EONE DELLA STELLA (Euno, Eudo de Stella). - Heretic, born in Brittany, condemned to perpetual imprisonment by the Council of Reims in 1148; died shortly after.
Uncultured and fanatical, he believed himself designated in the liturgical prayer for *eum (Eon) qui venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos per ignem* as the Son of God and judge of the world. He exploited the religious sentiment of the masses in Brittany and Gascony, who were oppressed by the unchecked arrogance of the feudal lords, presenting himself
as the founder and evangelizer of these two communities. That E. was an ethnic Christian is evident from the decisive manner in which he is distinguished from the group named immediately before (Col. 4, 10 ff.) as belonging to the circumcision.
While Paul was imprisoned for the first time in Rome (though some think rather in Caesarea; V. PRISON, EPISTLES of the), E. came to visit him and brought him generally encouraging news about the condition of the community at Colossae (Col. 1, 4-8). Indeed, it seems that his love for the Apostle, whom he calls a "dearly beloved fellow servant" (Col. 1, 7), led him to remain with him almost as a voluntary prisoner, hence the title "converted" in Philem. 23. His stay in Rome must have been prolonged, since the delivery of the letter to the Colossians—perhaps suggested by E. himself—and that to Philemon were entrusted to Tychicus and Onesimus. The *Martyrologium Romanum* commemorates him on July 19 as bishop and martyr of Colossae.