Saint Placide
Disciple de saint Benoît
de Nursie (VIe siècle)
Pendant cinq siècles, les bénédictins l'honorèrent comme un saint serviteur de Dieu. Il ne fut ni évêque, ni martyr. Saint Grégoire le Grand, dans ses "Dialogues" nous apprend qu'il avait été confié très jeune à saint Benoît qui l'emmena avec lui à Subiaco puis au Mont-Cassin où il serait mort dans son lit. Mais au XIIe siècle, d'autres bénédictins de Sicile voulurent en faire un martyr sicilien, lui inventèrent une "passion". Placide serait venu du Mont-Cassin à Messine où des pirates envahirent son monastère et torturèrent les moines. A la fin du XVIe siècle, parmi des squelettes découverts à Messine, l'on attribua l'un ou l'autre à ces pauvres moines. L'histoire est plus sobre. Saint Placide mourut bien au Mont-Cassin.
Commémoraison des saints Maur et
Placide, moines, qui furent, dès leur enfance, des disciples très chers de
l'abbé saint Benoît, au VIe siècle.
Martyrologe romain
_-_St._Benedict_welcomes_his_disciples%2C_Maurus_and_Placidus_by_Palma_Il_Giovane.jpg)
Saint Placide et ses
Compagnons
Martyrs
(518-542)
Saint Placide appartenait
par sa naissance à une des plus anciennes et des plus célèbres familles de
Rome. Il fut confié, âgé de sept ans, à saint Benoît, pour être élevé à
Subiaco, sous sa conduite. On le voit dès lors pratiquer rigoureusement les
exercices de la vie monastique. L'obéissance l'ayant envoyé un jour chercher de
l'eau dans le lac voisin, il tombe et est entraîné par les flots. Benoît, du
fond de son monastère, a la connaissance miraculeuse de ce malheur; il appelle
son disciple Maur: "Courez vite, mon frère, lui dit-il, l'enfant est tombé
à l'eau." Maur s'élance, muni de la bénédiction de l'abbé, marche sur les
eaux, saisit par les cheveux l'enfant, qui surnage encore, et le ramène sur le
bord.
Depuis ce temps, Placide
fit des progrès plus grands encore, au point que saint Benoît lui-même en était
dans l'admiration. Le saint abbé envoya plus tard son bien-aimé disciple en
Sicile pour y établir un monastère. Son austérité y devint de plus en plus
étonnante et allait beaucoup au-delà des prescriptions de la Règle; il ne
buvait jamais que de l'eau, faisant Carême en tout temps et souvent ne mangeant
que trois fois la semaine et du pain seulement. Pour vêtement il portait un
cilice; son siège était son unique lit de repos; son silence n'était interrompu
que par les saintes exigences de la charité. Par sa vertu d'humilité, il
attirait à lui tous les coeurs.
Ses innombrables miracles
le rendirent presque l'égal de saint Benoît: un jour, en particulier, il guérit
par sa bénédiction tous les malades de son île réunis près de lui.
Placide et ses religieux
furent faits prisonniers, dans leur couvent, par des pirates cruels qui les
maltraitèrent affreusement. Le Saint animait ses compagnons à la persévérance.
Le tyran, outré de dépit à la vue de l'inébranlable constance des martyrs, les
fit, à différentes reprises, fustiger très cruellement; mais Notre-Seigneur
vint fermer et guérir leurs plaies. Placide exhortait le tyran et ses bourreaux
à se convertir au christianisme; c'est alors qu'on lui brisa les lèvres et les
mâchoires à coups de pierres et qu'on lui coupa la langue jusqu'à la racine.
Mais le martyr parla aussi bien qu'auparavant. Le bourreau, n'étant nullement
touché du prodige, inventa un nouveau supplice; il fit coucher le saint moine à
terre et lui laissa toute une nuit sur les jambes des ancres de navire avec
d'énormes pierres. Tous ses efforts vinrent échouer devant cet invincible
défenseur de la foi. Placide et ses compagnons eurent enfin la tête tranchée.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_placide_et_ses_compagnons.html
_-_Chapel_of_St._Placidus.jpg)
_-_Martyrdom_of_St._Placidus_by_Luca_Giordano.jpg)
Luca Giordano (–1705), Il martirio di San Placido e dei suoi compagni, 1676, 358 x 188, Abbey of Santa Giustina, Padua
Saint Placide et ses
Compagnons (518-542)
LEÇON DU BRÉVIAIRE ROMAIN
Placide est né à Rome,
d'un père nommé Tertullus, appartenant à la première noblesse. Offert à Dieu
dès son enfance et confié à saint Benoît, il fit de si grands progrès dans la
vertu et dans les observances monastiques qu'il mérita d'être compté parmi les
plus illustres disciples du Saint. Envoyé par lui en Sicile, il fonda, près du
port de Messine, une église et un monastère en l'honneur de saint
Jean-Baptiste, et il mena, en compagnie de ses moines, une vie admirable de
sainteté. Ses frères Eutychius et Victorinus, ainsi que sa sœur la Vierge
Flavie, vinrent l'y visiter, mais en même temps, un cruel pirate, nommé
Manucha, abordait à ces rivages. Il s'empara du monastère et, ne pouvant par
aucun moyen amener Placide et ses compagnons à renier le Christ, il le fit
cruellement massacrer, ainsi que ses frères et sa sœur. Avec eux, il y avait
aussi Donat, le diacre Firmat, Faustus et trente autres moines, qui
consommèrent heureusement le combat du martyre en même temps que lui, le cinq
Octobre, l'an du salut cinq cent trente-neuf.
SOURCE : http://www.icrsp.org/Calendriers/Le%20Saint%20du%20Jour/Placide-et-ses-Compagnons.htm
_(14580130787).jpg)
St Placide et ses
Compagnons, martyrs
Groupe de Martyrs
attestés en Sicile, identifiés, selon la légende bénédictine codifiée par
Pierre Diacre, avec le disciple de St Benoît (qui vécu au VIème siècle) à
partir du XIIème siècle. Inscrits au calendrier en 1588. Si ce Placide n’a rien
a voir avec la légende bénédictine, le martyrologe Hiéronymien nous assure d’un
culte de ces Martyrs dès le IVème siècle.
Leçon des Matines (avant
1960)
Troisième leçon. Placide
naquit à Rome. Tertullus, son père, occupait un rang très élevé dans la société
romaine. Offert à Dieu dès son enfance et confié à saint Benoît, il fit de si
grands progrès dans la vertu et dans les observances de la vie monastique,
qu’il mérita d’être compté parmi les plus illustres disciples du saint
patriarche. Envoyé par lui en Sicile, il fonda, près du port de Messine, une
église et un monastère en l’honneur de saint Jean-Baptiste, et il mena, en
compagnie de ses moines une vie admirable de sainteté. Ses frères Eutychius et
Victorinus, ainsi que sa sœur, la vierge Flavie, vinrent l’y visiter. A la même
époque, un pirate cruel, nommé Manucha, abordait à ces rivages. Il s’empara du
monastère, et, ne pouvant par aucun moyen, amener Placide et ses compagnons à
renier le Christ, il le fit massacrer ainsi que ses frères et sa sœur. Donat,
le diacre Firmat, Faustus et avec eux trente moines, soutinrent heureusement
jusqu’au bout le combat du martyre en même temps que lui, le troisième jour des
nones d’octobre, l’an du salut cinq cent trente-neuf.
die 5 octobris
Ss. Placidi et Sociorum
Martyrum
Commemoratio (ante CR
1960 : simplex)
Missa Salus
autem, de Communi plurimorum Martyrum III loco, cum orationibus ut
infra
Oratio
Deus, qui nos concédis
sanctórum Mártyrum tuórum Plácidi et Sociórum eius natalítia cólere : da
nobis in ætérna beatitúdine de eórum societéte gaudére. Per Dóminum.
Secreta
Múnera tibi, Dómine,
nostræ devotiónis offérimus : quæ et pro tuórum tibi grata sint honóre
Iustórum, et nobis salutária, te miseránte, reddántur. Per Dóminum.
Postcommunio
Præsta nobis, quǽsumus, Dómine : intercedéntibus sanctis Martýribus tuis Plácido et Sóciis eius ; ut, quod ore contíngimus, pura mente capiámus. Per Dóminum.
le 5
octobre
St Placide et ses
Compagnons
Martyrs
Commémoraison (avant
1960 : simple)
Messe Salus
autem, du Commun de plusieurs Martyrs III, avec les oraisons
ci-dessous :
Collecte
O Dieu qui nous faites la
grâce d’honorer la naissance au ciel de vos Saints Martyrs Placide et ses
Compagnons, accordez-nous de jouir de leur société dans l’éternité
bienheureuse.
Secrète
Nous vous offrons
Seigneur, ces dons de notre piété ; faites que vous étant présentés en
l’honneur de vos justes, ils vous soient agréables et qu’ils nous soient rendus
salutaires grâce à votre miséricorde.
Postcommunion
Accordez-nous, s’il vous
plaît, Seigneur, que vos saints martyrs Placide et ses Compagnons, intercédant
pour nous, nous gardions en un cœur pur ce que notre bouche a reçu.
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/05-10-St-Placide-et-ses-Compagnons
Il Sodoma (1477–1549), Storie di san Benedetto 012 : Come Benedetto riceve li due giovanetti romani Mauro e Placido, affresco, 1505-1508, abbazia territoriale di Monte Oliveto Maggiore
Saint Placide
La sainteté de saint
Benoît dans sa grotte de Subiaco attira bientôt autour de lui de nombreux
disciples, parmi lesquels les deux plus grands furent saint Maur, l’apôtre de
l’Ordre Bénédictin en France, et saint Placide.
Confiés tous deux au
saint Patriarche, le premier à douze ans et le second dès l’âge de sept ans,
par leurs parents qui appartenaient aux plus illustres familles patriciennes de
Rome, ils firent, sous la direction d’un tel maître, les plus rapides progrès dans
la sainteté.
Saint Benoît avait une
prédilection toute spéciale pour le jeune Placide, et de même que le Sauveur
choisissait quelques-uns de Ses disciples pour être témoins de Ses miracles, il
aimait à se faire accompagner de ce pieux enfant lorsque Dieu lui donnait d’en
opérer.
Un jour que puisant de
l’eau dans le lac de Subiaco, saint Placide y était tombé et que les flots
l’emportaient loin de la rive, l’homme de Dieu envoya saint Maur qui en
marchant miraculeusement sur l’eau, le délivra.
Ayant suivi saint Benoît
au Mont-Cassin avec saint Maur, il y fut l’un des plus fermes soutiens du grand
Patriarche des Moines d’Occident.
Aujourd’hui l’Office et
la Messe célèbrent la mémoire de plusieurs Chrétiens qui furent mis à mort en
Sicile vers 541 par des pirates sarrasins. D’après une pieuse tradition ces
martyrs étaient saint Placide, sa sœur et les moines que saint Benoît avait
envoyés avec lui.
Saint Placide appartenait
par sa naissance à une des plus anciennes et des plus célèbres familles de Rome.
Il fut confié, âgé de sept ans, à saint Benoît, pour être élevé à Subiaco, sous
sa conduite. On le vit dès lors pratiquer rigoureusement les exercices de la
vie monastique.
L’obéissance l’ayant
envoyé un jour chercher de l’eau dans le lac voisin, il tombe et est
entraîné par les flots. Saint Benoît, du fond de son monastère, a la
connaissance miraculeuse de ce malheur ; il appelle son disciple
saint Maur : « Courez vite, mon frère, lui dit-il ;
l’enfant est tombé à l’eau ». Saint Maur s’élance, muni de la bénédiction
de l’Abbé, marche sur les eaux, saisit par les cheveux l’enfant, qui surnage
encore, et le ramène sur le bord. Depuis ce temps, saint Placide fit des progrès
plus grands encore, au point que saint Benoît lui-même en était dans
l’admiration.
Le saint Abbé envoya plus
tard son bien-aimé disciple en Sicile pour y établir un monastère et y
assembler une communauté religieuse. Son austérité y devint de plus en plus
étonnante et allait beaucoup au delà des prescriptions de la Règle ; il ne
buvait jamais que de l’eau, faisant carême en tout temps et souvent ne mangeant
que trois fois la semaine et du pain seulement. Pour vêtement il portait un
cilice ; son siège était son unique lit de repos ; son silence
n’était interrompu que par les saintes exigences de la charité ; ses
paroles n’avaient pour objet que les choses du salut et le saint amour de Dieu.
Par sa vertu d’humilité
il attirait à lui tous les cœurs. Ses innombrables miracles le rendirent
presque l’égal de saint Benoît : un jour, en particulier, il guérit par sa
bénédiction tous les malades de son île réunis près de lui.
Saint Placide et ses
religieux furent faits prisonniers, dans leur couvent, par des pirates cruels
qui les maltraitèrent affreusement. Le Saint animait ses compagnons à la
persévérance. Le tyran, outré de dépit à la vue de l’inébranlable constance des
martyrs, les fit, à différentes reprises, fustiger très cruellement ; mais
Notre-Seigneur vint fermer et guérir leurs plaies. Saint Placide exhortait
le tyran et ses bourreaux à se convertir au christianisme ; c’est alors
qu’on lui brisa les lèvres et les mâchoires à coups de pierres et qu’on lui
coupa la langue jusqu’à la racine. Mais le martyr parla aussi bien
qu’auparavant. Le bourreau, n’étant nullement touché du prodige, inventa un
nouveau supplice : il fit coucher le saint moine à terre et lui laissa
toute une nuit sur les jambes des ancres de navire avec d’énormes pierres. Tous
ses efforts vinrent échouer devant cet invincible défenseur de la Foi.
Saint Placide et ses
compagnons eurent enfin la tête tranchée, le 5 octobre 541, Vigile
étant pape, Justinien empereur d’Orient et Childebert Ier roi des
Francs.
En châtiment de tant de
barbarie, peu de jours après, toute la flotte sarrasine périt dans une tempête.
Saint Benoît fut heureux et fier d’avoir engendré dans la Foi des martyrs à
Dieu.
SAINT PLACIDE
(518-542)
et SES COMPAGNONS
Martyrs
(† 542)
Saint Placide appartenait
par sa naissance à une des plus anciennes et des plus célèbres familles de
Rome. Il fut confié, âgé de sept ans, à saint Benoît, pour être élevé à
Subiaco, sous sa conduite. On le voit dès lors pratiquer rigoureusement les
exercices de la vie monastique. L'obéissance l'ayant envoyé un jour chercher de
l'eau dans le lac voisin, il tombe et est entraîné par les flots. Benoît, du
fond de son monastère, a la connaissance miraculeuse de ce malheur ; il
appelle son disciple Maur : « Courez vite, mon frère, lui dit-il,
l'enfant est tombé à l'eau. » Maur s'élance, muni de la bénédiction de
l'abbé, marche sur les eaux, saisit par les cheveux l'enfant, qui surnage encore,
et le ramène sur le bord.
Depuis ce temps, Placide
fit des progrès plus grands encore, au point que saint Benoît lui-même en était
dans l'admiration. Le saint abbé envoya plus tard son bien-aimé disciple en
Sicile pour y établir un monastère. Son austérité y devint de plus en plus
étonnante et allait beaucoup au-delà des prescriptions de la règle ; il ne
buvait jamais que de l'eau, faisant carême en tout temps et souvent ne mangeant
que trois fois la semaine et du pain seulement. Pour vêtement il portait un
cilice ; son siège était son unique lit de repos ; son silence
n'était interrompu que par les saintes exigences de la charité. Par sa vertu
d'humilité, il attirait à lui tous les cœurs.
Ses innombrables miracles
le rendirent presque l'égal de saint Benoît : un jour, en particulier, il
guérit par sa bénédiction tous les malades de son île réunis près de lui.
Placide et ses religieux furent faits prisonniers, dans leur couvent, par des pirates cruels qui les maltraitèrent affreusement. Le saint animait ses compagnons à la persévérance. Le tyran, outré de dépit à la vue de l'inébranlable constance des martyrs, les fit, à différentes reprises, fustiger très cruellement ; mais Notre-Seigneur vint fermer et guérir leurs plaies. Placide exhortait le tyran et ses bourreaux à se convertir au christianisme ; c'est alors qu'on lui brisa les lèvres et les mâchoires à coups de pierres et qu'on lui coupa la langue jusqu'à la racine. Mais le martyr parla aussi bien qu'auparavant. Le bourreau, n'étant nullement touché du prodige, inventa un nouveau supplice ; il fit coucher le saint moine à terre et lui laissa toute une nuit sur les jambes des ancres de navire avec d'énormes pierres. Tous ses efforts vinrent échouer devant cet invincible défenseur de la foi. Placide et ses compagnons eurent enfin la tête tranchée.
©Evangelizo.org ©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
SOURCE : http://peripsum.org/main.php?language=TRF&module=saintfeast&localdate=20151005&id=322&fd=0
- Saint Placide de Rome et ses compagnons, martyrs à Messine en Sicile. 541.
Pape : Vigile.
Empereur romain d'Orient : Justinien Ier.
" Combattons énergiquement, afin que Dieu nous couronne pour
l'éternité."
Saint Bonaventure. Serm. XII Pentec.
Placide, né à Rome, eut
pour père Tertullus, de la très noble famille des Anicii. Il fut, encore
enfant, offert à Dieu et confié à saint Benoît. D'une admirable innocence, tels
furent ses progrès dans la vie monastique, qu'il compta parmi les principaux
disciples du maître. Il était présent, lorsqu'une source miraculeuse jaillit, à
la prière de celui-ci, au désert de Sublac. Un autre prodige est celui dont il
fut l'objet lorsque, tout jeune encore, étant allé puiser au lac il y tomba et
fut sauvé, au commandement du bienheureux père, par le moine Maur courant à
pied sec sur les eaux.
Il accompagna Benoît lors de sa retraite en Campanie et, dans sa vingt-deuxième
année, fut envoyé en Sicile pour y défendre contre d'injustes déprédations les
possessions et droits assurés par son père au monastère du Mont-Cassin. De
grands et nombreux prodiges marquèrent sa route, et ce fut précédé de la
renommée de sa sainteté qu'il parvint à Messine. Il lut le premier qui
introduisit dans l'île la discipline monastique, en construisant non loin du
port, sur le domaine paternel, un monastère où trente moines furent rassemblés.
Rien qui l'emportât sur
lui en placidité douce, en humilité ; en prudence, gravité, miséricorde,
perpétuelle tranquillité d'âme, il surpassait tout le monde. La contemplation
des choses célestes absorbait le plus souvent ses nuits, ne s'asseyant un peu
que lorsque s'imposait la nécessité du sommeil. Combien grand n'était pas son
amour du silence ! Fallait-il parler, tout son discours était du mépris du
monde et de l'imitation de Jésus-Christ. Son zèle pour le jeûne était tel,
qu'il s'abstenait toute l'année de chair et de laitage ; pendant le Carême, les
mardi, jeudi et Dimanche, il se contentait de pain et d'eau fraîche, se passant
les autres jours de toute nourriture. Il ne but jamais de vin, porta
perpétuellement le cilice. Cependant si grands, si nombreux étaient les
miracles de Placide, que leur éclat lui amenait en foule, implorant guérison,
les malades non seulement du voisinage, mais encore de l'Etrurie et de
l'Afrique ; toutefois il avait pris, dans son insigne humilité, l'habitude
d'opérer au nom de saint Benoît ces divers miracles et de lui en attribuer le
mérite.
Sa sainteté, ses prodiges favorisaient grandement les progrès de la religion
chrétienne, quand, la cinquième année depuis sa venue en Sicile, eut lieu une
irruption subite de Sarrasins. Or, il se trouva que dans ces mêmes jours
Eutychius et Victorinus, frères de Placide, avec sa sœur la vierge Flavia,
étaient arrivés de Rome pour lui faire visite ; les barbares, surprenant
l'église du monastère pendant l'office de nuit, s'emparèrent d'eux, ainsi que
de Donat, de Fauste, du diacre Firmat et des trente moines.
Donat eut aussitôt la tête tranchée. Les autres, amenés devant Manucha le chef
des pirates, furent sommés d'adorer ses idoles ; ce qu'ayant sans faiblir
refusé de faire, on les jeta pieds et poings liés en prison sans aucune
nourriture, après les avoir frappés de verges, et avec ordre de les frapper
tous les jours. Mais Dieu les soutint ; lorsque après beaucoup de jours on les
ramena au tyran, leur constance dans la foi fut la même ; de nouveau flagellés
à plusieurs reprises, on les suspendit nus la tête en bas au-dessus d'une fumée
épaisse, pour les étouffer. Chacun les croyait morts ; le lendemain, ils
reparaissaient pleins de vie, miraculeusement guéris, sans aucune blessure.
Alors le tyran s'en prit séparément à la vierge Flavia, et ne pouvant rien sur
elle par menaces, il la fit suspendre nue par les pieds à une haute poutre Mais
comme il lui imputait à infamie cette épreuve :
" L'homme et la femme, dit la vierge, ont un seul Dieu pour créateur et
auteur ; c'est pourquoi mon sexe ne me sera pas imputé près de lui à démérite,
ni davantage cette nudité que je supporte pour son amour à lui qui, pour moi,
ne voulut pas être seulement dépouillé de ses vêtements, mais encore attaché
aune croix."
Sur cette réponse Manucha furieux, après avoir repris contre elle le supplice
des verges et de la fumée, ordonne qu'on la livre à la prostitution. Mais la
vierge priait ; Dieu paralysa ceux qui voulurent l'approcher, et les punit de
douleurs subites en tous leurs membres. Après la vierge, ce fut au frère de
soutenir l'assaut. Comme il dénonçait la vanité des idoles, Manucha lui fit
briser à coups de pierres la bouche et les dents, puis commanda qu'on lui
coupât la langue jusqu'à la racine ; mais le martyr n'en parlait pas avec moins
de netteté et d'aisance. La colère du barbare s'accrut à ce prodige ; sur Placide,
sa sœur et ses frères, renversés à terre, il ordonne qu'on entasse en poids
énorme des ancres et des meules, sans pourtant arriver davantage a leur nuire.
Enfin, de la seule famille de Placide trente-six martyrs eurent la tête
tranchée avec leur chef, sur le rivage du port de Messine ; ils remportèrent la
palme avec beaucoup d'autres, le trois des nones d'octobre, l'an du salut 539
ou 541. Quelques jours plus tard, Gordien, moine de ce même monastère échappé
par la fuite, retrouva tous les corps intacts et les ensevelit avec larmes.
Quant aux barbares, ils furent peu après engloutis par les ondes vengeresses de
la mer en punition de leur cruauté.
En 1588. la découverte à Messine des reliques du martyr et de ses compagnons de
victoire est venue confirmer la véracité des Actes de leur glorieuse Passion.
Ce fut à cette occasion que le Pape Sixte-Quint étendit la célébration de leur
fête à toute l'Eglise sous le rit simple.
Profile
Young spiritual student
of Saint Benedictine
of Nursia. Mentioned in the Dialogues of Pope Saint Gregory
the Great. Sent to Messina, Sicily, Italy to
found a monastery. Martyr.
6th
century Messina, Sicily, Italy
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
fonti
in italiano
MLA
Citation
“Saint Placidus of
Messina“. CatholicSaints.Info. 28 January 2024. Web. 6 June 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-placidus-of-messina/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-placidus-of-messina/
Abteikirche
Mariä Himmelfahrt (Plankstetten) Matthias Zink (1665-1738), Benediktlegende
(Wandfresko) (1727): Maurus kann über Wasser laufen und Placidus vor dem
Ertrinken bewahren (Gregor der Große: Buch II der Dialoge, Kap. VII)
Short
Lives of the Saints – Saint Placidus and Companions, Martyrs
Entry
Saint Placidus when but
seven years old was entrusted to Saint Benedict’s care to be trained in virtue
and learning. He was already making great progress in the ways of holiness,
when one day, while drawing water from the Lake of Subiaco, the boy fell into
the water and was nearly drowned. Saint Benedict, seeing the accident in
spirit, sent one of his monks to the rescue, and Placidus was saved.
Thenceforth he continued to advance in holiness; and eventually founded a
monastery in the environs of Messina. A large number of religious gathered
around him, and their retreat became the edification of all Sicily. When they
had faithfully accomplished their work, in the year 546, Saint Placidus and
several of his companions received the crown of martyrdom at the hands of a
band of pirates.
. . . But who
to these can turn
And weigh them ‘gainst a weeping world like this,
Nor feel his spirit burn
To grasp so sweet a bliss,
And mourn that exile hard which here his portion is?
– from the Spanish of Father Luis Ponce de Leon, O.S.A.
Favorite Practice – To
draw profit from all the accidents of life.
MLA
Citation
Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly.
“Saint Placidus and Companions, Martyrs”. Short
Lives of the Saints, 1910. CatholicSaints.Info.
19 April 2021. Web. 6 June 2024. <https://catholicsaints.info/short-lives-of-the-saints-saint-placidus-and-companions-martyrs/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/short-lives-of-the-saints-saint-placidus-and-companions-martyrs/
Book
of Saints – Placidus, Eutychius, Victorinus, Flavia, Donatus, Firmatus, Faustus
and Others
Article
(Saints) Martyrs (October
5) (6th
century) Martyrs of Messina in Sicily,
venerated there from ancient times. According to the account accepted from
the fourteenth
century downwards, Saint Placidus
was the youthful disciple of Saint Benedict,
mentioned in the Dialogues of Saint Gregory
the Great; Saints Eutychius
and Victorinus were brothers of Saint Placidus
and Saint Flavia
was their sister. The rest, some thirty in number, were monks sent
with Saint Placidus
by Saint Benedict
to found a monastery in Sicily.
A detailed legend translated from the Greek tells
how they were set upon by “pirates” (Vandals or Northmen, probably) and
barbarously murdered (A.D. 541).
However, since the seventeenth
century this story has been severely criticised. In substance, indeed,
it may be reliable; or, at least, it cannot be demonstrated that the Sicilian Martyrs were
not Benedictine monks,
as alleged. The alternative view is that they were Martyrs of
one of the early persecutions whose
Acts have been lost, and that the coincidence of the name “Placidus” misled the
Mediaeval hagiographers.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Placidus, Eutychius, Victorinus, Flavia, Donatus, Firmatus, Faustus and
Others”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
4 October 2016. Web. 6 June 2024. <https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-placidus-eutychius-victorinus-flavia-donatus-firmatus-faustus-and-others/>
Klosterkirche
Mariä Himmelfahrt in Kladruby, Fresko an der Querhausstirnwand (1726): Cosmas Damian Asam (1686–1739. Bruder
Maurus kann über Wasser laufen und Placidus vor dem Ertrinken bewahren (Gregor
der Große: Buch II der Dialoge, Kap. VII)
St. Placidus
St. Placidus, disciple of
St. Benedict, the son of the patrician Tertullus, was brought as a child to St.
Benedict at Sublaqueum (Subiaco) and dedicated to God as provided for
in chapter 69 of St.
Benedict's Rule. Here too occurred the incident related by St. Gregory (Dialogues,
II, vii) of his rescue from drowning when his fellow monk, Maurus, at St.
Benedict's order ran across the surface of the lake below the monastery and drew
Placidus safely to shore. It appears certain that he
accompanied St. Benedict when, about 529, he removed to Monte Cassino, which was
said to have been made over to him by the father of Placidus. Of his later life
nothing is known, but in an ancient psalterium at Vallombrosa his
name is found in the Litany
of the Saints placed among the confessors immediately after those of
St. Benedict and St.
Maurus; the same occurs in Codex CLV at Subiaco, attributed to
the ninth century (see Baumer, "Johannes Mabillon", p. 199, n. 2).
There seems now to be
no doubt that
the "Passio S. Placidi", purporting to be written by one Gordianus, a
servant of the saint,
on the strength of which he is usually described as abbot and martyr, is really the
work of Peter the
Deacon, a monk of Monte Cassino in
the twelfth century (see Delehaye, op. cit. infra). The writer seems to
have begun by confusing St. Placidus with the earlier Placitus, who, with
Euticius and thirty companions, was martyred in Sicily under Diocletian, their feast
occurring in the earlier martyrologies on 5
October. Having thus made St. Placidus a martyr, he proceeds to
account for this by attributing his martyrdom to Saracen invaders
from Spain —
an utter anachronism in the sixth century but quite a possible blunder if the
"Acta" were composed after the Moslem invasions
of Sicily. The
whole question is discussed by the Bollandists (infra).
Sources
Acta SS., III Oct.
(Brussels, 1770), 65-147; MABILLON, Acta SS. O.S.B., I (Paris, 1668), 45; IDEM,
Annales O.S.B., I (Paris, 1703); IDEM, Iter italicum (Paris, 1687), 125;
GREGORY THE GREAT, Dial., II, iii, v, vii, in P.L., LXV, 140, 144, 146; PIRRI,
Sicilia sacra (Palermo, 1733), 359, 379, 432, 1128; ABBATISSA, Vita di S.
Placido (Messina, 1654); AVO, Vita S. Placidi (Venice, 1583); Compendio della
vita di s. Placido (Monte Cassino, 1895); DELEHAYE, Legends of the Saints, tr.
CRAWFORD (London, 1907), 72, 106.
Huddleston,
Gilbert. "St. Placidus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
12. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1911. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12142b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Herman F. Holbrook. Ut in
omnibus glorificetur Deus per Iesum Christum.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil
Obstat. June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John
Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12142b.htm
Francesco Solimena (1657–1747). Le
Martyre de Saint Placide et de sainte Flavie, 1697-1708
huile
sur toile, 75 x 133, Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest)
St. Placidus, Abbot, and
Companions, Martyrs
From St. Greg. Dial. l.
2, c. 3, 7, and Mabillon, Annal. Bened. t. 1, who shows the several acts of
their martyrdom to be pieces of no authority, with all the instruments
relative; which is confirmed at large by Bue the Bollandist, § 3 and 4.
A.D. 546.
THE REPUTATION of the
great sanctity of St. Benedict, whilst he lived at Sublaco, being spread
abroad, the noblest families in Rome brought their children to him to be
educated by him in his monastery. Equitius committed to his care, in 522, his
son Maurus, then twelve years of age, and the patrician Tertullus his son
Placidus, who was no more than seven. Philip of Macedon, recommending his son
Alexander the Great to Aristotle, whom he had chosen for his preceptor, in his
letter upon that subject, gave thanks to his gods not so much for having given
him a son as for providing him with such a master for his education. With far
more reason Tertullus rejoiced that he had found such a sanctuary, where his
son, whilst his heart was yet untainted by the world, might happily escape its
contagion. St. Gregory relates, that Placidus being fallen into the lake of
Sublaco, as he was fetching some water in a pitcher, St. Benedict, who was in
the monastery, immediately knew this accident, and, calling Maurus said to him:
“Brother, run, make haste; the child is fallen into the water.” Maurus, having
begged his blessing, ran to the lake, and walked upon the water above a
bow-shot from the land to the place where Placidus was floating, and, taking
hold of him by the hair, returned with the same speed. Being got to the land,
and looking behind him, he saw he had walked upon the water, which he had not
perceived till then. St. Benedict ascribes this miracle to the disciple’s
obedience; but St. Maurus attributed it to the command and blessing of the
abbot, maintaining that he could not work a miracle without knowing it.
Placidus decided the dispute by saying: “When I was taken out of the water I
saw the abbot’s melotes upon my head, and himself helping me out.” The melotes
was a sheep’s skin worn by monks upon their shoulders. We must observe that St.
Placidus, being very young had not yet received the monastic tonsure and habit.
This miraculous corporal preservation of Placidus may be regarded as an emblem
of the wonderful invisible preservation of his soul by divine grace from the
spiritual shipwreck of sin. He advanced daily in holy wisdom, and in the
perfect exercise of all virtues, so that his life seemed a true copy of that of
his master and guide, the glorious St. Benedict; who, seeing the great progress
which divine grace made in his tender heart, always loved him as one of the
dearest among his spiritual children, and took him with him to Mount Cassino in
528. The senator Tertullus, principal founder of this monastery, made them a
visit soon after their arrival there, saw with pleasure the rising virtues of
his son Placidus, and bestowed on St. Benedict part of the estates which he
possessed in that country, and others in Sicily. The holy patriarch founded
another monastery upon these latter near Messina, a great city with a fine
harbour, upon the straits which part Italy from Sicily. Of this new colony St.
Placidus was made abbot. Dom Rabache de Freville, the present sub-prior of St.
Germain-des-Prez, in his manuscript life of St. Maurus, places the arrival of
that saint at Angers in France, and the foundation of the abbey of Glenfeuil,
in 543, the very year in which St. Benedict died. St. Placidus is supposed to
have gone to Sicily in 541, a little before the holy patriarch’s death, being
about twenty-six years of age. He there founded a monastery at Messina. The
spirit of the monastic state being that of penance and holy retirement, the
primitive founders of this holy institute were particularly watchful entirely
to shut the world out of their monasteries, and to guard all the avenues
through which it could break in upon their solitude. Its breath is always
poisonous to those who are called to a life of retirement. Charity may call a
monk abroad to serve his neighbour in spiritual functions; but that person only
can safely venture upon this external employment who is dead to the world, and
who studies to preserve in it interior solitude and recollection, having his
invisible food and sacred manna, and making it his delight to converse secretly
in his heart with God, and to dwell in heaven. This spirit St. Placidus had
learned from his great instructor, and the same he instilled into his religious
brethren. 1 He
had not lived many years in Sicily before a Pagan barbarian, with a fleet of
pirates from Africa rather than from Spain, then occupied by Arian Goths, not
by Pagans, landed in Sicily, and out of hatred of the Christian name, and the
religious profession of these servants of God, put St. Placidus and his
fellow-monks to the sword, and burnt their monastery, about the year 546.
All true monks devote
themselves to God; they separate themselves from the world, and do not entangle
themselves in secular business, that they may more easily seek perfectly and
with their whole hearts, not those things which are upon earth, but those which
are in heaven. This is the duty of every Christian, as Origen elegantly
observes, 2 and
as St. Paul himself teaches, 3 according
to the divine lessons of our blessed Redeemer. For to be dead to the world, and
to live to Christ, is the part of all who are truly his disciples. Those who
live in the world must so behave as not to be of the world. They must be
assiduously conversant in prayer and other exercises of religion. Their work
itself must be sanctified and dedicated to God by the like motives with which
the ancient monks applied themselves to penitential manual labour, 4 or
to external spiritual functions.
Note 1. SS.
Placidus, Eutychius, and thirty other martyrs are commemorated in the most pure
copies of the ancient Martyrology ascribed to St. Jerom, viz. that of Lucca
given by Florentinius, that of Corbie in D’Achery, (Spicil. t. 4,) that in
Martenne, (Anecd. t. 3, col. 1563,) &c. also in Ado, Usuard, &c. Solier
the Jesuit, (in Martyrol. Usuardi ad 5 Octob.) Chatelain, (Mart. univ.) Bue the
Bollandist, (1 Octob. p. 66,) &c. think these to be ancient martyrs under
the Roman Pagans. Others have confounded them with the Monks Martyrs. That a
St. Placidus was a disciple of St. Benedict we are assured by St. Gregory,
&c. that he was sent into Sicily is mentioned by Leo Marsicanus in the
eleventh century, (in his Historia Casinensis, l. 1, c. 1,) and that he died
there by martyrdom is recorded by Bertarius, abbot of Cassino, in the eleventh
century, (Carmine de S. Benedicto,) by the old Martyrology of Cassino, (ap.
Muratori, t. 7; Rerum Ital. Col. 935,) Mabillon. (Iter. Ital. t. 1, p. 144,)
&c. St. Placidus is invoked in several Benedictin Litanies before the
eleventh age. See Ruinart. Apol. pro S. Placido, § 3, Card. Bona. Liturg. l. 1,
c. 12, n. 4. Mabillon, Anal. t. 2, &c. First Gelinus, after him Maurolycus,
Molanus, Gelesinius, Baronius, &c. give the title of disciple of St.
Benedict to St. Placidus, honoured on this day, in which the Bollandists suspect
the Monks Martyrs to be substituted in modern Martyrologies in the place of the
Roman Martyrs recorded in more ancient Martyrologies, seeing Usuard, Notker,
&c. though monks, do not mention that circumstance; nevertheless unless
some Martyrology more ancient than St. Benedict could be produced, in which St.
Placidus martyr occurs, the tradition of the Benedictins, who think their St.
Placidus the same, cannot be proved a mistake. At present at least the
Benedictin abbot and his companions are the saints honoured in the Roman
Martyrology on this day. The barbarians, by whose hands they suffered, are
presumed by Mabillon to have been Sclavini, who, in the reign of Justinian,
plundered Thrace and Illyricum, as Procopius relates, l. 3, c. 38, de bello
Gothico. Others think them Arian Goths from Spain; others Arian cruel Vandals,
or pagan Moors subject to them in Africa; others Saracens; but these were not
so early in that neighbourhood, and were not likely to have made a long voyage
from Egypt or Arabia. The acts called the pirate Mamucha.
The monastery of Messina
was soon after rebuilt; its possessions, the original gift of the senator
Tertullus, in Sicily and Italy, were confirmed to it by Pope Vigilius, if
Rocchus Pyrrhus (Siciliæ sacra, l. 4, par. 2,) was not imposed upon by a false
deed. The Saracens from Alexandria invading Sicily in 669, again destroyed this
monastery of St. Placidus, and murdered all the monks; and after it had been
repaired by the monks of Cassino, again destroyed it under their leader
Abraham, about the year 880, as the Chronicles of Cassino relate. The monks
slain there in this its third destruction, are honoured with the title of
martyrs by Cajetan, (De Sanctis Siculis, t. 1, printed in 1610,) and by Wion,
(in Martyrol. Ben.) on the 1st of August. In the year 1276, the bodies of St.
Placidus and his companions were discovered at Messina, in the ruins of the
church of that monastery, which bore the title of St. John Baptist. In 1361
certain noblemen of Messina founded the abbey of St. Placidus of Colonero, ten
miles from Messina, which, in 1432, was removed to a monastery two miles from
Messina. The bodies of St. Placidus and his fellow-martyrs were again
discovered under the ruins of St. John Baptist’s church in Messina, in 1588, known
by the marks of martyrdom and the tradition of the citizens; of which several
relations have been published; thirty-seven bodies of martyrs were found in one
place, deposited separately, and afterwards some others, of which several
relations are published. Pope Sixtus V. in 1588, and again Paul V. in 1621,
ordered their festivals to be kept at Messina, &c. The relics are chiefly
preserved in the priory of St. John Baptist at Messina. See the history of
their discovery, &c. written at that time in Italian, and Mabillon, Diss.
des Saints inconnus, p. 28. Also F. Bue the Bollandist, p. 103, and Bened. XIV.
De Canoniz. Santor. l. 4, par. 2, cap. 33, p. 222. [back]
Note 2. Origen, Hom.
11, in Levit. [back]
Note 3. Col. iii.
2. [back]
Note 4. St. Aug. l.
de Moribus Eccl. Catholicæ, c. 30, 31, et l. de Opere Monachorum; S. Hier. ep.
22, ad Eustoch. &c. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume X: October. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/10/051.html
Saint
Adolari church ( Tyrol ). Church gallery ( 1688 ) - Saint Placidus.
Filialkirche
St. Adolari ( Tirol ). Empore ( 1688 ) - St. Placidus.
Champions
of Catholic Orthodoxy
Ss. Placidus and
Companions, Martyrs (†539; Feast – October 5)
The Protomartyr of the
Benedictine Order stands before us today in his strength and beauty. The Roman
Empire had fallen, and the yoke of the Arian Goths lay heavy upon Italy. Rome
was no longer in the hands of the glorious races which had made her greatness;
these, nevertheless, kept up their honorable traditions. They offered a great
lesson, for future times of revolution, to other descendants of not less noble
families: in lieu of the ensign of civic honor once committed to their fathers,
the survivors of the old patrician ranks made it their duty to raise still
higher the standard of true heroism, of those virtues which alone are
everlasting. Thus St. Benedict of Nursia, fleeing into the desert, had rendered
greater service than any mighty conqueror to Rome and her immortal destinies.
The world soon discovered this fact; and then began, as St. Gregory the Great
tells us (Dialog. lib. 2, ch. 3), the concourse of Roman nobles, bringing
their children to the patriarch of monks, to be educated by him for almighty
God.
Placidus was the eldest
son of the patrician Tertullus. The excellent qualities early discovered in the
child led his worthy father to offer to God, without delay, this dear
first-fruit of his paternity. In those days, parents loved their children, not
for this passing world, but for eternity; not for themselves, but for the Lord.
The faith of Tertullus was well rewarded when, twenty years later, not only his
first-born, but also his two other sons and their sister, were crowned with
martyrdom. This was not the first holocaust of the kind in that heroic family,
if it be true that they were relatives by blood, and heirs of the goods as well
as of the virtues, of the holy Martyr Eustace, who had been immolated four
centuries earlier with his wife and sons (Feast—September 20).
Among the children of
promise enlisted by the vanquished nobles of the ancient Empire in the new
militia of the holy valley, Equitius brought to Subiaco (the site of St.
Benedict's first monasteries) his son Maurus, a boy some years older than
Placidus. Henceforth the names of St. Maurus (Feast—January 15) and
St. Placidus became inseparable from that of St. Benedict; and the patriarch
acquired a new glory from his two sons, so united and yet so different.
Equal in their love of
their master and father, and themselves equally loved by him for their equal
fidelity in good works, they experienced to the full that delight in virtue
which makes its practice a second nature. However similar their zeal in using
"the most strong and bright armor of obedience," in the service of
Christ the King, it was wonderful to see the master accommodating himself to
the age of his disciples; so adapting himself to their differences of
character, that there was nothing precipitate, nothing forced, in his
education. It disciplined nature without crushing it, and followed the Holy
Ghost without endeavoring to take the lead. In St. Maurus was especially
reproduced St. Benedict's austere gravity; in St. Placidus his simplicity and
sweetness. St. Benedict took St. Maurus to witness the chastisement inflicted
on the wandering monk, who would not stay at prayer; but St. Placidus
accompanied him to the mountain-top, where his prayer obtained a spring of
water to deliver from danger and fatigue the brethren dwelling on the rocks
above the Anio. But when, walking along the riverside, holding St. Placidus by
the hand and leaning upon St. Maurus, the legislator of monks explained to them
the code of perfection they were afterwards to propagate, the angels know not
which most to admire: the candor of the one, winning the father's most tender
affection; or the precocious maturity of the other, meriting the holy
patriarch's confidence, and already sharing his burden.
Who does not recollect
the admirable scene of St. Maurus walking on the water and saving St. Placidus
from drowning? Monastic traditions never weary of extolling the obedience of
St. Maurus, St. Benedict's humility, and the sagacious simplicity of the child
pronouncing sentence as judge of the prodigy. Of such children the master could
say from experience: "The Lord often-times revealeth that which is best,
to him that is the younger" (Rule Ch. 3). And we may well believe
that the recollections of the holy valley prompted him, later on, to lay down
in his rule this prescription: "In all places whatsoever, let not age be
taken into account as regardeth order, neither let it be to the prejudice of
anyone; for Samuel and Daniel, while yet children, were judges over the
elders" (Rule Ch. 63).
The following lessons,
taken from the Monastic Breviary, will complete the account of the life of St.
Placidus, and relate the manner of his death. In 1588 the discovery of the
martyrs' relics at Messina confirmed the truth of their Acts. On this occasion,
Pope Sixtus V extended the celebration of their Feast, under the rite of
simplex, to the Universal Church:
St. Placidus, a Roman by
birth and son of Tertullus, belonged to the noble family of the Anicii. Offered
to God while still a child, he was entrusted to St. Benedict, and made such
progress in sanctity and in the monastic life, as to become one of his
principal disciples. He was present when the holy father obtained from God by
prayer a fountain of water in the solitude of Subiaco. While still a boy, being
sent one day to draw water, he fell into the lake, but was miraculously saved
by the monk St. Maurus, who at the command of the holy father ran dry-shod over
the water. Later on he accompanied St. Benedict to Monte Cassino. At the age of
21, he was sent into Sicily, to defend, against certain covetous persons, the
goods and lands which his father had given to Monte Cassino. On the way he
performed so many great miracles, that he arrived at Messina with a reputation
for sanctity. He built a monastery on his paternal estate, not far from the
harbor, and gathered together thirty monks; being thus the first to introduce
the monastic life into the island.
Nothing could be more
placid or more humble than his behavior; while he surpassed everyone in
prudence, gravity, kindness, and unruffled tranquility of mind. He often spent
whole nights in the contemplation of heavenly things, only sitting down for a
short time when overpowered by the necessity of sleep. He was most zealous in
observing silence; and when it was necessary to speak, the subjects of his
conversation were the contempt of the world and the imitation of Christ. His
fasts were most severe, and he abstained all the year round from flesh and
every kind of dairy food. In Lent he took only bread and water on Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Sundays; the rest of the week he passed without any food. He
never drank wine, and always wore a hairshirt. So numerous and so remarkable
were the miracles he worked, that the sick came to him in crowds to be cured,
not only from the neighborhood, but also from Etruria and Africa. But St.
Placidus, in his great humility, worked all his miracles in the name of St.
Benedict, attributing them to his merits.
His holy example and the
wonders he wrought caused the Christian Faith to spread rapidly. In the fifth
year after his arrival in Sicily, the Saracens (who were then pagans, this
being before the time of Mohammed) made a sudden incursion, and seized
upon St. Placidus and his thirty monks while they were singing the night Office
in the church. At the same time were taken Eutychius and Victorinus, St.
Placidus’ brothers, and his sister the virgin Flavia, who had come from Rome to
visit him; and also Donatus, Faustus, and the deacon Firmatus. Donatus was
beheaded on the spot. The rest were taken before Manucha, the chief of the
pirates; and as they firmly refused to adore his idols, they were beaten with
rods, and cast, bound hand and foot, into prison, without food. Every day they
were beaten afresh, but God supported them. After many days, they were again
led before the tyrant; and as they still stood firm in the Faith, they were
again repeatedly beaten, then stripped of their clothes, and hung, head
downwards, over thick smoke to suffocate. They were left for dead, but the next
day were found alive, and miraculously healed of their wounds.
The tyrant then addressed
himself to the virgin Flavia apart. But finding he could gain nothing by
threats or promises, he ordered her to be stripped, and hung by the feet from a
high beam, insulting her meanwhile upon her nakedness. But the virgin answered:
Man and woman have the same author and Creator, God; hence neither my sex, nor
this nakedness which I endure for love of him will be any disadvantage to me in
His eyes, Who for my sake chose not only to be stripped, but also to be nailed
to a cross. Manucha, enraged at this reply, ordered her to be beaten and
tortured with smoke, and then handed her over to be dishonored. At the virgin's
prayer, God struck all who attempted to approach her, with sudden stiffness and
pain in all their limbs. The tyrant next attacked St. Placidus, the virgin's
brother, who tried to convince him of the vanity of his idols; Manucha
thereupon commanded his mouth and teeth to be broken with stones, and his
tongue to be cut out by the root; but the martyr spoke as clearly and easily as
before. The barbarian grew more furious at this miracle, and commanded that St.
Placidus, with his sister and brethren should be crushed under an enormous
weight of anchors and millstones; but even this torture was powerless to hurt
them. Finally, thirty-six of St. Placidus’ family, with their leader, and
several others, were beheaded on the shore near Messina, and gained the palm of
martyrdom on the third of the Nones (the 5th) of October, in the year
of salvation 539. Gordian, a monk of that monastery, who had escaped by flight,
found all their bodies entire after several days, and buried them with tears.
Not long afterwards the barbarians, in punishment of their crime, were
swallowed up by the avenging waves of the sea.
"Placidus, my
beloved son, why should I weep for thee? Thou art taken from me, only that thou
mayest belong to all men. I will give thanks for this sacrifice of the fruit of
my heart, offered to Almighty God." Thus, on hearing of this day's
triumph, spoke St. Benedict, his spiritual father, mingling tears with his joy.
He did not survive St. Placidus long; yet long enough to complete, of his own
accord, the sacrifice of separations, by sending into far-off France the
companion of St. Placidus' childhood, St. Maurus, who was destined not to
rejoin him in Heaven for many long years. Charity seeketh not her own
interests; she finds them by forgetting self, and losing self in God. St.
Placidus had disappeared; St. Maurus had been sent away; St. Benedict was about
to die: human prudence would have believed the holy patriarch's work in danger
of perishing; whereas, at this critical moment, it strengthened its roots and
extended its branches over the whole world. Unless the grain of wheat falling
into the ground die, itself remaineth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit (John 12: 24-25). As heretofore the blood of martyrs was the
seed of Christians, it now produced a rich harvest of monks.
SOURCE : http://www.salvemariaregina.info/SalveMariaRegina/SMR-174/Placidus.htm
.JPG)
San Placido Monaco
sec. VI
Fu, assieme a Mauro, uno
dei più noti discepoli di san Benedetto. Dei due, Placido era forse il più
giovane: poco più che un fanciullo, quando venne posto sotto la guida
dell'abate Benedetto. Per questo viene considerato patrono dei novizi
benedettini. A Placido, oltre che a Mauro, è attribuito un celebre episodio
miracoloso narrato da san Gregorio Magno nei suoi Dialoghi. Mentre Benedetto
era nella sua cella, un giorno, il giovane Placido si recò ad attingere acqua
nel lago. Perse l'equilibrio e cadde nella corrente, che subito lo trascinò
lontano dalla riva. L'abate, nella cella, conobbe per rivelazione l'accaduto.
Chiamò Mauro e gli disse di correre in soccorso del confratello. Mauro si
affrettò ad obbedire correndo sull'acqua, fino a raggiungerlo e trarlo in
salvo. San Placido, invocato per tutto l'Alto Medioevo come
"Confessore", venne trasformato in martire alla fine dell'XI secolo.
Un fantasioso biografo compose infatti un falso racconto della sua Passione,
sofferta in Sicilia, per opera dei Saraceni.
Patronato: Novizi monaci
Etimologia: Placido =
colui che è dolce e mansueto
Martirologio Romano:
Commemorazione di san Placido, monaco, che fu sin dalla fanciullezza discepolo
carissimo di san Benedetto.
Il Calendario universale della Chiesa non segna oggi questa memoria, ricordata invece dal Martirologio Romano. Non esitiamo però ad ammettere che San Placido - onorato, a torto, come Martire, e vedremo perché, - sia il personaggio più noto, tra i Santi, a tale data.
E’ però una celebrità riflessa, come di una subitanea illuminazione, che esalta per un momento un oggetto, scoprendolo dall'ombra, per riconsegnarlo all'ombra.
Placido fu, con Mauro, il più docile discepolo del grande San Benedetto, il quale li ebbe ambedue, Placido e Mauro, cari come figli.
Dei due, Placido era forse il più giovane: poco più che un fanciullo, quando venne posto sotto la paterna guida dell'Abate San Benedetto. Per questo, San Placido viene considerato quale Patrono dei novizi, cioè dei giovani che si preparano alla professione religiosa nei monasteri benedettini.
A Placido, oltre che a Mauro, è attribuito un celebre episodio miracoloso narrato da San Gregorio Magno nei suoi Dialoghi. Mentre Benedetto era nella sua cella, un giorno, il giovane Placido si recò ad attingere acqua nel lago. Perse l'equilibrio e cadde nella corrente, che subito lo trascinò lontano dalla riva.
L'Abate, nella cella, conobbe per rivelazione l'accaduto. Chiamò Mauro e gli disse di correre in soccorso del confratello. Ricevuta la benedizione, Mauro si affrettò ad obbedire: valicò la riva, e seguitò a correre sull'acqua, fino a raggiungere Placido. Afferratolo, lo riportò a riva, e soltanto giungendo sulla terra asciutta, voltosi indietro, si accorse di aver camminato sull'acqua, come San Pietro sul lago di Tiberiade.
L'episodio ebbe un seguito ancor più commovente, perché San Benedetto attribuì il prodigio al merito dell'obbedienza di Mauro, mentre il discepolo lo attribuiva ai meriti dell'Abate. Il giudizio venne rimesso a Placido, il quale disse: "Quando venivo tratto dall'acqua, vedevo sopra il mio capo il mantello dell'Abate, e mi pareva che fosse egli a riportarmi a riva".
In questo episodio narrato da San Gregorio è contenuto tutto ciò che sappiamo sul conto di Placido. Anch'egli, come Mauro, è circonfuso e quasi confuso nella luce di San Benedetto. La sua santità fa quasi parte della aureola del Patriarca, della cui Regola fu l'interprete più pronto.
Resta da accennare al fatto che San Placido, invocato per tutto l'Alto Medioevo
come Confessore, venne trasformato in Martire alla fine dell'XI
secolo. Un fantasioso biografo compose infatti un falso racconto della sua
Passione, sofferta in Sicilia, per opera dei Saraceni. Ma è un'invenzione che
contrasta non soltanto con la realtà storica, ma anche con il carattere stesso
della santità di Placido, che preferiamo immaginare sempre umile e obbediente,
pacifico e nascosto.
Fonte : Archivio
Parrocchia
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/73000
Il
Sodoma (1477–1549), Storie di san Benedetto : Come Mauro mandato
a salvare Placido cammina sopra l'acqua, affresco,
1505-1508, abbazia
territoriale di Monte Oliveto Maggiore
PLACIDO, santo
Dizionario Biografico
degli Italiani - Volume 84 (2015)
Guido De Blasi
PLACIDO, santo. – Nacque
a Roma presumibilmente tra il secondo e il terzo decennio del VI secolo, figlio
del patrizio Tertullo, di rango consolare.
In giovane età, verso gli
anni Trenta del secolo, fu condotto dal padre a Subiaco presso Benedetto da
Norcia affinché lo educasse cristianamente e divenisse suo discepolo. Suo
sodale fu s. Mauro, anch’egli romano, di origine patrizia, e affidato dal padre
al santo monaco. I Dialogi di Gregorio Magno, che sono anche la fonte
delle precedenti informazioni, segnalano Placido ancora «vero puerilis adhuc
indolis gerebat annos» (Dial., II.3,14).
Sempre dai Dialogi si
sa che Benedetto portò il piccolo Placido con sé sui monti presso Subiaco per
pregare per tre monasteri privi di acqua, compiendo così il miracolo dell’acqua
sgorgante dalla pietra (ibid., II, 5).
Placido è inoltre legato
al principale miracolo attribuito a Mauro: Gregorio Magno narra che, mentre
pregava nella sua cella, Benedetto ebbe la visione di Placido che cadeva dentro
al lago presso cui si era recato per attingere acqua; l’abate chiamò subito
Mauro affinché accorresse a salvare il suo compagno; questi corse in aiuto di
Placido e, vistolo annegare, lo raggiunse camminando sulla superficie del lago
mettendolo in salvo. Subito dopo Benedetto e Mauro si attribuirono l’un l’altro
la realizzazione del prodigioso salvataggio. Il primo lo assegnò all’obbedienza
del discepolo, il secondo all’azione del comando di Benedetto, dichiarando di
avere agito in incoscienza. Placido concluse la disputa assicurando di avere visto
sopra di sé il mantello dell’abate, e di avere avuto l’esatta sensazione di
ricevere soccorso direttamente da lui (ibid., II.7).
Dall’XI secolo al nome di
Placido monaco si associò progressivamente quello di un altro Placido, martire
a Messina sotto l’impero di Diocleziano. Nel Martyrologium Hieronymianum,
alla data della memoria di Placido, il 5 ottobre, si trova, oltre alla
qualifica di discepolo di Benedetto, anche la menzione di diciotto curtes in
Sicilia che Tertullo avrebbe offerto a Benedetto come dote nell’affidargli il
figlio. Nella Chronica di Leone Marsicano, redatta entro il 1105, si
parla di una missione placidina in Sicilia, mentre nel Martyrologium
Casinense, posteriore di qualche decennio, a Placido furono associati martiri
di altre sedi.
Con le opere di Pietro
Diacono la fusione tra i due santi fu portata a termine. Il bibliotecario
cassinese redasse tre biografie di Placido monaco e martire, attribuendone una
a sé stesso e due ad altri distinti biografi. Nella prima, la Vita Placidi,
Pietro afferma che il testo – redatto da lui stesso – era la riduzione di un
testo greco compilato da un compagno di Placido, Gordiano.
In questa agiografia,
oltre agli eventi segnalati nei Dialogi gregoriani, Placido e Mauro
seguono Benedetto nella fondazione del nuovo cenobio di Montecassino. Quindi,
Placido è inviato dall’abate a occuparsi dei beni lasciati da Tertullo in
Sicilia, fondando lì una comunità. In Sicilia, nell’anno 541, insieme ad alcuni
compagni viene martirizzato per mano saracena, mentre Gordiano, scampato ai
tragici eventi in Sicilia, si rifugia a Costantinopoli.
Nella seconda vita,
gli Acta Ss. Placidi et fratrum, molto più estesa della prima, si menziona
come autore direttamente Gordiano. Agli eventi della Vita Placidi si
aggiunge, in climax, che Placido discende dalla gens Anicia e
per giungere in Sicilia compie un viaggio denso di incontri ed eventi
miracolosi; a Messina, accolto da funzionari romani, continua a operare
miracoli fino al martirio suo, dei fratelli Flavia, Eutichio e Vittorino e dei
consoci, che, protrattosi per ben sei giorni, è costellato di eventi
straordinari (tra i quali un angelo che risana le ferite dei suppliziati,
Placido che parla nonostante la lingua recisa, la sorella Flavia che riesce a
scampare a uno stupro paralizzandosi).
La terza biografia,
gli Acta Placidi attribuiti, sempre da Pietro Diacono, a un certo
Stefano Aniciense, è una sintesi della seconda biografia, arricchita solo di
riferimenti biblici.
La fusione dei due santi,
Placido monaco e Placido martire, per opera di Pietro Diacono è riconducibile
alla ricolonizzazione benedettino-cassinese, e quindi romana, della Sicilia
normanna ormai liberata dalla dominazione araba, soprattutto nell’area della
Valdemone (la Sicilia nordorientale) in cui la componente greca e basiliana era
ancora preminente. Questo programma fu portato avanti dalle gerarchie
monastiche e romane, in virtù anche di un’originaria presenza benedettina in
Sicilia (Barcellona, 2013, pp. 44 s.).
La data della morte di
Placido può essere collocata, in base alla tradizione tramandata da Pietro
Diacono, nell’anno 541.
Il culto di Placido
crebbe inizialmente a stento: come novizio rimase nell’ambito benedettino; come
unico monaco e martire ebbe uno slancio solo a partire dall’età moderna. Il 4
maggio 1588, infatti, vennero rinvenute a Messina nell’area della chiesa
gerosolimitana di S. Giovanni di Malta (che occupava gli spazi di una necropoli
romana), le reliquie ritenute dei martiri; lì sono tuttora custodite. Nello
stesso anno Placido fu proclamato patrono di Messina e il Senato e
l’arcivescovo della città peloritana ottennero da Sisto V l’inserimento di
Placido e compagni nel martirologio romano alla data del 5 ottobre. Nel 1616
Paolo V incluse la loro festa nel Breviario benedettino.
Nell’iconografia Placido
è raffigurato come giovane monaco, talvolta con la palma del martirio, con il
pastorale abbaziale o con i compagni martiri. La festività di s. Placido (sia
martire sia monaco, ormai fusi) ricorre ancora il 5 ottobre, sebbene espunta
dal martirologio riformato del 2001. Come monaco è patrono dei novizi in ambito
benedettino; come martire è patrono di Messina, della sua diocesi e di altri
centri in Sicilia e nell’Italia meridionale.
Fonti e Bibl.: Gregoire le Grand, Dialogues, a cura di A. de Vogüé, 3 voll. I-III, Paris 1978-80 (Sources chrétiennes, 251, 260, 265); Gregorio Magno, Dialogi, a cura di A. de Vogüé et al., I-IV, Roma 2000; Leo Marsicanus, Chronica monasterii casinensis, in MGH, Scriptores, VII, a cura di W. Wattembach, Hannoverae 1846, pp. 551-844; Petri Diaconi Vita Placidi, in Patrologia Latina, CLXXIII, Paris 1895, coll. 1066-1070; Ps. Gordianus, Acta Ss. Placidi et fratrum, in Acta Sanctorum, Octobris III, Parigi 1866, pp. 114-138; Ps. Stephanus Aniciensis, Acta altera, ibid., pp. 139-147; F. Gotho, Breve ragguaglio dell’Invenzione e Feste de’ Gloriosi Martiri Placido e compagni, Messina 1591; V. Abbadessa, Vita di San P. e Compagni Martiri, Messina 1654; B. Chiarello, Memorie sacre della città di Messina […], Messina 1707, pp. 228-244; B.M. Amico, Leggendario de’ Santi Benedettini, Venezia 1726, pp. 484-490;U. Berlière, Le Culte de S. Placide, in Revue Bénédictine, XXXIII (1921), pp. 19-45; P. Minutoli, Vita di San Placido Discepolo di san Benedetto martirizzato a Messina l’anno 541, Messina 1962; C. Colafranceschi, Placido, in Biblioteca Sanctorum, Roma 1968, col. 949; G. Picasso, Placido, discepolo di San Benedetto, ibidem, coll. 949-952; A. Amore, Placido, Eutichio, e Compagni, ibid., col. 956; G. Penco, Storia del monachesimo in Italia. Dalle origini alla fine del medioevo, Milano 1983, pp. 53 s.; R. Barcellona, La Storia di San Placido. Ipotesi sulla funzione della leggenda, in Siculorum Gymnasium, XLIV (1991), pp. 53-86; San P. a Biancavilla. Atti del Convegno di studi... Biancavilla... 2002, a cura di V. Petralia, Catania 2003, passim; A. Sindoni, Il culto di S. P. in Sicilia in età moderna. Linee interpretative, in Annali di storia moderna e contemporanea, IX (2003), pp. 625-633; R. Barcellona, Percorsi di un testo ‘fortunato’. I Dialogi di Gregorio Magno nella Sicilia medievale (secoli XII-XIV), in Reti Medievali Rivista, XIV, 2 (2013), pp. 33-57; M. Grassi, San Placido nella storia e nella pittura messinese, Messina 2013; I.P. Cecchetti, Placido, Eutichio e Consoci, in Enciclopedia Cattolica, IX, Città del Vaticano 1952, col. 1598.
© Istituto della Enciclopedia
Italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani - Riproduzione riservata
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/santo-placido_(Dizionario-Biografico)/
