ZENOBIUS
755
ZENOBIUS
episcopal insignia, i.< proniim-nl in tin- choir; coins
with his likeness and an inscription were in use. On
21 May and 6 Dec. tlie translation of his body and his
consecration were formerly commemorated. In "De
viris illusf." of Jerome and Gennadius, Zeno is not
mentioned, but St. Ambrose (Ep. v) speaks of him as
an cpiscopux sanctir meinoritr, and St. Gregory (Dial.,
Ill, 19) relates a miracle wrought at the Church of
St. Zeno at Verona. Mabillon ("Vetera analecta",
Paris, 1675) published an anonymous poem, "De
laudibus Verona'", taken from the ^\Titmgs of Ra-
therius. Bishop of Verona (d. 974), found in the abbey
at Lobbes in Belgium (P. L., XI, 154, 225), which
gives a list of the bishops of Verona and makes Zeno
eighth. In the Monastery di Classe at Ravenna was
found an eighth-century chasuble (casuta diptychn)
with the names and pictures of thirty-five bishops of
Verona on its front and back; among them wa.s that of
Zeno. This list was accepted by Gams in his "Series
episcoporum " ( Bigelmair, p. 27). Zeno had not been
known as a writer before 1.508, when two Dominicans,
Albertus Castellanus and Jacobus de Leuco, edited at
Venice 105 Iraclalus or sermons foimd in the episcojial
library of Verona fifty years earlier. In 1739 the
brothers Ballerini pubUshed "S. Zenonis episcopi
Veronse sermones", with an elaborate prolegom-
ena. From these it appears that Zeno was a
native of Africa, eighth Bishop of Verona (362-80),
an able speaker, and an untiring champion of Chris-
tianity against the heathens and of orthodoxy against
the Arians. Much controversy arose as to the time
at which St. Zeno lived, whether two bishops of
Verona of this name were to be admitted or but one,
and on the authorship of the sermons. Various
opinions were held by Sixtus of Siena, Baronius,
UgheUi, Dupin, Tillemont, Fabricius, and others.
Of the 105 sermons 12 have been rejected as belonging
to other authors. Of the rest 16 are larger sermons,
the others merely sketches or perhaps fragments.
They contain valuable material on Catholic doctrine,
practice, and hturgj-; they treat of God, creation, the
Zenobius, Sai.nt, Bisliop of Florence and one of
the patrons of that city, b. there in the latter part of
the reign of Constantine I; d. 337. Carefully edu-
cated by his pagan parents, he came early under the
Lorenzo di Credi, the Cathedral, Piatoria
Blessed Virgin, Holy Scriptures, the Church, the sacraments, etc., and warn against the vices of the day.
Daniei.l in Diet. f'hrUi. Hiog., a. v. Ztno (6); Bardknhewe'r. PatToloait (Freiburg, 1910). 362; Zeiltchrifi /Qr kath. Thriil. (Innsbruck, 1SS4), 2.1,3: Aria SS.. II April, fiS; HrRTER. Nnmrn- Clator, I (1903). 302; BioelmaiR, Zeno pon tVrona (MQn.iter, 1904).
Francis Mershman.
Translation of the Body of 8t. Ze
Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, Uffizi Galle
influence of th(> holy bishop Theodore, was baptized by him, and succeeded, after much opposition, in bringing his father and mother to the Christian Faith. He embraced the clerical state, and rapidly rose to the position of archdeacon, when his virtues and notable powers as a preacher made him known to St. .Vmbrose, at whose instance Pope Damasus (366-86) called him to Rome, and employed him in various important missions, including a legation to Constantinople. On the death of Damasus he re- turned to his native city, where lie resumed his aijostolic labours, and, on the death of the bishop of that see, Zenobius, to the great joy of the people, was appointed to succeed him. The ancient legends of his episcopal career — in which, however, there are many interpol.ations of a later date — are unanimous in t heir description of his saintly life and supernatural gifts. Extraordinary miracles, including several in- stances of the restoration of the dead to life, are
- ittributed to him, and tluring his prolonged episcopate
his fervour and zeal for souls never for a moment flagged. .According to his biographer and successor in the See of Florence, .\ntoninus, he died in his ninetieth year, in 424; but, as Antoninus says that Innocent 1 (d. 417) was at the time pope^ the date is uncertain. There is ground for believing that he actually died in 417, on 25 May, on which day the ancient tower where he is supposed to have lived, near the Ponte Vecchio, is annually decorated with flowers. His body was first buried in the Basilica of St . Laurence (consecrated by St. .Vmbrose in 393), and was later translated to San Salvador's church, on the site of the present cathedral. Beneath the high altar is the silver shrine of the saint, designed by Ghiberti about 1440, in the same style as his famous bronze gates. There is a statue of Zenobius in S,an Marco, and other memorials of him in the city, where his name .and memorv are still venerated.
Aein .S.S.. XI.X, 19-fi9; the Bollandisl,iographics of Zcnnbnis: (1) that Bttrihuted to St, Simplicianua; (2) the life by St. Antoninus of Florence
