Saint of the Day – 23 September – St Constantius (5th Century) Sacristan of Ancona, in the Marches, Italy, Miracle-worker. A gentle and humble man filled with supernatural gifts and graces and by his prayers, rendering grat miracles for those who beseeched his aid and for his Church when in need.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Ancona, St Constantius, Sacristan of the Church, renowned for the gift of miracles.”
St Gregory the Great provides some information regarding our Saint Constantius in his Dialogues, highlighting his profound humility, a faith which “could move mountains” and miraculous power.
According to the illustrious Pontiff’s account, based on the testimony of his own Bishop (likely the City’s Bishop himself) and other locals, Constantius, dressed in monastic attire, served as a Sacristan in the Church of St Stephen, Ancona’s first Cathedral and a famous sanctuary, where, according to St Augustine, a Relic of the 1st Martyr was venerated.
St Gregory emphasises in particular, how the humble and almost threadbare appearance of the simple Sacristan corresponded to a great spirit of perfection which shone through the gift of miracles.
Among the prodigious events, it is recorded that, due to the miraculous power of the lowly Sacristan, the Church’s lamps burned, even though they were filled with water instead of oil. As the fame of the young Sacritan’s sanctity and extraordinary works spread, many flocked to see him and beg for spiritual favours. One day, a rough peasant came to the Church and, seeing the frail Sacristan on a ladder busy triming the lamps, refused to believe in his sanctity and began to mock him with insulting words, calling him a liar and presumptuous. Constantius, who had heard the insults, ran to embrace and kiss him, thanking him for his treatment and thus proving, as St Gregory concludes, that if he was great in miracles, he was even greater in humility of heart.
Nothing else is known of this gentle and holy Saint.
His body was later translated to Venice and placed first in the Church of St.Basil, then in that of Saints Gervasius and Protasius, where he is currently venerated celebrated today 23 September as it is in the Diocese of Ancona. The reasons and exact date of this translation of St Constantius’ Relics is unknown, although some local sources believe the body was stolen in the 12th Century during a siege and following a robbery by Venetian merchants.
Today, the Cathedral in Ancona, possesses the only memento of St Costantius, a bone fragment donated in 1760, with authentication by the Patriarch of Venice.
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