Saint Baculus of Sorrento ( it, San Bacolo di Sorrento, San Baccolo di Sorrento) is venerated as a

bishop of Sorrento The Italian Catholic Archdiocese of Sorrento-Castellammare di Stabia ( la, Archidioecesis Surrentina-Castri Maris o Stabiensis) in Campania, has existed in its current form since 1986. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Naples, having lost i ...

. The ''Life of Saint Antoninus, Abbot of Sorrento'', composed in the 9th century or sometime after, mentions some

patron saints 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 person. I ...

of Sorrento: the bishops

Renatus Renatus is a first name of Latin origin which means "born again" (natus = born). In Italian, Portuguese and Spanish it exists in masculine and feminine forms: Renato and Renata. In French they have been translated to René and Renée. Renata is ...

Athanasius Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...

, and Baculus. The ''Life'' includes a description of the saints obtained from painting hanging at the time in the cathedral of Sorrento. The time when Baculus is supposed to have been bishop of the city is uncertain.

Ferdinando Ughelli Ferdinando Ughelli (21 March 1595 – 19 May 1670) was an Italian Cistercian monk and church historian. Biography He was born in Florence. He entered the Cistercian Order and was sent to the Gregorian University in Rome, where he studied under t ...

, basing his findings on a manuscript dating from after the 12th century found in Sorrento Cathedral, believed that Baculus’ episcopate occurred in the 7th century. The

Bollandists 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 ...

believed Baculus lived around 660 AD. Francesco Lanzoni, however, writes that “the ''Vita Sancti Baculi'', in the section that concerns the episcopate of its hero, does not contain any chronological detail concerning the same. Nothing, therefore, can prevent us from believing that he may have lived in the fourth or fifth centuries.”

Veneration

The traditional date of Baculus’ death was August 27, which became his

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

, celebrated by Sorrento. Baculus’ relics were initially buried in the wall of the city, but were then

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

to the church of San Felice. From the 15th to 18th centuries, there existed a chapel dedicated to Baculus. The church of Santi Felice e Baccolo in Sorrento, also known as the Chiesa del Rosario, is partly dedicated to him. His relics rest in this church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baculus Of Sorrento Italian Roman Catholic saints Bishops in Campania People from Sorrento