Euplius (Euplus) ( it, Euplo, Euplio, el, Εὖπλος) (d. c. AD 304) is venerated as a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

and

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 ...

by the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Biography

His name in Greek means "good sailing" which is played upon in the text of the Orthodox Christian Vespers service in his honor. The ''Passion of Saint Euplius'' states that he was a deacon and that he was arrested for owning and reading from a copy of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

during the

Diocletianic Persecution The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights ...

. He was brought before the governor of the city, Calvinianus (Calvinian), who asked the saint to read him extracts from the book. He was then

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

d and

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the ...

. The remains of the Saint rest in the Cathedral of the Assumption of

Trevico Trevico is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino, Campania, southern Italy. Located in the Apennines upon a steep hill at 3,576 feet (1,090 m) altitude, Trevico is the highest inhabited place in Campania. Its main produce are hams, ch ...

; it is plausible that they were brought just before the Arab invasion of Sicily in the 10th century. On 5 February

1654 Events January–March * January 6– In India, Jaswant Singh of Marwar (in what is now the state of Rajasthan) is elevated to the title of Maharaja by Emperor Shah Jahan. * January 11– In the Battle of Río Bueno in sout ...

, the

Bishop of Trevico The Diocese of Trevico (Latin: ''Dioecesis Trevicensis'') was a Roman Catholic diocese located in the town of Trevico in the province of Avellino, Campania, southern Italy. In 1818, it was suppressed to the Diocese of Lacedonia. (for Chronology of ...

, Donato Pascasio, authorized the translation of a bone of the saint in favor of the catanese diocese.

Veneration

With

Saint Agatha Agatha of Sicily () is a Christian saint. Her feast is on 5 February. Agatha was born in Catania, part of the Roman Province of Sicily, and was martyred . She is one of several virgin martyrs who are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mas ...

, he is a co-

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. He is also the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of Trevico and

Francavilla di Sicilia Francavilla di Sicilia ( Sicilian: ''Francavigghia'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Messina on the island of Sicily, southern Italy. It has a population of about 3,900 people and is situated in the southern part of the prov ...

. His feast day is August 12. Chiesa di Santo Euplio - Interni

An ancient church, dating back to the 5th century, located in Catania near Piazza Stesicoro, was dedicated to him; various buildings stratified over the centuries, but during the

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 ...

an american bombing reduced the new church, dating from the 18th century, to rubble. Today only the ancient crypt of the primitive church remains. This urban site coincides with the place of his martyrdom. Church_of_Saint_Euplius_in_Myasnitskaya

Euplio of Catania was also the object of a strong devotion in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. In

1471 Year 1471 ( MCDLXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January – Portuguese navigators João de Santarém and Pedro Escobar reach the g ...

, a wooden church was erected in honor of the saint to celebrate the peace between the Grand Prince of Muscovy

Ivan III Ivan III Vasilyevich (russian: Иван III Васильевич; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of all Rus'. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his blin ...

and the

Novgorod Republic The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of m ...

. In

1657 Events January–March * January 8 – Miles Sindercombe and his group of disaffected Levellers are betrayed, in their attempt to assassinate Oliver Cromwell, by blowing up the Palace of Whitehall in London, and arrested. * Febru ...

, Tsar Alexei I Romanov had the building rebuilt in stone. In the 18th century on the occasion of a renovation, a majestic facade was erected. The Church of St. Euplius the Archdeacon, on what is now ''Myasnitskaya'' Street in Moscow, was demolished, on

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

's orders, in

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

References

External links

Catholic Online: St. Euplius

OCA.org: Life of St. Euplus OCA.org: Life of St. Euplus
* http://files.oca.org/service-texts/2013-0811-texts.doc Service honoring St. Euplus *
Sant' Euplo (Euplio) di Catania
*
Trevico –Le reliquie di Sant’Euplio al centro del turismo religioso
{{authority control Sicilian saints Catania 304 deaths 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century Romans Year of birth unknown Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian