Saint Constantius of Aquino ( it, Costanzo di Aquino) (6th century) was a bishop of Aquino in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, noted for his gift of

prophecy In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or prete ...

, and a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

. He is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on Sept. 1.

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...

noted the only certain dates of Constantius's life: he was already bishop of Aquino during the life of

Saint Benedict Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Christianity in Italy, Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Ortho ...

, who died in 543; and he himself died during the papacy of

Pope John III Pope John III ( la, Ioannes III; died 13 July 574), born Catelinus, was the bishop of Rome from 17 July 561 to his death. Family Catelinus was born in Rome to a distinguished family. His father, Anastasius, was a ''vir illustris'', a high-rank ...

(561-574). Gregory also records his last prophecy: on his deathbed Constantius foretold that he would be succeeded by a muleteer and a washerman, after which Aquino would have no more bishops. The next bishop after him was his

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

, Andrew, who had once been a muleteer, and after Andrew, Jovinus, a former washerman. During his episcopacy Aquino was overrun by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...

. Many of the inhabitants were killed by the invaders, and many more died of a plague, and there was no-one left fit to be bishop, whereby Constantius's prophecy was fulfilled. On 10 December 1742 Bishop Spadea of Aquino translated the

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 tangi ...

of Constantius from the old cathedral of

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

, where they had been re-discovered, to the new cathedral dedicated to Saint Constantius himself, where they were placed beneath the high altar. This cathedral was destroyed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in May 1944, was rebuilt and in October 1963 dedicated to both Saint Constantius and to Saint

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...

Sources and external links

SantieBeati.it: San Costanzo di Aquino

References

{{Authority control 6th-century Christian saints Bishops in Lazio People from the Province of Frosinone Italian Roman Catholic saints