St. Apollinaris is celebrated in Ravenna on July 23: the life and miracles of the Patron Saint are inextricably linked to the city’s history and places.
St. Apollinaris’ mission is linked with the spread of Christianity and the founding of the Church of Ravenna, in ancient times second only to Rome.
Who was St. Apollinaris?
The sources tell us that Apollinaris was a native of Antiochia and was a disciple of Saint Peter. They moved to Rome together and, on the Apostle’s instructions, he was sent to Classe, with the mission of spreading the Gospel.
At the time the city was a key military and economic center, with a multicultural population and with a large presence of Orientals.
The Sources
Psalm 128 of St. Peter Chrysologus (5th cent.) referres that Saint Apollinaris was the first bishop of the Church of Ravenna. He “labored for Holy Mother Church, that she might never be separated from her own bishop,” and like a “Good Shepherd he watched over his flock.”
The Passio Sancti Apollinaris (6th-7th cent.) is another indispensable document for the knowledge of the Saint’s life. It presents him as a wandering Evangelist and adds details of numerous miracles.
At the site of his martyrdom today stands the wonderful Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe.
The places of Saint Apollinaris
Tradition has it that St. Apollinaris baptized the first Christians where the small Church of Sant’Eufemia stands today.
Inside the small church, from which the Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra is accessed, there is an inscription on the well of the sacristy that reads: “Coepit hic Fides ravennatium“ (“Here began the faith of the people of Ravenna”).
At the site of his martyrdom and tomb, as already mentioned, the wonderful Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe was built in the 6th century.
The Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, built under the rule of the Goth King Theodoric and initially dedicated to Christ, was instead dedicated to the Holy Bishop only in the 9th century
The relics of the head and right hand of St. Apollinaris are preserved in the Cathedral of Ravenna. They are kept in a 1924 bronze and crystal reliquary, housed inside the high altar.
Every July 23, the small altar window is opened, allowing the faithful to venerate the relics of the Patron Saint.
The image of Saint Apollinaris
In the glittering apsidal mosaics of Sant’Apollinare in Classe the figure of the saint shines, in a central position. He is standing, arms outstretched and palms facing upward in the act of prayer, dressed in a chasuble decorated with bees (a symbol of eloquence and industriousness) and surrounded by sheep.
The iconography has a close connection with the Psalm of St. Peter Chrysologus, and will be a model of inspiration for monuments, works of art, manufactures, decorative and liturgical apparatuses.
His figure also appears in numerous altarpieces kept both in the city’s Cathedral and in the small Church of Sant’Eufemia.
At the Archiepiscopal Museum we can admire the many testimonies of a devotion that has been strengthened over the centuries.
On display at the Mar – Ravenna Art Museum is the marble bust of St. Apollinaris sculpted by the artist Berthel Thorvaldsen (1770-1884). A very fine work, which depicts the saint, in bishop’s robes, with absorbed and pensive look.
Since the end of the 15th century, we can admire the all-round sculpture of St. Apollinaris, along with that of San Vitale, in the Piazza del Popolo. From the top of its column, it dominates and protects the city’s symbolic square.
The cult of St. Apollinaris
During the Medieval period, the cult of Saint Apollinaris was enriched thanks to Northern European cities, when a diaspora of his relics departed from Ravenna, through France, the Netherlands and Germany. Today Apollinaris is the patron saint of Düsseldorf , which celebrates him around July 23rd with the largest fair on the Rhine river, which had its first edition in the first years of the 14th century.
The life of St. Apollinaris tells an ancient story that shows how the cities and people of the Mediterranean and Europe, seemingly far apart, were actually very close.