Saint Ansovinus ( it, Sant'Ansovino) (d. 816) was a

bishop of Camerino The Italian Archdiocese of Camerino-San Severino Marche ( la, Archidioecesis Camerinensis-Sancti Severini in Piceno) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory, seated in Camerino, a city in the Province of Macerata, in the central Italian Marc ...

, and is the patron saint of agriculture. His feast day is March 13.

Life

He was educated at the cathedral school of Pavia. After ordination to the priesthood, he became a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

at Castel Raimondo near

Torcello Torcello ( la, Torcellum; vec, Torceło) is a sparsely populated island at the northern end of the Venetian Lagoon, in north-eastern Italy. It was first settled in 452 CE and has been referred to as the parent island from which Venice was p ...

.Butler, Alban. "St. Ansovinus, bishop", ''Butler's Lives of the Saints: November'', Liturgical Press, 1995
, p. 143 Before being elected bishop of Camerino, he served as confessor to Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor. Ansovinus refused to accept the office of bishop until Louis was agreed that his see be kept exempt from the conscription of the locals into the soldiery. During this time, bishops were often required to be responsible for recruiting men for the imperial army.Boccanera, Giacomo. "Sant' Ansovino di Camerino", Santi e Beati, February 1, 2001
/ref> He was consecrated at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

by Pope Leo IV, and returned to this city for the Council of Rome held by Pope Nicholas I in 861, where records show he signed as ''Ansuinus Camerinensis''. His episcopate was characterized by his generosity to the poor and his pacification of the city's various factions. Carlo Crivelli - St Jerome and St Augustine (detail) - WGA5794

Carlo Crivelli - St Jerome and St Augustine (detail) - WGA5794

The gift of multiplying food was attributed to Ansovinus. He fed thousands of starving people from the regional granary at Castel Raimondo, but the grain never ran out.Realy, Margaret Rose. "The Pope's Prayer for Small Farmers", ''Aleteia'', April 3, 2016
/ref>

Veneration

His feast day is March 13. The cathedral at Camerino includes the marble medieval arch of Sant'Ansovino. A monumental sarcophagus erected around 1390 holds his

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tang ...

. His festival was once celebrated by Camerino and the nobles of other castles in the region. The church of

Santi Venanzio e Ansovino Santi Venanzio e Ansovino was a Roman Catholic church situated near the Capitoline Hill in Rome, in the area now occupied by the Piazza d'Aracoeli. It was dedicated to two saints associated with the city of Camerino: Venantius of Camerino, a martyr ...

at Rome was dedicated to him.Melchiorri, Giuseppe. ''Guida metodica di Roma e suoi contorni''
Rome (1836); page 425. Additionally, there are rural churches dedicated to him at Avacelli, Casenove, Bevagna, and Monsammartino. Ansovinus is the patron saint of small farmers.

Notes

External links

Saints of March 13: Ansovinus of Camerino
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansovinus Bishops in le Marche People from the Province of Macerata 9th-century Italian bishops 840 deaths Italian hermits 9th-century Christian saints Medieval Italian saints Year of birth unknown