Saint Agrippinus (Arpinus) of Naples ( it, Sant'Agrippino di Napoli, Sant'Arpino) (3rd century) was a

bishop of Naples The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples ( la, Archidioecesis Neapolitana) is a Roman Catholic archdioceses in southern Italy, the see being in Naples. A Christians, Christian community was founded there in the 1st century AD and the diocese of N ...

and is venerated in that city 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 ...

. According to tradition, Agrippinus was the sixth bishop of

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 ...

. He lived at the end of the 3rd century, and seems not to have been 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 ...

.Sant' Agrippino di Napoli
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Burial and veneration

At one point, Agrippinus seems to have been as popular as the more celebrated

Saint Januarius Januarius ( ; la, Ianuarius; Neapolitan language, Neapolitan and it, Gennaro), also known as , was Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Benevento, Bishop of Benevento and is a Christian martyrs, martyr and saint of the Catholic Church and the Eastern ...

(San Gennaro).Agrippinus of Naples B (RM) (also known as Arpinus)
The foundation of the church of

San Gennaro extra Moenia San Gennaro Extra moenia, extra Moenia ("San Gennaro Beyond the Walls") is a church in Naples, Italy. It is located in the Rione Sanita on the large road that leads up to the Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Capodimonte museum and is an example of s ...

in Naples is connected with the

Catacombs of San Gennaro The Catacombs of San Gennaro are underground paleo-Christian burial and worship sites in Naples, Italy, carved out of tuff, a porous stone. They are situated in the northern part of the city, on the slope leading up to , consisting of two levels ...

, the largest Christian catacomb complex in southern Italy. The first structure was probably the result of the fusion of two ancient burial sites, one from the 2nd century CE that contained the remains of Saint Agrippinus, and the site from the 4th century that contained the remains of Januarius. In 1744, Cardinal

Giuseppe Spinelli Giuseppe Spinelli (1 February 1694 – 12 April 1763) was an Italian cardinal. He was prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Biography A native of Naples, he was the son of Giambattista Spinelli, marquis of Fuscaldo, prin ...

, archbishop of Naples, conducted a search for Agrippinus' relics. He found a

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

vase A vase ( or ) is an open container. It can be made from a number of materials, such as ceramics, glass, non-rusting metals, such as aluminium, brass, bronze, or stainless steel. Even wood has been used to make vases, either by using tree species ...

with the following words written: "Indeterminate relics that are believed to be the body of Saint Agrippinus." His

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 ...

are enshrined under the high

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

of the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

of Naples with the bodies of Saints Eutychius and Acutius, who were companions of Saint Januarius.

Stefano Pozzi Stefano Pozzi (9 November 1699 — 11 June 1768) was an Italian painter, designer, draughtsman and decorator whose career was spent largely in Rome. Born in Rome, he was one of four artist sons of his father, an innkeeper: Rocco (1701–74) ...

painted an

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

called ''SS Januarius and Agrippino Driving out the Saracens''.

References

External links

Saints of November 9: Agrippinus of Naples

Sant' Agrippino di NapoliSaints.SQPN: Agrippinus of Naples
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agrippinus Of Naples Italian Roman Catholic saints Bishops of Naples 3rd-century Italian bishops 3rd-century Christian saints