Terence of Pesaro

Infobox Saint
name= Saint Terence of Pesaro
birth_date=
death_date=~251 AD
feast_day= September 24
venerated_in= Roman Catholic Church


imagesize= 250px
caption= Giovanni Bellini’s Pesaro Altarpiece
birth_place=
death_place=
titles= Military Saint
canonized_date=
canonized_place=
canonized_by=
attributes= Aging bishop; Young soldier holding a palm of martyrdom and a model of Pesaro
patronage=Pesaro
major_shrine= Cathedral Basilica of Pesaro
suppressed_date=
issues=

Saint Terence (San Terenzio) is the patron saint of Pesaro. According to tradition, he was from Pannonia and fled to the Adriatic coast to escape the persecution of Christians under Decius (ca. 250–51). His corpse was eventually thrown into a gorge near some hot springs (locally called "acqua mala" or "acqua cattiva"), near Pesaro. [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92249 Santi Beati: San Terenzio Vescovo e martire] ] The place of his martyrdom was considered to be the area called the Apsella di Montelabbate, near the Abbey of San Tomaso in Foglia. This area contains sulphurous springs, and locally they are called the "l'Acqua di S. Terencio".

An alternate tradition [ [http://www.arcidiocesipesaro.it Arcidiocesi di Pesaro] ] makes him the first bishop of Pesaro, and a native of the city, rather than a Pannonian layman. Early representations of Terence depict him as an aging bishop. [http://www.museicivicipesaro.it/sezioni_pin_sala2_4.asp Musei Civici Pesaro] ] However, later depictions show him as a young man in military dress, with the palm of martyrdom in one hand and a model of the city in the other, thus counting him amongst the “military saints.” [http://www.cami74.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12921 Domani Festa del Patrono di Pesaro San Terenzio] ] Giovanni Antonio Bellinzoni of Pesaro (ca. 1415 – ca. 1477) depicts him this way.

Veneration

His body may been buried by Bishop Florentius of Pesaro outside of the city, close to Caprile, which ancient documents call the "Valle di S. Terenzio". Another tradition states that his body was buried by a local woman named Theodosia. His relics were then translated to the basilica of San Decenzio (now the Chiesa del Cimitero centrale) before being translated in the sixth century to the new cathedral at Pesaro by Bishop Felix of Pesaro.

The relics, placed inititally in a crypt, were transferred by Giovanni Benedetti in 1447 to a large altar in which the relics were placed in a wooden urn, on which the aforementioned painter Bellinzoni depicted Terence. The urn is now found at the Museo Civico, in Palazzo Toschi-Mosca, and the relics themselves were translated to a new urn in a new cathedral chapel inaugurated in 1909, where the following inscription can be found: "CIVITAS PISAURENSIS TUTELARI SUO A.D. MCMIX".

As a soldier saint, Terence is considered to have appeared twice in times of crisis, the second vision occurring on June 9, 1793, in the times of the Cisalpine Republic, when Pesaro was besieged by French troops: a horseman appeared on the walls of the city, accompanied by a woman dispensing munitions. The vision terrified the French so much that they abandoned their siege. In gratitude, Terence was officially proclaimed patron of the city on March 20, 1802.

Terenzio's most famous figuration in art is his minor appearance—as a young soldier saint—in a predella panel of Giovanni Bellini's "Pesaro Altarpiece", "The Coronation of the Virgin" (ca. 1475–80); in it Terenzio, as the city's patron, holds a model representing the "Nuova Rocca", or "Fortezza Costanzo", the citadel of Pesaro newly rebuilt by Costanzo Sforza. [Everett P. Fahy Jr., "New evidence for dating Giovanni Bellini's Coronation of the Virgin" "The Art Bulletin" 46.2 (June 1964:216-218).]

Notes

External links

*it icon [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92249 San Terenzio]
*it icon [http://www.cami74.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12921 DOMANI FESTA DEL PATRONO DI PESARO SAN TERENZIO]