Chromatius

Saint Chromatius (died 406/407 AD) was a bishop of Aquileia.

He was probably born at Aquileia, and grew up there.Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Chromatius." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 23 September 2021 His father died when Chromatius was an infant. He was raised by his mother and his large group of older siblings.

Career

He was ordained a priest of that church in 381 and participated in the small Synod of Aquileia organized by Ambrose of Milan. After the death of Valerianus in 388, Chromatius became bishop of Aquileia. He was one of the most celebrated prelates of his time and was in active correspondence with contemporaries St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, and Tyrannius Rufinus. He baptized Rufinus and became something of a mentor to him.

As a scholarly theologian, he urged these friends to produce learned works. Ambrose was encouraged by him to write exegetical works; St. Jerome dedicated to him translations and commentaries, which he had written at his suggestion (translations of the Books of Paralipomenon, Tobit, the books of Solomon, commentaries on the Prophecy of Habakkuk). Chromatius helped finance Jerome's work.

In the bitter quarrel between St. Jerome and Rufinus concerning Origenism, Chromatius, while rejecting the doctrines of Origen of Alexandria, attempted to make peace between the disputants.
He maintained ecclesiastical communion with Rufinus and induced him not to answer the last attack of St. Jerome, but to devote himself to new literary works, especially to the translation of the ''Ecclesiastical History'' of Eusebius."St. Chromatius ", FaithND
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Chromatius opposed Arianism with much zeal and rooted it out in his diocese. He gave steadfast support to St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, when he was unjustly oppressed, and wrote in his favour to Honorius, the Western emperor, who sent this letter to his brother, Arcadius. This intervention, however, proved to be of no avail.

Chromatius was also active as an exegete. Until modern times only seventeen treatises were known to be authored by him on the Gospel according to St. Matthew (iii, 15–17; v-vi, 24), besides a fine homily on the Eight Beatitudes (counted as an eighteenth treatise). In 1969 researcher Henri Lemarié discovered and published thirty-eight sermons.Chromace d'Aquilée, Sermons I-II, Paris 1969, 1971 (Sources Chrétiennes 154, 164)

His feast is celebrated on 2 December.

Editions and Translations

* ''Phoebadius, Chromatius Aquileiensis, Sulpicius Severus, Innocentius I, Zosimus, Bonifatius I, Gaudentius Brixiensis, Bachiarius'' (Patrologia Latina 20.) Brepols Verlag; ISBN 978-2-503-10202-3.
* Raymond Étaix, (edd.): ''Chromatius Aquileiensis Opera''. 2 vols., Brepols, Turnhout 1974–1977 ( CCSL IX A).
* Joseph Lemarié (ed.), Henri Tardif (transl.). ''Sermons, tome I: 1–17'' ( SC 154). Éditions du Cerf, 1969.
* Joseph Lemarié (ed.), Henri Tardif (transl.). ''Sermons, tome II: 18–41'' ( SC 164). Éditions du Cerf, 1976.
*Chromatius of Aquileia. ''Sermons and Tractates on Matthew'', translated and introduced by Thomas P. Scheck, 2018 ( ACW 75).

References

External links

Patron Saints: Chromatius
of pope Benedict XVI about Chromatius

{{Authority control

Church Fathers
Bishops of Aquileia
4th-century Italian bishops
5th-century Italian bishops
400s deaths
5th-century Christian saints
Saints from Roman Italy
Year of birth unknown
4th-century Latin writers
4th-century Italian writers