Potitus (died around 160) was an early Christian martyr, venerated as a saint by the

Roman 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 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 ...

on 14 January (or 13 January in the pre-2003

Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved ...

Life

He was born in

Sardica Serdika or Serdica ( Bulgarian: ) is the historical Roman name of Sofia, now the capital of Bulgaria. Currently, Serdika is the name of a district located in the city. It includes four neighbourhoods: "Fondovi zhilishta"; "Banishora", "Orlandov ...

(now

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, capital of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

) in the Roman province of

Thracia Thracia or Thrace ( ''Thrakē'') is the ancient name given to the southeastern Balkan region, the land inhabited by the Thracians. Thrace was ruled by the Odrysian kingdom during the Classical and Hellenistic eras, and briefly by the Greek ...

(established in 107 after the

Second Dacian War The Second Roman–Dacian War was fought between 105 to 106 because the Dacian King, Decebalus, had broken his peace terms with the Roman Emperor Trajan from the First Dacian War. Before the War Following his subjugation, Decebalus complied with ...

and later renamed

Dacia Inferior Roman Dacia ( ; also known as Dacia Traiana, ; or Dacia Felix, 'Fertile/Happy Dacia') was a province of the Roman Empire from 106 to 271–275 AD. Its territory consisted of what are now the regions of Oltenia, Transylvania and Banat (today ...

).Borrelli, Antonio. "San Potito", ''Santi e beati'', December 13, 2003
/ref> He converted to Christianity and was martyred while still a teenager during the reign of

Antoninus Pius Antoninus Pius (Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatoria ...

. His

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...

states that he came from a very rich pagan family and attributes many miracles to him, especially the curing of the madness of Antoninus Pius' daughter Agnes, which is described in a 9th-century ''Passio Sancti Potiti''. He refused to renounce Christianity and so was thrown to the lions, but they refused to attack and so he was instead thrown into boiling oil, but emerged unharmed. He was therefore pierced with a sword.

Veneration

He is the main patron saint of

Tricarico Tricarico ( nap, label= Lucano, Trëcàrëchë ; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Matera, Basilicata, southern Italy. It is home to one of the best preserved medieval historical centres in Lucania. Etymology The origin of the nam ...

and its diocese and his main relics are sited in its cathedral. His cult spread widely during the Middle Ages, reaching

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrusc ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

. He is thus also the main patron saint of the town of

Ascoli Satriano Ascoli Satriano (; nap, label= Foggiano, Àsculë) is a town and ''comune ''in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. It is located on the edge of a large plain in Northern Apulia known as the Tavoliere delle Puglie.Cur ...

and its diocese. Ascoli Satriano has a church dedicated to him as well as a bust-reliquary containing part of his

ulna The ulna (''pl''. ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone found in the forearm that stretches from the elbow to the smallest finger, and when in anatomical position, is found on the medial side of the forearm. That is, the ulna is on the same side of t ...

in its former cathedral - this reliquary is carried round the town in procession between 18 and 20 August each year and at the end of the festival the ''ciuccio'' is burned. Naples also once had a church dedicated to him, San Potito, served by

Benedictines , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

, whom

pope Clement XII Pope Clement XII ( la, Clemens XII; it, Clemente XII; 7 April 16526 February 1740), born Lorenzo Corsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1730 to his death in February 1740. Clement presided over the ...

granted a special office in the saint's honour, with hymns edited by the

Bollandist The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century h ...

s. Catholic.net
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potitus Bulgarian Roman Catholic saints Eastern Orthodox saints 2nd-century Christian martyrs 160 deaths Bulgarian Christians People from Sofia