Catervus

Saint Catervus is the patron of the town of Tolentino in Italy, honoured as a hierarch, of the fourth century, according to some sources. He is said to have brought the Christian faith to Tolentino. His commemoration is on 17 October. He is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church; our sources mention no Orthodox veneration.

According to tradition, Catervus was martyred for bringing Christianity to Tolentino. It is known that Tolentino had bishops by the fifth century. The Cathedral of San Catervo in Tolentino holds his relics in his original fourth-⁠century marble sarcophagus, carved with the Good Shepherd and the Adoration of the Magi. The cathedral seems to have been built on the site of the saint's Roman mausoleum. On the tablet of the sarcophagus his full name is given as Flavius Julius Catervus. He seems to have been of noble, senatorial rank, rising to the rank of prefect. He died at the age of fifty-⁠six; his wife, Septimia Severina, had the sarcophagus made for both of them. The difference between the tradition of martyrdom and the tomb inscription, which shows a nobleman and prefect, is not clarified in the sources.

When the sarcophagus was opened in 1455, his head was moved to a reliquary, for greater veneration. It is recorded that in 1567 his body was found, together with those of his wife and of their son Basso (Bassus). About two thousand coins were found in the sarcophagus.