ALFIO, Saint, Martyr. - They were from Lentini. This saint, with his two brothers Philadelphus and Cyrinus, is known to us from a late text (8th-9th centuries) and of no historical value. Difficult to identify are the country of origin and the year of the martyrdom, which began in Rome, continued in Pozzuoli, Taormina and Catania, and was completed in Lentini on 10 May. The text suggests that it took place under Licinius (307-13); Papenbroeck, however, assigns it to 251. The bodies of A. and his companions were found outside Lentini only in 1517. The Byzantine Synaxaria commemorate them on 10 May; in the Roman Martyrology they were introduced on the same date by Baronio.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: Acta SS. Mani, II, Antwerp 1680, pp. 502-50, 771-788; BHG, 57-62; Synax. Contantinop., pp. 671-72; Martyr. Romanum, p. 182; Lanzoni, pp. 629-31.

A. Pietro Frutaz

ST. ALPHIUS, FOLKLORE

The popular cult of St. Alpheus is especially widespread in Sicily. In Catania, on the night of May 9-10, the so-called "nudi" climb barefoot to the Etnean village of Trecastagni, where the saint is particularly venerated, and come back down in the afternoon of the 10th in festively decked-out carts. This votive journey gives rise to typical forms of popular devotion. Paolo Toschi

@incollection{ec1_alfio_santo_martire, author = {Frutaz, Amato Pietro and Toschi, Paolo}, title = {Alfio, santo, martire}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {I}, pages = {849}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1948}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/alfio-santo-martire} }

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Alfio, Saint, Martyr

ST. ALPHIUS, FOLKLORE

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