GERANUS, saint, bishop of CAPUA. - The information concerning him is scanty and uncertain. The earliest source to mention him is the Dialogues of St Gregory the Great. According to the author of the Liber Pontificalis, G. was the one who in 519 formed part of the delegation sent to Constantinople by Pope Hormisdas to negotiate and settle the question of the Henoticon and the Acacian schism.
There exists a biography, not earlier than the 7th century, poor in information and modelled on the earliest sources, according to which G. was the son of a certain Amantius; having been orphaned, with his mother’s consent he distributed all his possessions to the poor, living in penance and meditation. Elected bishop of Capua, he went to Constantinople, and on his return devoted himself to the welfare of his diocese. He died in 541, and St Benedict, according to what St Gregory writes, at the very moment of his death saw his soul ascend to heaven in a globe of fire.