Zeno, bishop of Verona, preaches a sermon (Sermon 1.33) on Easter Sunday, in which he associates the commemoration of martyrdom with the season of Autumn. Delivered in Latin in Verona (northern Italy), 362/380.
Evidence ID
E05344
Type of Evidence
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Major author/Major anonymous work
Zeno of Verona
Zeno of Verona, Sermon 1.33
Summary:
Zeno identifies certain heavenly mysteries with certain seasons. Winter is a time of sorrow when sins, eternal death and idolatry can be contemplated. Spring is when new life is breathed into the church. Summer is associated with devotion to those in heaven, and desire and prayers for heaven. Autumn is associated with martyrdom: the blood of the martyrs is poured out just as grapes are harvested to make wine in this season.
Summary: Frances Trzeciak.
Liturgical Activities
Sermon/homily
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
A sermon of Zeno of Verona. Zeno was most likely born in north Africa and was bishop of Verona between c. 362 and 380, where he preached a number of sermons that have been preserved (the majority, as here, associated with the Easter cycle).Discussion
This is not evidence of defined liturgical devotion to the martyrs in autumn, but the association between the commemoration of the martyrs and a specific season is interesting. The connection between the wine harvest and the blood of martyrs echoes that made by Maximus of Turin in his sermon on the feast day of Cyprian (bishop and martyr of Carthage, S00411), which took place in autumn ($E05321). This sermon too was preached in northern Italy in the later fourth century.Bibliography
Text:Löfstedt, B., Zeno Veronensis, Tractatus (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 22; Turnhout: Brepols, 1971).
Further reading:
Dumler, B., Zeno von Verona zu Heidnischer Kultur und Christlicher Bildung (Tübingen, 2013).
Lizzi, R., "Ambrose’s Contemporaries and the Christianisation of Northern Italy," Journal of Roman Studies 80 (1990), 156-173.
Truzzi, C., Zeno, Gaudenzio e Cromazio. Testi e contenuti della predicaione Cristiana per le chiese di Verona, Brescia e Aquileia (360 – 410 ca.) (Brescia, 1985).
Record Created By
Frances Trzeciak
Date of Entry
17/04/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00060 | Martyrs, unnamed or name lost | Certain |
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