Philaretus the Younger

Saints Elijah and Filarete

Philaretus the Younger (* around 1020 in Palermo ; † April 8, 1070 in Seminara ) was a Basilian of the 11th century. He is venerated as a saint in both the Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic Church .

Life

Philaretos, baptized Philip, came from a farming family of Greek origin. When he was 18 years old, the family fled the Saracens from Sicily to Calabria . At the age of 25 he became a monk in the monastery of Sant'Elia di Enna in Seminara near Palmi , founded in 884 by Elias the Younger († August 17, 903 in Thessaloniki ). He was responsible for looking after the cattle and horses there, and later he was responsible for growing vegetables.

When around 1057 Normans in the area invaded , the monks were forced to flee. Some sources report that after the Synod of Melfi (1059) and the enfeoffment of Robert Guiskard by Pope Nicholas II, the monastery passed into the possession of the Latin Benedictines . These sources further state that the returning Greek monks now had to serve the Benedictines. Philaretos therefore lived in a small hut in the monastery garden , which he also tended. There he died around 1070 after a brief illness.

Aftermath

About two years after his death, Saint Elijah is said to have appeared to a blind woman who promised her healing at the tomb of Philaretus, whereupon she regained sight through the dust of the tomb. From then on, the monastery was named after Philaretos (Italian: Filarete) in addition to the founder Elia. The most important historical source for the life of Philaretus is a manuscript from 1308 ( Vita a. Nilo. Mess. Gr 29, ff. 3 \ 14).

In the following years the grave fell into oblivion and was only rediscovered on February 22nd, 1693 after an earthquake. In 1709 some relics were given to the Church of St. Basil in Palermo.

Details about his life differ in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions. In the traditions, April 8, 1070 and April 6, 1076 are alternatively given as the date of death. The name Philaretos or Filarete is sometimes translated as "lover of virtue" (from Greek Φιλάρετος), sometimes as "fisherman" (Latin tradition). In addition to Calabria and Gärtner (Italian: l'Ortolano), Seminara and Palermo are also common names. To distinguish him from Philaretus , he is called the younger.

Vera von Falkenhausen gave a year of birth in the 1030s in 2007 and dates her flight from the Saracens to around 1041.

Remembrance day

His feast day in the Orthodox churches is April 8th, in the Roman Catholic tradition April 6th.

literature

• Bibliotheca hagiographica graeca. Société des Bollandistes , Brussels 1909. p. 212 No. 1513 ( online )
• U. Martino: Nilo. Vita di S. Filareto di Seminara. Reggio Calabria 1993
• Giovanni Musolino: Santi eremiti italogreci: grotte e chiese rupestri in Calabria. Rubbettino Editore, 2002. pp. 87-92
• Vera von Falkenhausen: The South Italian Sources. in Byzantines and Crusaders in Non-Greek Sources, 1025-1204. a cura di M. Whitby, Oxford 2007 (Proceedings of the British Academy, 132), pp. 95–121 ( online )

Web links

• San Filarete l '“Ortolano”
• Biography Treccani Encyclopedia
• Vita dei Santi Elia di Enna e Filarete l'Ortolano

Individual evidence

1. ↑ alternatively also Val Demone , in today's area of ​​the metropolitan city of Messina
2. ↑ according to BGH 1513, alternative date of death: April 6, 1076
3. ↑ San Filarete l '“Ortolano”  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ Filarete of Calabria in the Lexicon of Saints