According to one tradition, Apollinaris was born in Antioch, in modern-day Turkey. The Apostolic Constitutions, a document from the late fourth century, notes that Saint Peter preached in Antioch and served as the town’s first bishop before becoming the first bishop of Rome. Tradition states that Saint Peter ordained Apollinaris as a bishop and sent him to Ravenna to serve as that city’s first bishop.
In Ravenna, Bishop Apollinaris preached the Good News, attracting many converts. Like many early disciples, he was also a miracle worker. At that time, Ravenna was an important port city for the Roman Empire, replete with buildings, roads, aqueducts, bathhouses, and marketplaces.
The predominant religion was that of the Roman Empire, honouring various pagan gods and goddesses with temples and rituals. Therefore, when Bishop Apollinaris arrived in Ravenna and began to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, many perceived Christianity as a direct threat to their way of life and beliefs. Citizens who opposed him beat him and drove him out of the city. Tradition holds that he was found close to death on the seashore, where fellow Christians rescued and hid him.
Despite this persecution and determined to complete his mission, Bishop Apollinaris returned to Ravenna. This time, he was captured, forced to walk on burning coals, and expelled from the city once again. He then travelled about sixty miles to the west to the town of modern-day Emilia-Romagna, where he continued his mission and won over many converts.
Undeterred from converting the people of Ravenna, Bishop Apollinaris returned for a third time, only to face great resistance again. This time, it is said that he was cut with knives and had scalding water poured on his wounds. After his persistent preaching of the Gospel, his abusers silenced him by beating his mouth with rocks. After several days chained in a dungeon, he was not only ejected from the city again, but also placed on a ship to Greece, effectively ridding the citizens of Ravenna of him.
In Greece, Bishop Apollinaris continued his ministry of preaching and performing miracles. However, after winning over many converts, the local pagan priests complained that his presence was disrupting their communication with the gods and goddesses through their oracle. As a result, Bishop Apollinaris was placed on a ship and returned to Ravenna.
By the time Bishop Apollinaris returned to Ravenna, Vespasian was the Roman Emperor. While Emperor Vespasian did not engage in an empire-wide persecution of Christians, he was aware of the complaints against them. Legend has it that to address these new “pagans,” who were called Christians, Vespasian ordered the exile of certain Christians, including Bishop Apollinaris. After being dragged out of the city a fourth time, Apollinaris was beaten in Classis, just south of Ravenna, and again left for dead.
Whether he died as a result of this final beating is unknown, but he is nonetheless honoured as a martyr on the Church’s liturgical calendar. Saint Apollinaris is believed to have served as the first Bishop of Ravenna for twenty to twenty-six years. Other historical evidence from the seventh century suggests that he may have actually lived a century later, dying during the persecution of Emperor Septimius Severus in the late second century.
Following Jesus involves risks—sometimes the supreme risk of life itself. Martyrs are people who would rather accept the risk of death than deny the cornerstone of their whole life: faith in Jesus Christ. Everyone will die eventually—the persecutors and those persecuted. The question is what kind of a conscience people will bring before the Lord for judgment. Remembering the witness of past and present martyrs can help us make the often small sacrifices that following Jesus today may require.
Other Saints of the Day
• St. Margaret of Antioch
• St. Aurelius
• St. Barhadbesciabas
• St. Elias
• St. Etheidwitha