Saint of the Day – 22 May – Saint Fulgentius of Otricoli (Mid 6th Century) Bishop., Miracle-worker, remembered by St Gregory the Great in his Dialogues. Died in the mid 6th Century in Otricoli, Terni, Italy of natural causes. Also known as – Fulgenzio, Fulgencio.
In the Town of Otricoli in the Province of Terni, an ancient inscription is preserved, which recalls its Bishop, Fulgentius, who found the body of the holy Martyr Victor and built an Altar for it. The said epigraph is still preserved in the collegiate Church of St Maria, which already existed in the 12th Century.
Fulgentius, the Bishop of Otricoli, who is remembered by St Gregory the Great (535-604), in his ‘Dialogues.’ The holy Pope reports a miracle worked by Fulgentius, told to him by an old cleric, still alive when he wrote his work about him.
Totila, King of the Ostrogoths from 541 to 552, in his descent into Italy, defeating the Byzantines, passed through Otricoli and here he received some gifts from the Bishop Fulgentius, who thus tried to mitigate the insane fury of the barbarian King, so that he would spare the population of that City.
But Totila, despising the homage, had the Bishop placed in custody to then submit him to trial/ Those guarding him thus placed him within a circle traced on the ground, forbidding him to go beyond it. The Bishop suffered from the heat of the scorching sun, from which he could not shelte. Then the weather changed and it began to rain heavily but the place where Fulgentius was sitting remained dry!
This fact was reported to Totila, who then transformed his hatred into admiration.
This miracle has been told and depicted in all the hagiographic works which have come down to us. His feast day falls on 22 May.
AnaStpaul 