Saint of the Day – 14 December – Saint Viator of Bergamo (Died c378) Bishop and Confessor, the 2nd Bishop of Bergamo, Italy. Also known as – Viater, Viateur, Viatore.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Bergamo, St Viator, Bishop and Confessor.”
Viator is unanimously considered the successor of the 1st Bishop of Bergamo, St. Narnus and is, therefore, the 2nd in the Episcopal chronology of Bergamo.
His Episcopate lasted approximately from 343 to 370; it is almost certain that he participated in the Council of Sardica (Sofia in Bulgaria) in 342-343 and that he signed its Decrees; in fact, St Athanasius, in his “Apologia contra Arianus” cites him among the signatories of the Council.
Nothing else is known about his life but the cult paid to him is ancient and very certain, as can be seen from various Calendars of the 11th – 12th – 13th Centuries; from the Litanies of a 12th Century code and from the Tombstone discovered in 1561.
The chroniclers of Bergamo report that since ancient times, on 13 December, the eve of his Feast and the day of death, the Canons of St Vincent went to the Cathedral where they were welcomed with the sound of bells, incense and holy water.
Various historical martyrologies always report the actual Feast Day on 14 December. St Viator was buried in the Crypt of the Cathedral on the left side of the Tomb of the holy Martyr St Alexander, to whom the Cathedral is dedicated and an Altar was built on the Tomb.
On 1 August 1561 his Relics, together with those of the other Saints kept there, were solemnly translated to the Cathedral of S.tVincent, because, by order of the government of Venice, to which Bergamo belonged at that time, the ancient Cathedral of St Alessander had to be demolished.
St Viator is depicted in various works of art; in the entrance hall of the ancient Bishops’ palace, he is clearly frescoed next to St Narnus in a 13th Century work. Then in a canvas from 1742 by the Bolognese painter Francesco Monti, placed in the choir of the Bergamo Cathedral and he is also depicted in the grandiose fresco of the dome and in a canvas placed in the Sacristy, always dressed in Episcopal robes. The Image below is situate in one of the Cathedrals in Bergamo and might feature our Saint Viator.
AnaStpaul 