Saint Donatus of Arezzo ( it, San Donato di Arezzo) is 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 Arezzo, and considered a bishop of the city. A ''Passio'' of Donatus' life was written by a bishop of Arezzo, Severinus; it is of questionable historicity. He calls Donatus 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 ...

, though Donatus is described as a bishop and

confessor of the faith Confessor of the Faith is a title given by some Christian denominations. Etymology The word confessor is derived from the Latin ''confiteri'', to confess, to profess. Among the early church fathers, it was a title of honor, designating those in ...

in ancient sources rather than as a martyr. An early

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 ...

of Donatus was already known to

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 Gregoria ...

. According to tradition, Donatus was martyred on August 7, 362 during the reign of Julian the Apostate and was a native of

Nicomedia Nicomedia (; el, Νικομήδεια, ''Nikomedeia''; modern İzmit) was an ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocleti ...

Legend

According to Severinus’ account, as a child Donatus came to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

with his family from Nicomedia. He was orphaned, in this early account, during a

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

, and named by the bishop of Arezzo. The Latin name ''Donatus'' translates into English as ''donated''. By Severinus' narrative, Donatus was educated by a Christian priest named Pymenius (Pimenio); his friend and companion in these religious studies was a boy named Julian –who would later become Emperor Julian the Apostate. Julian rose to the position of subdeacon; Donatus became a

lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as french: lecteur, en, lector, pl, lektor and russian: лектор. It has various specialized uses. ...

Saint Peter Damian Peter Damian ( la, Petrus Damianus; it, Pietro or '; – 21 or 22 February 1072 or 1073) was a reforming Benedictine monk and cardinal in the circle of Pope Leo IX. Dante placed him in one of the highest circles of '' Paradiso'' ...

would later write in his ''Sermones'' that "in the field of the Lord two sprigs, Donatus and Julian, grow together, but one will become a cedar of Paradise, the other coal for the eternal flames of Hell." On 4 February 362, Julian promulgated an edict to guarantee freedom of religion. This edict proclaimed that all the religions were equal before the law, and that 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 ...

had to return to its original religious eclecticism, according to which the Roman State did not impose any religion on its provinces. Christian chroniclers considered that it had as its purpose the restoration of paganism at the expense of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Catholic tradition states that Julian also persecuted individual Christians, and that Donatus’ parents, as well as his teacher Pymenius, would die during these persecutions. Donatus escaped to Arezzo and would work with a monk named

Hilarinus Hilarinus (or Hilary; died 361 AD) was a martyr who died with Donatus of Arezzo during the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Julian (r. 361–363). His feast day is 16 July. Monks of Ramsgate account The monks of St Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate ...

to preach the Christian faith, as well as perform

penances Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of repentance for sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. It also plays a part i ...

and miracles. Severinus' ''Passio'' states that Donatus brought back to life a woman named Euphrosina; fought and slew a dragon who had poisoned the local well; gave sight back to a blind woman named Syriana; and

exorcised Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

a demon that had been tormenting Asterius, the son of the Roman prefect of Arezzo. Tarlati-polyptych-Pietro Lorenzetti Pieve di santa Maria Arezzo

Tarlati-polyptych-Pietro Lorenzetti Pieve di santa Maria Arezzo

Donatus was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

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 Chur ...

and priest by Saint Satyrus of Arezzo, bishop of that city, and continued to preach in the city and in the surrounding region. At the death of Satyrus, Donatus was appointed a bishop by

Pope Julius I Pope Julius I was the bishop of Rome from 6 February 337 to his death on 12 April 352. He is notable for asserting the authority of the pope over the Arian Eastern bishops, as well as a dubious claim that he set 25 December as the official birthda ...

. A man named Anthimus was Donatus' deacon. During a celebration of Mass, at the moment of the giving of Communion, in which a glass chalice was being administered, some pagans entered the church and shattered the chalice in question. Donatus, after intense prayer, collected all of the fragments and joined them together. There was a piece missing from the bottom of the cup; miraculously, however, nothing spilled from the cup. Astounded, seventy-nine pagans converted to Christianity. A similar legend is told of Saint Nonnosus, but the object is a shattered glass lamp.Alban Butler, David Hugh Farmer, Paul Burns, ''Butler's Lives of the Saints'' (Liturgical Press, 1995), 10. A month after this episode, the prefect of Arezzo, Quadratian, arrested Hilarinus the Monk and Donatus. Hilarinus was martyred on July 16, 362 and Donatus was beheaded on August 7 at Arezzo.

Veneration

In 1125, some of Donatus'

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 ...

(and those of the alleged dragon said to have been killed by the saint) were brought to the

Church of Santa Maria e San Donato The Church of Santa Maria e San Donato is a religious edifice located in Murano, northern Italy. It is known for its twelfth century Byzantine mosaic pavement and is said to contain the relics of Saint Donatus of Euroea as well as large bones b ...

on the island of Murano, near Venice. A large silver reliquary bust of Donatus from the 13th century is now found in the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

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 ...

. The patron saints of Guardiagrele are Donatus of Arezzo and

Saint Emidius Saint Emygdius (Latin: ''Emidius, Æmedius, Emigdius, Hemigidius''; it, Sant'Emidio; c. 279 – c. 309 AD) was a Christian bishop who is venerated as a martyr. Tradition states that he was killed during the persecution of Diocletian. Legend His ...

. Annually between the 6th and 8 August there is a festival celebrating these saints in which the effigy of Donatus is paraded around the streets of Guardiagrele. It is traditional to eat ''

porchetta Porchetta () is a savory, fatty, and moist boneless pork roast of Italian culinary tradition. The carcass is deboned and spitted or roasted traditionally over wood for at least eight hours, fat and skin still on. In some traditions, porchetta ...

'' (oven- or spit-roasted suckling pig flavoured with pepper, rosemary, garlic and other seasonings) at this time.

References

External links

San Donato di Arezzo

San Donato (Taranto)

San Donato Patrono della città di Arezzo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donatus Of Arezzo Bishops of Arezzo 362 deaths 4th-century Italian bishops 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century Romans Year of birth unknown Legendary Romans People from İzmit