St. Zeno of Verona
Also known as Zenone
Feast day: April 12
Born in North Africa;Zeno was probably born in Mauretania near Algiers before 302.
Died at Verona, Italy, April 12, 371 or 380
Additional feasts in Verona are celebrated on May 21 (translation) and December 6 (episcopal consecration). Because Saint Zeno's sermon on the martyrdom of Saint Arcadius appears to be an eyewitness description,
Bishop of Verona, Italy, theological writer. A native of Africa, he was named bishop in 362 and proved an ardent opponent of Arianism. He also promoted discipline among the clergy and in liturgical life, built a cathedral, and founded a convent. Zeno wrote extensively on the virgin birth of Christ and other theological matters. He was the subject of numerous legends. F
On December 8, 362, during the reign of Julian the Apostate, Saint Zeno was consecrated bishop of Verona, Italy, possibly by Bishop Aussenzius of Milan. Soon after his arrival in Verona, he fought against the idolatry that had spread throughout the city; he even managed to reduce it in the surrounding country where paganism was more entrenched. He also strongly opposed the Arian heresy, and defended the eternal generation of the Word, the intimate union of the Holy Spirit and the Son with the Father.
His success, in part, was due to his training as an orator. Zeno drew large crowds for his sermons, 93 of which still exist--the earliest collection of Latin homilies we possess. In fact, the crowds were so massive whenever Zeno preached that he was obliged to build a bigger cathedral. Each Easter many whose hearts were converted were baptized into the faith. He preached often to a group of nuns who lived in a convent he himself had founded. Long before Saint Ambrose did the same in Milan, Zeno encouraged virgins living at home to be consecrated.
While Zeno had a reputation as a hard-working pastor, who was zealous in building churches, in almsgiving, and in purging Arianism, he is remembered primarily as an ecclesiastical writer, especially on the topic of the virgin birth of our Lord. His sermons are of interest for the information they provide about Christian teaching, worship, organization, and life in the fourth century. He emphasizes the importance of the Sacraments for the Christian life. To him, Baptism is "the sacrament that truly calls men from death to life." Even though his sermons never mention the Eucharist, he indirectly stresses its importance by speaking of the "precious bread and wine that comes from our Father's table" and admonishing his flock that "none of you should ever take the Sacrifice unworthily, because offering unworthily is sacrilege, and taking unworthily is deadly." Saint Zeno offers practical advice for the Christian life. He notes that faith in God's revealed truth is necessary, but more important for eternal salvation is charity.
Most of the extant details about Saint Zeno's life derive from medieval documents that mix facts and legend. According to these stories, Zeno loved fishing in the River Adige (the second longest in Italy) that flows through Verona and may have been a fisherman before his consecration. For this reason, his symbol today is a fish. He also chose to live in great poverty and seclusion. By the precepts and example of this good pastor, the people were so liberal in their alms, that their houses were always open to poor strangers, and none of their own country had the need even to ask for relief. He congratulates them upon the interest they accumulate in heaven by money bestowed on the poor, by which they not only subdue avarice, but convert its treasures to the highest advantage, and without exciting envy. "For what can be richer than a man to whom God is to acknowledge himself debtor?" This inspiration to charity proved vital when the Goths overran the neighborhood and took many captives. The people of Verona were foremost in offering all they possessed to ransom these prisoners.
Zeno is said to have saved the city of Pistoia, Italy, from flood by creating an exit for the waters of the Rivers Arno and Ombrone through what is now known as the Gonfolina Pass.
Saint Gregory the Great mistakenly calls Zeno a martyr, but the ancient missals of Verona and Saint Ambrose call him a confessor. This same Gregory relates a miracle that took place two centuries after Zeno's death based on an eyewitness account. In 589, when the River Adige threatened to drown most of Verona, the people flocked to the church of their holy patron Zeno. The waters seemed to respect its doors, they gradually swelled as high as the windows, yet the flood never broke into the church, but stood like a firm wall, as when the Israelites passed the Jordan; and the people remained there 24 hours in prayer until the waters subsided. The devotion of the people to Saint Zeno increased because of this and other miracles; and, in the reign of Pepin, son of Blessed Charlemagne and brother of Louis Debonnaire, Bishop Rotaldus of Verona, translated Zeno's relics into a spacious, new church.
The body of the saint lies today in one of the most beautiful Romanesque churches of Italy, San Zeno Maggiore in Verona. In the tympanum over the great west doorway is sculpted the dark-skinned saint, who holds a fishing rod as he tramples down the devil. Zeno's tomb is in the huge, 12th-century crypt, where they were placed in 807 after having rested in various churches
