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", "Orlandovts ...
(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