Saint of the Day – 26 October – Saint Gaudiosus (7th Century) Bishop of Salerno, Campania, Italy. Known as a worthy and zealous Bishop and a courageous defender of his flock from the Lombards and the Barbarians. Also known as – Gaudioso, Gaudino.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Salermo, St Gaudiosus, Bishop.”
Gaudiosus was the son or grandson of Theophylact, the Duke of Naples (666-670). He was enrolled in the Clergy of the Neapolitan Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (after Bishop St Pomponius).
Tradition presents him, thereafter, as a diligent Bishop of the City of Salerno in Campania. This City he defended from barbarian invasions, especially during the war of the Lombards of Benevento.
Having died at the age of fifty, before 649, a few years later, a Master of the Soldiers of Naples, his blood relative, received his body from a certain Grimoald, Duke of Benevento and Lord of Salerno (I or II of that name), who placed it in a Church in Naples, dedicated to him.
A 17th Century Neapolitan historian reports that in 1606, Cardinal Archbishop Ottavio Acquaviva opened the Tomb beneath the High Altar of the Church of St Gaudiosus to extract a Relic to enclose in the silver bust. . In honor of the saint and in memory of the Relics, Hymns were composed for the Proper Office of our Saint for his Feast Day on 26 October.
AnaStpaul 