ONOFRIUS, Saint. - Hermit of the Thebaid in Egypt, died toward the end of the 4th century or at the beginning of the 5th (the date 375 has no foundation).

His feast in the Latin Church is celebrated on June 12 and in the Eastern Church on June 10. The only source that can be drawn upon is the biography left to us by Paphnutius, which passed into the Synaxaria. The circumstances surrounding O.'s life are for the most part legendary. Having entered the monastery of Hermopolis and having heard of the life of the prophet Elijah and of St. John the Baptist, he is said to have become enthusiastic about the eremitical life and, having withdrawn into the desert, to have lived there 60 years without seeing the face of a man, except for Paphnutius, who assisted him at his death. His cult was brought to Italy (St. O. on the Janiculum, in Rome), France, Germany and Spain at the time of the Crusades. Art, drawing inspiration from the description left to us by Paphnutius, represents him both in the act of receiving Holy Communion from the hand of an angel, and in horrible forms, shaggy, clothed in wild plants, etc.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: PL. 73, 211-20; the Acta SS. Junii, III, Paris-Rome 1867, pp. 16-30 contain the Life of O. left to us by Paphnutius; Syntax. Constantinopol., col. 745 ff.; BHG 101; W. E. Crum, Discours de Pisenthius sur si Onuphre, in Rev. de l'Orient chrétien, 10 (1915-17), pp. 38-67; P. Cheneau, Les Saints d'Egypte, II, Jerusalem 1923, pp. 123-30; K. Künste, Ikonographie der christlichen Kunst, II, Freiburg im Br. 1928, pp. 479 ff.

Martiniano Roncaglia

@incollection{ec9_onofrio_santo, author = {Roncaglia, Martiniano}, title = {Onofrio, santo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IX}, pages = {134--135}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/onofrio-santo} }

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Onofrius, Saint

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