

  • The reliquary bust of St. Donatus (1346) in the crypt of the Church of Santa Maria della Pieve in Arezzo

  • The Tarlati polyptych by Pietro Lorenzetti (1320) in the Church of Santa Maria della Pieve in Arezzo shows Saint Donatus (far left)

  • Madonna with John the Baptist and Bishop Donatus by Andrea del Verrocchio (1436–1488) in the Cathedral of Pistoia (around 1480)

  • St. Donatus and Lorenzo di Credi's tax collector

  • The miracle of St. Donatus by José Ribera in the Musée de Picardie in Amiens (17th century)

  • Sculptures of John the Evangelist and St. Donatus, Bishop of Arezzo - Patron of the Meissen Cathedral (14th century)

  • Bronze door on the portal of the Church of San Donato in Valle in Moimacco with the legend of St. Donatus

  • Oratorio di San Donato a Campignalla in Bagno a Ripoli near Florence

  • Statue of St. Donatus at the church of Mojžíř (Mosern), OT of Ústí nad Labem (Aussig on the Elbe)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Church page, Diocese of Münster (accessed April 2, 2015)
  2. ↑ Antonio Borelli: San Donato di Arezzo (Italian) (accessed April 2, 2015)
  3. ↑ San Donato d´Arezzo in the Cathopedia (Italian) (accessed April 4, 2015)
  4. ↑ Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints - Donatus of Arezzo (accessed April 2, 2015)
  5. ↑ San Donato Vescovo e Martire (Italian) (accessed on April 3, 2015)
  6. ↑ Video of the procession with the bones of St. Donatus (accessed April 7, 2015)
  7. ^ San Donato Vescovo e Martire - Patrono di Acerno (Italian) (accessed on April 3, 2015)
  8. ↑ Thomas Hauschild: Magic and Power in Italy . Merlin, Gifkendorf 2002, ISBN 978-3-87536-232-9 .
  9. ↑ Credi-Madonna in the Cathopedia (Italian) (accessed April 4, 2015)

literature

  • Guglielmo Lützenkirchen: Il culto di San Donato di Arezzo nell'Italia centro-meridionale , (1990) - in: Atti e memorie della Accademia Petrarca di Lettere, Arti e Scienze Ser. NS, 52, 33-48 (1990)
  • San Donato vescovo e martire di Arezzo, protettore di S. Donato di Lecce: la vita, la devozione, la festa , edited by Donato De Blasi, San Severino, Marche 2007, 54 pp.

Web links

Commons : Donatus of Arezzo  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Donatus of Arezzo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Donato d'Arezzo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Patron saint and second bishop of Arezzo
DATE OF BIRTH at 300
PLACE OF BIRTH Nicomedia
DATE OF DEATH August 7, 362
Place of death Arezzo