of

Eusebius of Vercelli (c. March 2, 283 – August 1, 371) although he solemnly proclaimed his orthodox faith af- was a bishop and in . Along with Athanasius, ter his episcopal consecration. The Alexandrian synod he affirmed the divinity of against . had desired that Eusebius should reconcile the Eustathi- ans with Bishop Meletius, by purging his election of what- ever might have been irregular in it, but Eusebius found that had also passed that way, and had 1 Biography unilaterally consecrated Paulinus, the leader of the Eu- stathians, as Bishop of . Born in , he was a lector in before he be- Unable to reconcile the factions, he continued towards came the first bishop in Vercelli (in northern Italy), prob- home, visiting other churches along the way in the interest ably sometime in the early- to mid-340s. According to of promulgating and enforcing the orthodox faith. Once a letter of to the congregation in Vercelli two back in Vercelli in 363, he continued to be a leader with decades after Eusebius’ death, the local leaders recog- in defeating Arianism in the Western nized his piety and thus elected him rather than local can- Church, and was one of the chief opponents of the Ar- didates (Epistola lxiii, Ad Vercellenses). At some point he ian bishop Auxentius of . He died in 370 or 371. led his clergy to form a monastic community modelled Later legends of his martyrdom have no historical basis. on that of the Eastern cenobites (Ambrose, Ep. lxxxi and The Roman celebrates his feast on Au- Serm. lxxxix). For this reason the of gust 2.[2] His former feast day of December 16 roughly St. Augustine honor him along with Augustine as their coincided with his elevation as bishop. His current feast founder (Proprium Canon. Reg., 16 December). day roughly coincides with the anniversary of his death. In 354, asked Eusebius to join Bishop Vercelli is dedicated to him. Lucifer of Cagliari in carrying a request to the Emperor Constantius II at Milan, pleading for the emperor to con- voke a council to end the dissentions over the status of and the matter of Arianism. The synod was held in Milan in 355. Eusebius attended 2 Works part of the council, but refused to condemn Athanasius and so was exiled, first to in Syria, under the The Catholic Encyclopedia gives the following: three watchful eye of the Arian bishop Patrophilus, whom Eu- short letters of Eusebius are printed in Migne, Pat.Lat., sebius calls his jailer, then to Cappadocia, and lastly to XII, 947-54 and X, 713-14. (Of Famous Men, c. the Thebaid, in Upper Egypt. Several letters surrounding lvi, and Epstle li, n. 2) ascribes to him a Latin transla- the council written to or by Eusebius still survive, as do tion of a commentary on the Psalms, written originally two letters written by him during his exile. in Greek by Eusebius of Caesarea; but this work has On the accession of , the exiled bishops were free been lost. There is preserved in the cathedral at Ver- to return to their sees, in 362. Eusebius passed through celli the Codex Vercellensis, the earliest manuscript of Alexandria and there attended Athanasius’ synod of 362 the old Latin Gospels (“Codex a”), which was believed which confirmed the divinity of the Holy Ghost and the to have been written by Eusebius, thought now scholars orthodox doctrine concerning the Incarnation. The synod tend to doubt it.[3] It was published by Irico (Milan 1748) also agreed both to deal mildly with the repentant bishops and Bianchini (Rome, 1749), and is reprinted in Migne, who had signed Arianizing creeds under pressure and to XII, 9-948; a new edition was brought impose severe penalties upon the leaders of several of the out by Belsheim (Christiania, 1894). Krüger (Lucifer, Arianizing factions. Bischof von Calaris, Leipzig, 1886, 118-30) ascribes to While still on his way home, Eusebius took the synod’s Eusebius a baptismal oration by Caspari (Quellen sur decisions to Antioch and hoped to reconcile the schism Geschichte des Taufsymbols, Christiania, 1869, II, 132- there. The church was divided between adherents of 40). The confession of faith “Des. Trinitate confessio”, Eustathius of Antioch, who had been deposed and ex- P.L., XII, 959-968, sometimes ascribed to Eusebius, is iled by the Arians in 331, and those of the Meletians. spurious. Since Meletius’ election in 361 was brought about chiefly A modern edition of his writings is found in the 9th vol- by the Arians, the Eustathians would not recognize him, ume of Corpus Christianorum - Series Latina.[4]

1 2 5 BIBLIOGRAPHY

5 Bibliography

• N. Everett, “Narrating the Life of Eusebius of Ver- celli”, in R. Balzaretti and E.M. Tyler (eds), Narra- tive and History in the Early Medieval West (Turn- hout, 2006: Brepols), pp. 133–165.

A part of the Codex Vercellensis, believed to have been written by Eusebius in the year 370.

3 References

[1] “Book of Martyrs,” New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1948

[2] “Calendarium Romanum” (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 148

[3] As the text of the Bible presented in the manuscript differs from the one Eusebius uses, cfr. J. VEZIN, ‘Les livres util- isés comme amulettes et reliques’ in: Das Buch als magis- ches und als repräsentationsobjekt, ed. by P. Ganz (Wies- baden: Harrassowitz 1992), 107-115.

[4] Brepols.net

4 External links

• Fourth Century Christianity:

• Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Eusebius (of Vercelli)

• His writings

• Santi e beati: Sant' Eusebio di Vercelli (Italian) 3

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