Apollinaris of Ravenna

Biography

Apollinaris likely came from Antioch in Syria, though his birthplace is not firmly known. He may have been a disciple of Saint Peter, who possibly appointed him as the first Bishop of Ravenna under Emperor Claudius, but the date of that consecration is unclear. He focused on spreading Christianity in Emilia-Romagna and endured constant persecution during his twenty-six years as bishop. Second-century Christian inscriptions found near Classe show that Christianity existed in Ravenna very early.

Bishop Marianus, who compiled a list of Ravenna’s bishops in the 500s, recorded that the twelfth bishop, Severus, signed the Council of Sardica in 343. This suggests Apollinaris likely lived in the late 100s and may have been martyred under Emperor Septimius Severus. The Passio Sancti Apollinaris, probably written by Archbishop Maurus in the 600s, contains historical problems. Maurus likely wrote it to prove Ravenna’s early apostolic roots and its link to Saint Peter, hoping to gain independence from Rome.

In 666, Emperor Constans II granted that wish, allowing Ravenna to consecrate its own bishop without papal approval and declaring the Pope had no authority over its archbishop, since Ravenna housed the exarch.

Traditional narrative

The miracles Apollinaris wrought soon attracted official attention, winning many converts but bringing fury from idolaters, who beat him cruelly and drove him from the city. Found half-dead on the seashore and concealed by Christians, he was captured again, forced to walk on burning coals, and expelled a second time. He remained in the vicinity and continued evangelization, then journeyed to Aemilia. A third time he returned to Ravenna, was captured, beaten, tortured, and flung into a dungeon to starve, but after four days was put on a ship and sent to Greece.

There the same course of preachings, miracles, and sufferings continued; when his presence silenced oracles, he was beaten and sent back to Italy. After three years, a fourth return to Ravenna occurred. Apollinaris was kept concealed, but as he passed out of the city gates he was savagely beaten, probably at Classis, and lived seven days, foretelling that persecutions would increase but the Church would triumph.

Veneration

Apollinaris's movement quickly spread beyond Ravenna. Popes Simmachus and Honorius I encouraged its spread to Rome, while the Frankish king Clovis dedicated a church to him near Dijon. In Germany, veneration probably spread thanks to Benedictine and Camaldolese monasteries. A church in Bologna was dedicated to him but demolished in 1250.

His memorial in the General Roman Calendar is 20 July; it was previously a lesser Double feast on 23 July, the day he is believed to have been martyred. The liturgical celebration was removed by the decree of Mysterii Paschalis in 1969, and 23 July now honors Saint Bridget of Sweden. The 2002 Roman Missal changed the date to 20 July, the nearest day not taken by other celebrations. The Roman Martyrology mentions him on both 20 July and 23 July.

His relics were held at the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, then transferred in 856 to the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna due to pirate raids. Additional relics are at St. Lambertus in Düsseldorf and the Apollinariskirche in Remagen. Churches dedicated to him exist in Aachen and Burtscheid, Germany; in Dijon; and in Sadská and Prague, Bohemia. A church was founded in Napa, California in 1957.

Apollinaris is patron saint of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, and Düsseldorf, and is considered especially effective against gout, venereal disease, and epilepsy.