Mirocles (or ''Merocles'', it, Mirocle) was

Bishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan ( it, Arcidiocesi di Milano; la, Archidioecesis Mediolanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has lon ...

from before 313 to c. 316. He is honoured as 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 ...

in 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 ...

and his feast day is on December 3.

Life

Almost nothing is known about the life of Mirocles. He was elected as bishop of Milan in some year before 313 and he reigned till about 316. He perhaps was born to a family of

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

, to which will born also Epiphanius. Mirocles was the bishop of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

when in 313 the Emperors

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

and

Licinius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (c. 265 – 325) was Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan, AD 313, that granted official toleration to C ...

issued the

Edict of Milan The Edict of Milan ( la, Edictum Mediolanense; el, Διάταγμα τῶν Μεδιολάνων, ''Diatagma tōn Mediolanōn'') was the February 313 AD agreement to treat Christians benevolently within the Roman Empire. Frend, W. H. C. ( ...

which proclaimed the

religious toleration Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...

in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. After the Edict of Milan, Mirocles started the erection of the

basilica vetus Santa Maria Maggiore, called the ''basilica vetus'' (old basilica) or ''basilica minor'' (minor basilica), was a church in Milan, established in 313, which served as co-cathedral alongside Santa Tecla until it was torn down after 1386 to make ro ...

, which was the first cathedral of the town and that was placed on the area nowadays occupied by the present

Cathedral of Milan Milan Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Milano ; lmo, Domm de Milan ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary ( it, Basilica cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria Nascente, links=no), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombard ...

. Sources record the presence of Mirocles to the Lateran council held in October 313 in Rome, under

Pope Miltiades Pope Miltiades ( grc-gre, Μιλτιάδης, ''Miltiádēs''), also known as Melchiades the African ( ''Melkhiádēs ho Aphrikanós''), was the bishop of Rome from 311 to his death on 10 or 11 January 314. It was during his pontificate that Emp ...

, which took a stand in the

Donatism Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and t ...

issue, condemning

Donatus Magnus Donatus Magnus, also known as Donatus of Casae Nigrae, became leader of a schismatic sect known as the Donatists in North Africa, Algeria. He is believed to have died in exile around 355. Life Little is known of his early life because of the co ...

charged to re-baptizing clergy who had lapsed and which sided with

Caecilianus Caecilianus, or Caecilian, was archdeacon and then bishop of Carthage in 311 AD. His appointment as Bishop led to the Donatist Controversy of the Late Roman Empire. He was also one of only five Western bishops at the First Council of Nicea. Ba ...

bishop of

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

. Mirocles participated also in the following council of all the Western bishops held in Arles on 1 August 314, which confirmed the condemnation of Donatus and ruled about

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

. Mirocles possibly founded also the church of ''San Vittore al Corpo'' in Milan (rebuilt many times during the next centuries) in honor of saint

Victor Maurus Victor the Moor (in Latin: Victor Maurus) (born 3rd century in Mauretania; died ca. 303 in Milan) was a native of Mauretania and a Christian martyr, according to tradition, and is venerated as a saint. Life Victor, born into a Christian family, ...

, who was

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 ...

ed during the reign of Emperor

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

in 303. Mirocles died on the 30 November of about 316, and his feast day was set on 3 December. His body was buried in

in the church of '' San Vittore al Corpo''.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirocles 01 Of Milan, Archbishop Archbishops of Milan 310s deaths 4th-century Christian saints Italian saints Year of birth unknown