FILARETE OF CALABRIA, Saint. - Basilian ascetic, b. in Palermo in 1020 to Calabrian parents who had been deported by the Saracens, d. 6 April 1070. His family regained its freedom in 1038, and with them F. made his way to Calabria. In 1040 he was at 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 trained him rigorously in the spiritual life. He was subjected to many mortifications and was finally put in charge of the stable. But he won the respect of his contemporaries, who considered him a saint. He was venerated with public cult at S. Elia (Palmi), to which his name was added, and at Palermo, in whose cathedral some relics are preserved.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: The life was written in Greek by his disciple the monk Nilus and is preserved in cod. 29 (ff. 3-14) of the University Library of Messina, with a copy in codd. 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.

Francesco Russo

@incollection{ec5_filarete_di_calabria_santo, author = {Russo, Francesco}, title = {Filarete di Calabria, santo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {1290}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/filarete-di-calabria-santo} }

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Filarete of Calabria, Saint

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