Flavian of Ricina

Holy Hierarch Flavian of Ricina is venerated as bishop of the city of Helvia Ricina (today Macerata) in the Marche region of Italy, in the 3rd century. Tradition says he was martyred on 24 November. His cult is ancient and widespread in the Marche and Umbria, but little is known about the facts of his life. He is sometimes confused with Archbishop Flavian of Constantinople.

His successor in the see, Saint Claudius (4th century), is said to have fixed the day of his commemoration and built a church for him. After the Goths ravaged Ricina in the 5th and 6th centuries, its people moved to Recanati and carried the veneration of the saint with them; other refugees are said to have taken the relics toward Tolentino, where an oratory was built. On its site the Benedictine abbey of Rambona still keeps the relics of Flavian. The sarcophagus, however, dates from the 4th century, so some think the relics belong to another saint, Amicus, abbot of Rambona.

The cult at Recanati nearly died out in the 15th century but revived after the plague of 1483, when a procession was held in his honor. He is a saint of the undivided Church.