SAINT BASSIAN

St. Bassian


Born 320 AD
Died 409 AD

Feast day January 19

Bishop of Lodi, in Lombardy, Italy, and friend of St. Ambrose of Milan. Bassian was Sicilian by birth. He attended the Council of Aquilcia in 381. He was also at the deathbed of St. Ambrose.

Saint Bassian (Italian: San Bassiano; ca. 320 – ca. 409) was an Italian saint, the patron saint of Lodi and Pizzighettone in Italy.


Born in Syracuse, Sicily to Sergius, prefect of the city, Bassianus was sent to Rome in order to complete his studies. There, he was converted to Christianity by a clergyman named Jordan (Giordano).

Bassianus' father, who wanted his son to apostatize, asked him to return to Syracuse. Bassianus refused and fled to Ravenna. When the bishop of Lodi died around 373, Bassianus was asked to succeed him. He built a church dedicated to the Apostles, consecrating it in 381 in the presence of Saint Ambrose and Saint Felix of Como. He participated in the Council of Aquileia in 381 and perhaps may have participated in the Council of Milan (390), in which Jovinian was condemned.

The body of San Bassiano in Cathedral's Crypta

Bassianus' signature is found together with Ambrose's in a letter sent to Pope Siricius. In 397, Bassianus was present at the funeral of his friend Ambrose. Bassianus died in 409, perhaps on January 19, his feast day.



In 1158, when Milanese forces destroyed Lodi, his relics were taken to Milan. They were returned in 1163, when Lodi was rebuilt by Frederick Barbarossa.