St. Apollinaris

Their story

Apollinaris was the first bishop of Ravenna, a city on the northeastern coast of Italy, probably in the second century. Little is known for certain about his life. A later tradition says he came from Antioch and was sent to Ravenna by St. Peter himself, but historians think he lived somewhat later. According to the stories told about him, Apollinaris preached the Gospel with great courage and worked many miracles of healing, and many people in Ravenna became Christians. His success stirred up the anger of pagan leaders. He was beaten, driven out of the city more than once and imprisoned, but each time he returned to his people. He is said to have died from the wounds of his sufferings, and he was honored as a martyr from early times. St. Peter Chrysologus, a later bishop of Ravenna, praised him in a sermon as a true martyr who suffered greatly for Christ. In the sixth century a magnificent church was built in his honor near Ravenna, Sant'Apollinare in Classe. Its glowing mosaics, which still survive, show Apollinaris with his arms raised in prayer, surrounded by sheep, as a good shepherd standing among his flock in a green paradise.