Zeno, Bishop of Verona, Saint

ZENO, Bishop of Verona, Saint. - Ecclesiastical writer of the 4th century. Of African origin, from Mauretania or more probably from Numidia, he completed his studies in rhetoric at Carthage, as can be deduced from the Sermones attributed to him.

The term Tractatus, by which the manuscript tradition has handed down the Sermones, has led to his being considered a bishop, since Z.'s homilies were delivered on occasions when it fell to the bishop to speak to the faithful, as at the dedication of a basilica, at the conferring of Baptism, during the paschal liturgy. Z.'s residence in Italy and the episcopal see of Verona held by him were already assigned to the 4th century by Flavio Biondo (1482) and St. Bernardino of Siena (ca. 1490). Modern writers have confirmed this opinion with arguments drawn from the Sermones: 1) modes of expression common to the other writers of the 4th century, especially Lactantius and St. Hilary of Poitiers; 2) the heresies that Z. combats, such as those of Arius, of Audius, of Helvidius, etc.; 3) the description of the barbarian incursions; 4) the hyperbolic assertion that the Christian religion already occupies the whole world; 5) the observation that the Basilica he built appeared on the day of its dedication too small for the concourse of the faithful.

The constant Veronese tradition places Z. in eighth position in the series of bishops. From the letter of St. Ambrose to Syagrius, Z.'s third successor, it is concluded that he was a contemporary of the great Doctor of the Church of Milan. Wishing to determine more precisely the chronological date of his episcopate, the brothers Pietro and Girolamo Ballerini, who in 1739 published the first edition of the Sermones, placed it between 362 and 380 and, later, P. Monceaux between 8 Dec. 362 and 12 Apr. 371 or 372.

Z. is not to be counted among the martyrs, as a foreign tradition would have it that began with St. Gregory the Great (Dialog, III, 19). The local tradition of the 8th century says, rightly, that he died in time of peace.

If one considers the esteem enjoyed by Z. among his contemporaries and posterity, the silence of St. Jerome, of St. Isidore of Seville, of Gennadius of Marseilles is astonishing; likewise one cannot explain the neglect that St. Ambrose, Petronius, one of Z.'s successors, and St. Gregory the Great showed toward his literary activity. The first witness to Z. as a writer is Ratherius, bishop of Verona in the 10th century, who cites him three times in the sermon De Juda et Thamar. At the beginning of the 14th century, Giovanni, a mansionary of the church of Verona, in his Historia Imperialia records the name of Z. in eighth position in the episcopal series of that city and mentions several of his Sermones. Through the aforementioned Giovanni, around the middle of the same century, they were known to Guglielmo Pastrengo and Pietro de Natalibus (v.), who in his Catalogus Sanctorum indicates 76 of them. Knowledge of Z.'s literary activity does not seem to have crossed the boundaries of the Church for which the Sermones were written. A confirmation of this would be given by the manuscript tradition preserved in the Reims codex of 770-75, written for the Church of Verona, but donated by Hincmar of Reims, around 840, to the Library of St. Remigius. This codex contains 103 Sermones, of which the Ballerini recognized only 93: 16 longer and 77 shorter, rather outlines. In the Sermones Z. wages a strenuous battle against dying paganism, Arianism and the disorders that had infiltrated his Church. As an orator he displays a good rhetorical preparation, but his language reveals the influence of African authors who preceded him.

His theological doctrine offers fine testimonies on the Trinity and on Mariology. Z.'s Sermones are a very rich source for the study of Christian antiquities, both in liturgical manifestations and in the constitution of the communities.

The Roman Martyrology commemorates the deposition of Z. on 12 Apr. as a martyr, in an improper sense, and his episcopal consecration on 8 Dec., originally the date of the dedication of the church of St. Z. (cf. Martyr. Romanum, pp. 135, 573; V. Fainelli, Codice diplomatico Veronese, I, Venice 1940, no. 74, pp. 92-94).

Benedetto Pesci