VALERIAN, bishop, saint. — He succeeded Fortunatian, bishop of Aquileia, before 371.
He took part in the Council that Pope Damasus held in Rome around 371, when Auxentius, the Arian bishop of Milan, was deposed; in 372 he corresponded with St. Basil of Caesarea regarding the Arian controversies. Around 370–73, he hosted Rufinus and St. Jerome in Aquileia, who wrote with great praise of the clergy of Aquileia. He participated in 381 in the Council presided over in Aquileia by St. Ambrose and then in 382 in that presided over in Rome by Pope Damasus. He died on 27 November 388.
Bibl.: Martyr. Hieronymianum, p. 622; Lanzoni, II, pp. 886 ff.; P. Paschini, Le vicende religiose del territorio friulano, in Mem. stor. forogiu., 8 (1912), pp. 43 ff.; P. Batiffol, Le Siège apost., Paris 1924, pp. 19 ff.; Fliche-Martin-Frutaz, III, pp. 300 ff., 303, 483.