Ferreolus and Ferrutio

Infobox Saint
name= Saint Ferreolus and Ferrutio
birth_date=
death_date=~212 AD
feast_day= June 16
venerated_in= Roman Catholic Church,
Eastern Orthodox Church


imagesize= 200px
caption= "Statue of Ferreolus of Besançon. Basilique Saint-Ferjeux, near Besançon".
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death_place=
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patronage=Besançon
major_shrine= Basilica of Saint-Ferjeux
suppressed_date=
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Saints Ferreolus and Ferrutio ( _fr. Ferréol and Ferjeux; _it. Ferreolo e Ferruccio) (d. ca. 212 AD) are venerated as martyrs and saints by the Catholic Church. Their legendary acts state that they were converted to Christianity by Saint Polycarp.Alban Butler; Paul Burns, "Butler’s Lives of the Saints" (Continuum International, 2000), 117.] They were brothers who were ordained as a priest and deacon, respectively, by Saint Irenaeus of Lyons. They were sent to the area around Besançon as missionaries. They are called natives of Asia Minor;cite web | last =Rabenstein | first =Katherine | title =Ferreolus and Ferrutio MM (RM) | work =Saints O' the Day for June 16 | date =June 1998 | url =http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0616.htm | accessdate =2007-12-10] Alban Butler believed that they have been Greeks from Athens, “but it is more probable that they were natives of Gaul who had studied in Asia Minor and come under Christian influence.”

After working as missionaries amongst the Sequani for 30 years, in 212, during the persecution of Alexander Severus, they were arrested, tortured and beheaded.

Veneration

According to their legend, their relics were discovered in a cave near Besançon in 370 by a military tribune whose dog was chasing a fox. The relics were enshrined by Bishop Anianus of Besançon in the 4th century. Saint Gregory of Tours writes that miracles were attributed to their relics in his time; he says that his brother-in-law was cured of a dangerous at the saints' intercession. The "Missale Gothicum" (ca. 700 AD) contains a full proper of the Mass in their honor. In the sixteenth century, they were invoked in Besançon against sickness, along with Saint Sebastian and Saint Roch. [cite web | title =L'origine des maladies | url =http://jeanmichel.guyon.free.fr/monsite/histoire/metiers/peste.htm | accessdate =2007-12-10 fr icon]

Ferreolus appears in a catalogue of the 17th century as a bishop of Besançon, but the liturgy of Besançon has always remembered Ferreolus as a priest, and Ferrutio as a deacon.cite web | last =Borrelli | first =Antonio | title =Santi Ferreolo e Ferruccio | work =Santi Beati | date =2003-02-06 | url =http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/57700 | accessdate =2007-12-10 it icon] Ferreolus and Ferrutio, as patrons of Besançon, are considered to have appeared on the city walls in times of danger. The two saints have been represented in stained glass, paintings, and statues in many churches and chapels in the two diocese of the Franche-Comte: Saint-Claude and Besançon.

The Basilique Saint-Ferjeux is a basilica that is situated in the neighborhood of Saint-Ferjeux, Besançon.

They are depicted on a French lantern slide dating from 1900. [cite web | last =Madhu | first =Janice | title = Misc. Lantern Slides - Strip 61 | work =Still Photograph Archive | publisher =George Eastman House | date =2002 | url =http://www.eastman.org/ar/strip61/htmlsrc/lants_sum00016.html | accessdate =2007-12-10]

Gallery

Notes

External links

* [http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/saintsf.htm Saints Ferreolus and Ferrutio] at "Orthodox Europe"
* [http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0616.htm Saints of June 16] from St. Patrick Catholic Church in Washington, D.C.
* [http://perso.orange.fr/arhfilariane.org/communes/stf_pth/fargeau_ferreol.htm Saint Ferréol et Saint Fargeau] fr icon
* [http://catholique-besancon.cef.fr/ Diocèse de Besançon] fr icon
* [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/57700 Santi Ferreolo e Ferruccio] from "Santi Beati" it icon