FILARETE di CALABRIA, saint. — Basilian ascetic, born in Palermo in 1020 to Calabrian parents deported by the Saracens, died on 6 April 1070. His family regained its freedom in 1038, and F. went with them to Calabria. In 1040 he was in Reggio; shortly afterward he withdrew to the monastery of Aulinas, near Tauriano; then to Sinopoli and finally, at the age of 25, to S. Elia above Palmi, where he placed himself under the ascetic guidance of the abbot Oreste, who rigorously trained him in the spiritual life. He was subjected to many mortifications and was finally assigned to guard the stable. But he won the esteem of his contemporaries, who regarded him as a saint. He was venerated with public cult at S. Elia (Palmi), to which his name was added, and in Palermo, whose cathedral preserves some relics.
Filarete of Calabria, Saint
BIBL.: The life was written in Greek by his disciple, the monk Nilo, and is preserved in cod. 29 (ff. 3–14) of the University Library of Messina, with a copy in cod. II, E. 11 of Palermo and II, A. 26 of Naples. It was translated into Latin by A. Fiorito and published by O. Gaetani, in Vitae SS. Sicularum, II, Palermo 1637, pp. 112–127, and in Acta SS. Aprilis, I (1865), pp. 603–16; A. Mongiore, Vita di s. F. condensare, Palermo 1703; D. Martire, Calabria sacra e prolana, I, Cosenza 1877, pp. 296–304; M. Amar, Storia dei musulmani in Sicilia, II, Catania 1935, pp. 471–72.
Cite this article
“FILARETE DI CALABRIA, SANTO.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V (1950), p. 775. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/filarete-di-calabria-santo.