Petronius, Saint

SAINT PETRONIUS. — The information concerning him is uncertain and obscure. In the Roman Martyrology he is commemorated on 4 October.

From the few references made by Gennadius it may be gathered that he was Bishop of Bologna, that he wrote a series of Vitae Patrum, and that he died before 450. A biography of P. was written toward the end of the 12th century, based on oral traditions and replete with fables. According to this account P. was born in Constantinople of an illustrious family descended from Constantine the Great; as a youth he studied in his native city, making great progress in learning and piety; he entered the clergy and from his brother-in-law, Emperor Theodosius II, he received several court appointments. Sent to Rome to report to Pope Celestine on certain heretics, he was elected Bishop of Bologna. There he worked to build churches reproducing the holy places of Jerusalem, and after his death he was buried in the church of S. Stefano which he had built.