Euplius (Euplus) (, ) (d. c. AD 304) is venerated as a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

and

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

by the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Biography

His name in Greek means "good sailing" which is played upon in the text of the Orthodox Christian Vespers service in his honor. The ''Passion of Saint Euplius'' states that he was a deacon and that he was arrested for owning and reading from a copy of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

during the Diocletianic Persecution. He was brought before the governor of the city, Calvinianus (Calvinian), who asked the saint to read him extracts from the book. He was then

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

d and beheaded. The remains of the Saint rest in the Cathedral of the Assumption of Trevico; it is plausible that they were brought just before the Arab invasion of Sicily in the 10th century. On 5 February

1654 Events January–March * January 6 – In India, Jaswant Singh of Marwar (in the modern-day state of Rajasthan) is elevated to the title of Maharaja by Emperor Shah Jahan. * January 11 – Arauco War – Battle of Río B ...

, the Bishop of Trevico, Donato Pascasio, authorized the translation of a bone of the saint in favor of the catanese diocese.

Veneration

With

Saint Agatha Agatha of Sicily () is a Christian saint. Her Calendar of saints, feast is on 5 February. Agatha was born in Catania, part of the Sicilia (Roman province), Roman Province of Sicily, and was martyred . She is one of several virgin martyrs who are ...

, he is a co-

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. He is also the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of Trevico and Francavilla di Sicilia. His feast day is August 12. Chiesa di Santo Euplio - Interni

An ancient church, dating back to the 5th century, located in Catania near Piazza Stesicoro, was dedicated to him; various buildings stratified over the centuries, but during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

an american bombing reduced the new church, dating from the 18th century, to rubble. Today only the ancient crypt of the primitive church remains. This urban site coincides with the place of his martyrdom. Church_of_Saint_Euplius_in_Myasnitskaya

Euplio of Catania was also the object of a strong devotion in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In 1471, a wooden church was erected in honor of the saint to celebrate the peace between the Grand Prince of Muscovy Ivan III and the

Novgorod Republic The Novgorod Republic () was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries in northern Russia, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east. Its capital was the city of Novgorod. The ...

. In

1657 Events January–March * January 8 – Miles Sindercombe and his group of disaffected Levellers are betrayed in their attempt to assassinate Oliver Cromwell by blowing up the Palace of Whitehall in London and are arrested. * Ja ...

, Tsar Alexei I Romanov had the building rebuilt in stone. In the 18th century on the occasion of a renovation, a majestic facade was erected. The Church of St. Euplius the Archdeacon, on what is now ''Myasnitskaya'' Street in Moscow, was demolished, on

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's orders, in

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

References

External links

Catholic Online: St. Euplius

OCA.org: Life of St. Euplus OCA.org: Life of St. Euplus
* http://files.oca.org/service-texts/2013-0811-texts.doc Service honoring St. Euplus *
Sant' Euplo (Euplio) di Catania
*
Trevico –Le reliquie di Sant’Euplio al centro del turismo religioso
{{authority control Sicilian saints Catania 304 deaths 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century Romans Year of birth unknown Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian