ANIANUS of CELEDA. - The deacon ANIANUS of Celeda (place unknown) was one of the most zealous defenders of the Pelagian heresy. When St Jerome, in one of his letters (Epist. 133), drew a connection between the heresy of Pelagius and the doctrines of Mani, Priscillian, Jovinian, Rufinus, and Evagrius Ponticus, ANIANUS wrote (between 418 and 420) in refutation of this opinion. His work has been lost. ANIANUS of Celeda is usually identified with the ANIANUS who translated various homilies of Chrysostom. The translation is in rhythmic prose, and ANIANUS reveals himself as an expert in both languages. His Latin, given the times, is correct and even ornate. It is probable that Pelagius made use of ANIANUS in the compilation of his works, since some linguistic affinities between the two authors are noted. A sample of ANIANUS’s original style is found in the letters to the priest Evangelius and to Bishop Orontius prefixed to the translations of Chrysostom’s homilies.
ANIANO DI CELEDA
BIBL.: The homilies of Chrysostom translated are: the seven De laudibus s. Pauli (PG 50, 471-514); the first 25 on the Gospel of Matthew (PG 58, 975-1058); here only seven homilies are found in translation; for the others one must consult the ancient editions. Cf. G. Mercati, Note di letteratura biblica e cristiana antica (Studi e Testi, 5). Rome 1901, pp. 140-44; and the homily Ad neophytos, of which only fragments remain in Greek. V. S. Haidacher, Eine unbeachtete Rede hl. Chrysostomus an Neugetaufte, in Zeitschrift für kath. Theologie, 28 (1904), pp. 168-77. It has also been attributed, among other works, to ANIANUS the homily De muliere Chanaanae found among the works of Lorenzo the Melilline (PG 56, 105-116), which is a translation from Chrysostom, and the version of De compunctione by the same author. Cf. Ch. Baur, L'antike litteraire de S. Chrysostome dans le monde latin, in Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique, 8 (1907), pp. 253-71; P. Courcelle, Les lettres grecques au Occident (Bibliothèque des écoles fr. d'Artères et de Rome, 190), Paris 1943, pp. 134-91.