Saint Euprepius of Verona (''Euprepus, Puprepis''), is venerated as the first
bishop of Verona
235px, The facade of ''Palazzo del Vescovado''
The Diocese of Verona ( la, Dioecesis Veronensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in northern Italy. The diocese belongs to the Ecclesiastical Province of Venice. The bishop of Verona ...
.
Not much is known of his life beyond the fact that his name was
Greek (from the Greek words , "well," and , "adapted, suited"), which is considered evidence of the antiquity of the Veronese see.
According to the local tradition of Verona, he was one of the
Seventy Disciples mentioned in the
Gospel of Luke ,
but this is "entirely unsubstantiated."
[Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, Stephen Bunson, ''Our Sunday Visitor's encyclopedia of saints'' (Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 2003)]
297
and his name does not appear among the seventy in the 2nd-century list compiled by
Hippolytus of Rome. Local tradition states that Euprepius was bishop of Verona from 60 to 72 AD.
[ Henry Wace, '''' (John Murray, 1880), 298.] Euprepius' death may have occurred at the end of the 1st century or beginning of the 2nd century.
The 9th century ''
Versus de Verona'' of
Anno, Bishop of Verona, which discusses the period in which Verona was converted from
paganism
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...
to Christianity, states: (v. 40).
This work, also known as the ''Carmen Pipinianum'', includes a description of Verona and its churches, and gives a list of the first eight bishops: Euprepius, Dimidrianus (Demetrianus), Simplicius,
Proculus, Saturninus, Lucilius (Lucillus, Lucius), Gricinus (Cricinus), and
Zeno.
[Knights of Columbus. Catholic Truth Committee, ''The Catholic Encyclopedia: an international work of reference on the constitution, doctrine, discipline, and history of the Catholic Church'', Volume 15 (Encyclopedia Press, 1913)]
361
According to the ''
Catholic Encyclopedia'', "the period of St. Euprepius, and therefore of the erection of the see, must be placed not before the peace given to the Church under
Gallienus (260), but rather under the first period of the reign of
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
, when the Church enjoyed peace."
The reconstruction of the chronology of bishops from the altar cover from San Firmo e Rustico in Verona known as the ''Velo di Classe'' (which dates from the end of the 8th century or beginning of the 9th), places Euprepius first in the list of bishops of Verona. His feast day in the is 21 August.
Veneration
Euprepius’ cult did not gain much popularity until the 14th century.
In 1492, his
relic
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 ...
s, along with those of other Veronese bishop saints, were rediscovered in the
pieve of San Procolo.
The relics were
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 ancient
basilica of San Zeno in 1806, where an inscription on the altar reads: .
In the 16th century,
Domenico Riccio
Domenico Riccio (also known as commonly known as Domenico Brusasorci; 1516–1567) was an Italian painter in a Mannerist style from Verona, best known for frescos.
He first apprenticed with his father. Later, he has been reported to have trai ...
(Domenico Brusasorci) painted a series of portraits of the bishops of Verona, ranging from Euprepius to one of Cardinal
Agostino Valerio for the Palazzo del Vescovado di Verona.
[Francis Palgrave, ''Hand-book for travellers in northern Italy'' (J. Murray, 1860)]
275
Francis Turner Palgrave
Francis Turner Palgrave (; 28 September 1824 – 24 October 1897) was a British critic, anthologist and poet.
Life
He was born at Great Yarmouth, the eldest son of Sir Francis Palgrave, the (born Jewish) historian to his wife Elizabeth, daught ...
remarked in the 19th century that "of course the greater number are imaginary, and therefore as uninteresting as possible; but the artist has given his subjects expression and variety."
In 1961 the
Sacred Congregation of Rites, in accordance with a proposal of the bishop of Verona,
Giuseppe Carraro, joined the bishop saints of Verona under a single feast day (October 30), although Euprepius' separate feast day (August 21) was conserved due to the fact that he was the city's first bishop.
External links
EuprepusSant' Euprepio di Verona
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Euprepius Of Verona
1st-century Romans
2nd-century Romans
Bishops of Verona
Saints from Roman Italy