Gaudentius of Brescia

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Gaudentius of Brescia († after 406; German: "the happy one") is a saint of the Catholic Church and was bishop of Brescia (Brixia) since about 387 as the successor to Filastrius of Brescia . His feast day is October 25th.

Gaudentius was often depicted on the altarpieces by the great Brescian Renaissance painters Alessandro Moretto , Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo and Girolamo Romanino .

Vita

At the time of his appointment as bishop he was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, from which he brought back numerous relics. Among them were, besides those of John the Baptist and the Apostles, especially those of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste . The latter he received in Caesarea in Cappadocia from the nieces of Basil the Great . He brought these and other relics to a basilica which he called concilium sanctorum (assembly of saints).

At first he refused to accept the office, but finally gave in to the wishes of the population and the persuasion of his friend Ambrosius of Milan , who was also present at his episcopal ordination. In 404/05, Emperor Honorius and Pope Innocent I sent a delegation to Constantinople to have the exile of John Chrysostom , whom Gaudentius had already met in Antioch, lifted . Together with two other bishops he made the trip, but encountered bitter resistance from the Eastern Roman authorities and was only just able to avoid harsher reprisals.

Bust fragment of Arcadius from the Altes Museum , Berlin

In the sources it is sometimes said that Emperor Arcadius harshly rejected the delegation. It is more likely, however, that the religious but weak emperor was manipulated by his court. John Chrysostom wrote several letters to Gaudentius thanking him for his commitment.

He was buried in the church of San Giovanni Battista in Brescia, which emerged from the concilium sanctorum.

Gaudentius of Brescia is the patron saint of San Gaudenzio of the city of Ostra (Marche) in the province of Ancona .

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He is the author of 21 sermons, including 10 Easter sermons (PL 20, 827 ff .; PG 52, 715 ff.). These were written down on behalf of the Brescian patrician Benivolus, as he was hearing impaired. In her foreword, Gaudentius warns against unauthorized copies of his sermons, a sign of his good knowledge of the forgery of late antiquity. His formally simple, high-quality texts testify to a good education.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John Chrysostom : Ep. Clxxxiv
  2. ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz:  Gaudentius. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 185-186.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )

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literature

Web links

Wikisource: Gaudentius von Brescia in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)  - Sources and full texts (English)
predecessor Office successor
Filastrius Bishop of Brescia
ca.387 - after 406 		Paul I.
personal data
SURNAME Gaudentius of Brescia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Saint, writer
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century
DATE OF DEATH after 406