Saint of the Day – 26 February – St Faustinian (4th Century) the 2nd Bishop of Bologna, Italy. Also known as – Faustinianus, Faustinus, Faustiniano. Additional Memorial – 28 September as one of the Saintly Bishops of Bologna, Italy.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Bologna, the Bishop St Faustinian, whose preaching strengthened and multiplied the faithful of that Church which had been much afflicted during the persecutions of Diocletian.”
Faustinian, according to the oldest list of Bishops of the Archdiocese of Bologna, that is the so-called “Rhine List” prior to the 14th Century, is placed in second place; this information is also supported by an inscription in Gothic characters, prior to 1494, where we read that St Zama was the 1st Bishop and St Faustinian the 2nd.
According to some scholars, he should be identified with the ‘Faustinus’ Bishop, cited by St Athanasius the Bishop of Alexandria, in his “Apologia contra Arianos”, in a list of Italian bishops participating in the Council of Sardica (ancient name of Sofia in Bulgaria), in 343.
If all this establishes that St Faustinian was in office in 343, it makes the ancient Bolognese tradition implausible which says that during the persecution of Diocletian, who died in 313, St. Faustiniano spread the faith in Bologna; the dates do not correspond, also because the Episcopal Seat of Bologna does not seem to have arisen before the 4th Century.
The cult of the holy Bishop began only after the 12th Century. In 1586, thanks to Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti, St Faustinian’s Relics were transferred to the Cathedral, thus establishing a continuous veneration of our Saint, who is celebrated twice a year in Bologna.
AnaStpaul 