EUSEBIUS OF VERCELLI, Saint. - Born in Sardinia. In the Church of Rome he held the office of lector and later, around 345, he was appointed bishop of Vercelli. He is regarded as the apostle of Piedmont; he was the first in the West to introduce the regular life among the diocesan clergy.
Against Arianism, which was spreading ever more widely, favored and protected by the emperor Constantius who, having defeated Magnentius at Mursa in 351, had extended his authority over the lands of the West, he rose with courage and firmness to defend the orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, finding valuable support in Hilary of Poitiers. In the year 354 he was sent by Pope Liberius together with Lucifer, bishop of Cagliari, to Arles to the emperor Constantius so that, since Athanasius had been condemned by prelates subservient to the imperial will and even by the pontifical legate Vincent of Capua, assembled in synod during the emperor's winter stay at Arles and not at Aquileia, as the Pope wished, he might urge Constantius to convoke a new synod. Since the emperor had an interest in Arianism spreading in the territories of the West, he agreed to the request of the embassy, and in the early months of 353 such a council took place at Milan. E. took an active part in it and demanded that, since a great part of the assembly was heretical, it should subscribe to the Nicene Creed. Those present did not agree to the request, and E. openly rebelled against the will of the emperor and his faction, and rather than subscribe to the deposition of Athanasius, he chose exile. He was at Scythopolis, in Cappadocia, and finally in Egypt, whence "e tertio exilio" the edict of Julian the Apo-
(by courtesy of Msgr. Ferraris)
EUSEBIUS of VERCELLI, saint - Codex Evangeliorum (cod. a), probably an autograph of St. E.: 1st and 2nd col.: Lk. 14:2-8; 2nd and 4th col.: Lk. 13:21 ff. - Vercelli, chapter archive of the Cathedral.
state of 361 recalled him. D. between 370 and 371. The Church numbers him among its martyrs (Dec. 16).
Among his writings three letters remain: 1st Ad Costantium Augustum, with which he replies to the Emperor who had invited him to go to the Council; 2nd Ad Presbyteros et plebem Italiae, sent from his Palestinian exile to the Church of Vercelli. In it there is an Exemplar libelli faci ad Patrophilum cum suis in which he defends himself against the accusations brought against him by the Arian bishop Patrophilus; 3rd Ad Gregorium episcopum Spanensem, sent from Egypt to Gregory of Elvira.
St. Jerome, who numbers him among the viri illustres (De vir. ill., 96), attributes to him the Latin translation of the Commentaries on the Psalms of Eusebius of Caesarea (v.).
Among the works of doubtful authenticity are: 1st Symbolum Athanasianum, the Symbolum Quicunque and seven of the twelve pseudo-Athanasian books De Trinitate, which Burn regards as authentic while denying the Symbolum.
2nd De Sancta Trinitate confessio. 3rd Exortatio s. Ambrosii episcopi ad neophytos de Symbolo, attributed by some to Lucifer of Cagliari, by others (Brewer) to Rufinus. It is still doubtful whether he wrote the Codex of the Gospels preserved in the cathedral of Vercelli, which is one of the most important biblical documents before St. Jerome.