Vigilius of Trent

Saint Vigilius, hieromartyr, was bishop of Trent and is the patron of the city, who died a martyr on 26 June 405. Of a high-⁠ranking Roman family, he brought Arians and pagans to the faith of Nicaea in the Alpine lands near Trent. He is venerated mainly in the West, and the Church commemorates him on 26 June.

Life

According to tradition he was a Roman patrician, the son of Maxentia and a man whose name is sometimes given as Theodosius. His brothers, Claudian and Magorian, are also venerated as saints. He studied at Athens and seems to have been a friend of Saint John Chrysostom. In 380 he settled at Trent and was chosen bishop of the city. He was consecrated either by Saint Ambrose of Milan or by Valerian of Aquileia. Ambrose gave him the episcopal insignia and watched over him like a father.

As bishop he sought to bring Arians and pagans to the faith of Nicaea and is said to have founded thirty parishes in his diocese. He is regarded as the founder of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Trent. A letter attributed to Ambrose urges him to oppose marriages between Christians and pagans. He also preached at Brescia and Verona, outside his diocese.

Sisinnius, Martyrius and Alexander

As helpers in the mission Ambrose sent him Sisinnius, Martyrius and Alexander, who according to tradition were from Cappadocia. In 397 the three were killed at Sanzeno, after they had tried to bring the local people to Christianity. Vigilius forgave the killers and sent the remains of the three to John Chrysostom at Constantinople and to Simplicianus, Ambrose's successor, at Milan. In the twentieth century Milan gave some of them back to Sanzeno. A work on their martyrdom is attributed to Vigilius.

Vigilius is linked with the story of Saint Romedius, often shown beside a bear or riding one. According to Romedius's Life, he wished to see Vigilius, a friend from youth, but a bear tore his horse apart. Romedius had the bear bridled by his disciple David, and the bear, made gentle, carried him on its back to Trent.

Martyrdom

According to a much later tradition, Vigilius was killed in the Rendena valley, where he was preaching to people who worshipped the god Saturn, accompanied by his brothers Claudian and Magorian and the priest Julian. After celebrating the liturgy he overturned the god's statue into the river Sarca. As punishment he was stoned to death.

Veneration

He was buried in the church he had built at Trent, enlarged by his successor Eugippius and dedicated to him, which became Trent cathedral. He was honoured at once after his death, and the acts of his life and death were sent to Rome. Pope Innocent I seems to have made a formal canonization, so that Benedict XIV calls him the first martyr canonized by a pope. In 1386 his arm was separated as a distinct relic and placed in its own reliquary. He is venerated in Tyrol. A German peasants' saying, tied to a second feast of his on 31 January, holds that if it freezes on Vigilius's day, frost will come in March.