Agnellus of Naples

Venerable Agnellus of Naples, also called Aniello the Abbot, was a Basilian monk and later an Augustinian friar, abbot at Naples, where he was born and died on 14 December 596. He is venerated as a saint and is remembered on the day of his death, 14 December.

The first major mention of him is in the Libellus miraculorum, a tenth-⁠century hagiography written by Peter the Subdeacon. He was born in 535 at Naples, into a rich family of Syracusan origin, possibly related to Saint Lucy; his father was named Federico and his mother Giovanna. He spent his youth as a hermit in a cave near a chapel of the Mother of God, then in the church of Santa Maria Intercede, later called Sant'Agnello Maggiore. The rich inheritance left by his parents he used for works of charity, among them founding a hospital for the poor. He became so beloved among the inhabitants of Naples that they asked him to save the city during the Lombard invasion of 581, and he appeared carrying a banner of the cross to defend the city. Wishing to live in retreat, he left Naples and went to Monte Sant'Angelo, then to the village of Guarcino, where he stayed seven years and where there is a shrine to him. He later returned to Naples, became an Augustinian friar and then a priest at the monastery of Gaudiosus of Naples, where he became abbot and where he died aged sixty-⁠one. He is venerated as patron of Naples and of several places, among them Sant'Agnello, Roccarainola and Guarcino.