Saint Syrus (Sirus) of Pavia ( it, San Siro) is traditionally said to have been the first

bishop of Pavia The Diocese of Pavia ( la, Dioecesis Papiensis) is a see of the Catholic Church in Italy. It has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan only since 1817.

during the 1st century. His legend, according to the 14th century source known as the '' De laudibus Papiæ'' (''In the Praise of Pavia''), states that Syrus was the boy with the five loaves who appears in the

Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

. As

Hippolyte Delehaye Hippolyte Delehaye, S.J., (19 August 1859 – 1 April 1941) was a Belgian Jesuit who was a hagiographical scholar and an outstanding member of the Society of Bollandists. Biography Born in 1859 in Antwerp, Delehaye joined the Society of Jesus ...

writes, "To have lived amongst the Saviour's immediate following was...honorable...and accordingly old patrons of churches were identified with certain persons in the

gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

or who were supposed to have had some part of Christ's life on earth." Syrus is said to have followed

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

to Rome and from there he was sent to the

Po valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...

to preach and convert the people to the Christian faith. He preached in all of the major cities of

northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

. Another tradition, dating back to the 8th century, makes Syrus a disciple of Saint Hermagoras, who in turn was the disciple of

Mark the Evangelist Mark the Evangelist ( la, Marcus; grc-gre, Μᾶρκος, Mârkos; arc, ܡܪܩܘܣ, translit=Marqōs; Ge'ez: ማርቆስ; ), also known as Saint Mark, is the person who is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. Acco ...

. Hermagoras was the founder of the diocese of

Aquileia Aquileia / / / / ;Bilingual name of ''Aquileja – Oglej'' in: vec, Aquiłeja / ; Slovenian: ''Oglej''), group=pron is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river N ...

. Together with

Juventius of Pavia Saint Iuventius (or Iuvence) was a bishop of Pavia during the 1st century. Together with Syrus of Pavia he was sent there by Saint Hermagoras. Both Iuventius and Syrus are reported to have been the first bishop of Pavia. Iuventius has two feas ...

he was

sent Sent is a former municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss Canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Ardez, Guarda, Tarasp, Ftan and Sent merged into the municipality of Scuol.

there by Saint Hermagoras. Both Juventius and Syrus are reported to have been the first bishop of Pavia. Syrus worked to challenge and convert those who followed

Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...

in his diocese.

Veneration

Syrus 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 Pavia.

Bramante Donato Bramante ( , , ; 1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance style ...

designed the chapel of San Siro in the city's cathedral, which contains the saint's

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 ...

Notes

, ''The Legends of the Saints'' (Dublin, Four Courts Press, 1955), 37. *N. Everett, "The Earliest recension of the Life of S. Sirus of Pavia (Vat. lat. 5771)", ''Studi Medievali'' 43 (2002), 857-957 (Latin text, Eng. trans., commentary). *N.Everett, ''Patron Saints of Early Medieval Italy AD c.350-800. History and Hagiography in Ten Biographies''. PIMS / Durham University Press, 2016.

External links

Saint Siro
at Dominican Martyrology *
San Siro di Pavia
* San Siro di Pavia at the

Italian Wikipedia The Italian Wikipedia ( it, Wikipedia in italiano) is the Italian-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was created on May 11, 2001 and first edited on June 11, 2001. As of , , it has articles and more than registered accounts. It is th ...

San Siro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Syrus Of Pavia Italian saints Bishops of Pavia 1st-century Italian bishops 1st-century Christian saints