Senator of Milan

Saint Senator of Milan, also called Senator of Settala, was bishop of Milan from 472 to 475. He is honoured as a saint in the Orthodox and the Catholic Church and is remembered on 28 May (in some sources on 29 May, the day of his death).

The main source for him is the writings of Ennodius, bishop of Pavia in the early sixth century, who describes him as a man of great eloquence and wit and attributes to him commentaries on the Prophets. He was born at Settala, about fifteen kilometres east of Milan. His ecclesiastical career was linked to his spiritual guide, Saint Abundius, bishop of Como. In the summer of 450 Senator, still a priest, was part of a deputation led by Abundius that took the letters of Pope Leo the Great, of 17 June 450, to Constantinople, to the emperor Theodosius II, the empress Pulcheria and the patriarch Anatolius, written to denounce their support of the doctrines of Eutyches, held to be heretical. The deputation reached Constantinople, took part in the synod called by Patriarch Anatolius and was received by the emperor Marcian. The envoys returned to Rome before June 451, and Abundius and Senator returned to Milan with papal letters to Bishop Eusebius of Milan. In September 451 they attended a local synod in Milan, with eighteen bishops from all over northern Italy, where they gave an account of their journey to the East. The next month the doctrines of Eutyches were formally condemned by the Council of Chalcedon.

Senator became bishop of Milan in 472 and was actively involved in the spiritual and material care of the diocese. In 472 he founded the Basilica of Saint Euphemia in Milan, dedicated to the martyr Euphemia, which today bears his name too. Euphemia was linked with the condemnation of Eutychian doctrine, because the Council of Chalcedon was held in a church dedicated to her and a miracle of hers brought about the condemnation. Senator died on 29 May 475 and was buried in the basilica he had built. His feast is kept on 28 May because 29 May was already occupied by another commemoration.