Peter Chrysologus, Saint
Peter Chrysologus, Saint
Confessor; Doctor of the Church; Bishop of Ravenna; born in Imola, Italy in 406; died there in 450. He was baptized, educated, and ordained deacon by Cornelius, Bishop of Imola. In 433 he was elevated to the Bishopric of Ravenna, and was one of the principal adversaries of Monophysitism. Peter was famous as an orator and writer. About 176 of his works remain extant; they are mainly explanatory of biblical texts and are brief and concise. Relics mostly at Imola, except an arm which is in the cathedral at Ravenna. Feast , Roman Calendar, 4 December .
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Peter Chrysologus, Saint
Born at Imola, 406; died there, 450. His biography, first written by Agnellus (Liber pontificalis ecclesiæ Ravennatis) in the ninth century, gives but scanty information about him. He was baptised, educated, and ordained deacon by Cornelius, Bishop of Imola, and was elevated to the Bishopric of Ravenna in 433. There are indications that Ravenna held the rank of metropolitan before this time. His piety and zeal won for him universal admiration, and his oratory merited for him the name Chrysologus. He shared the confidence of Leo the Great and enjoyed the patronage of the Empress Galla Placidia. After his condemnation by the Synod of Constantinople (448), the Monophysite Eutyches endeavoured to win the support of Peter, but without success.
A collection of his homilies, numbering 176, was made by Felix, Bishop of Ravenna (707-17). Some are interpolations, and several other homilies known to be written by the saint are included in other collections under different names. They are in a great measure explanatory of Biblical texts and are brief and concise. He has explained beautifully the mystery of the Incarnation, the heresies of Arius and Eutyches, the Apostles’ Creed, and he dedicated a series of homilies to the Blessed Virgin and St. John the Baptist. His works were first edited by Agapitus Vicentinus (Bologna, 1534), and later by D. Mita (Bolonga, 1634), and S. Pauli (Venice, 1775)-the later collection having been reprinted in P.L., LII. Fr. Liverani (“Spicilegium Liberianum”), Florence, 1863, 125 seq.) edited nine new homilies and published from manuscripts in Italian libraries different readings of several other sermons. Several homilies were translated into German by M. Held (Kempten, 1874).
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BARDENHEWER, Patrology, tr. SHAHAN, 526 sqq.; DAPPER, Der hl. Petrus von Ravenna Chrysologus (Posen, 1871); LOOSHORN, Der hl. Petrus Chrysologus und seine Schriflen in Zeitschrift f. kathol. Theol., III (1879), 238 seq.; WAYMAN, Zu Petrus Chrysologus in Philologus, LV (1896), 464 seq.
IGNATIUS SMITH Transcribed by Joseph C. Meyer
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XICopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York