Himerius (Imier, Imerio) of Cremona (d. June 17, ca. 560), also known as Himerius of Amelia or Irnerius, was an Italian bishop. He is venerated as a
saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
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 ...
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
at Amelia before being appointed bishop there. He is described as having been an extremely austere, ascetic personality, both in regard to himself and others.
Veneration
Himerius' name does not appear in the ancient martyrologies. However, his name appears in the ''Roman Martyrology''.
An abbot named Ambrose (Ambrogio), who lived around the twelfth century, wrote a ''Vita'' of Himerius, but only its
prologue
A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...
remains. A later
bishop of Amelia The Italian Catholic Diocese of Amelia, existed from the fifth century until 1983. In that year it was united into the new diocese of Terni, Narni, e Amelia. It was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Spoleto.Antonio Maria Graziano (1592–1611), also wrote a biography of the saint.Sant' Imerio di Amelia /ref>
Around 965, Himerius' relics were moved from Amelia to
Cremona
Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...
by Liutprand (Liutprando, Luizo), bishop of Cremona from 962 to 972. They were interred in a church that was later destroyed. Rediscovered in 1129, they were placed in a
sepulcher
A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immuremen ...
. A monk named John (Giovanni) wrote, in the 12th century, a collection of miracles performed by the saint after this rediscovery of the relics. This was composed during the episcopate of the Cremonese bishop Offredo (1168–1185).
In 1196, Sicardo, another bishop of Cremona, placed the relics of Himerius in an archway of stone along with those of a martyr named Archelaus (Archelao) and consecrated an altar in their honor.
The monastery of Sant'Imerio was built in Cremona in 1606 to house members of the
Order of the Discalced Carmelites
The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel ( la, Ordo Fratrum Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo) or the Order of Discalced Carme ...