Rodippus

Saint Rodippus (Rhodippus), hierarch, was the second bishop of the city of Lentini in Sicily, and died there in 312, according to some in 317. His story is bound up with the legend of the three martyr brothers, Alphius, Philadelphus and Cyrinus, remembered as the martyrs of Lentini. After their death, Rhodippus and his cousin Neophytus had the same dream: the apostle Andrew appeared to them, ordained Neophytus bishop and Rhodippus deacon. Rhodippus served as deacon to his cousin, who by tradition became the first bishop of Lentini. After Neophytus died, Rhodippus became the second bishop and, according to the legend, shepherded for seventeen years.

The legend was first written down by the Greek Orthodox Basilian monks. Rhodippus is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church, which was the main faith of Sicily until the invasion of the Arabs, then the veneration was revived in the Roman Catholic Church in Sicily. He appears in the Synaxarion of the Saints of Magna Graecia.