St Brictius

(9th July or 9th September)

There are at least three traditions relating to saints of this name that have become confused over the centuries:

  • One relates to a saint was ordained by St Peter in the 1st century AD.  He is claimed as the first bishop of both Spoleto and Civitas Martana (a settlement on Via Flaminia near modern Massa Martana, about 20 km from Spoleto).  Bettona claims that he ordained its first bishop, St Crispolitus.

  • One relates to the Bishop of "Martola" (perhaps Civitas Martana), who survived arrest and torture in the reign of the Emperor Diocletian (284-305) and died in peace in 336.  His feast day is 9th July.

  • One is contained in the Legend of the Twelve Syrians, a late and highly unreliable legend in which the feast day of St Brictius is 9th September.  This legend was probably compiled at San Brizio, near Spoleto in the 7th century.   It is known from two documents that are now in the Cathedral Archives:

    • The second (early 13th century) comes from San Brizio.

Legend of the Twelve Syrians

In this legend, St Brictius was one of an extended family of Christians in Syria at the time of the persecutions of the Emperor Julian the Apostate (361-3).  The head of the family, St Anastasius was executed and his sons, SS Brictius and Eutychius fled to Rome, together with rest of the family: Carpophorus, Abundius, Laurence, John, Isaac, Teudila, Proculus, Herculanus and Barratalis. 

  • St Eutychius settled as a hermit near lake Bolsena. 
  • St Proculus left the party at Narni and continued to Carsulae, where he met and later succeeded St Volusian as bishop.
  • St Brictius and the rest of the family continued to Spoleto.

The party fell foul of the Pagan authorities of Spoleto and all of them, except St Brictius were imprisoned. 

All of them except St Brictius were captured in the home of a pious matron called Sincleta:

  • Most of them were executed and Sinacleta buried them "in cimiterio Pontiani, non longe ab urbe Spoletana" on 25th September.  This seems to have been the early Cristian cemetery at San Ponziano.

St Brizio fled to the Monte Martani and resumed his work.  He was imprisoned there but St Peter appeared to him and set him free.  He moved to a place called "Marianus", where he built an oratory dedicated to the Virgin and a baptistery.  He ordained four of his younger relatives as bishops:

  • St John became Bishop of Spoleto;

  • St Vincent became Bishop of Bevagna;

  • St Crispolitus became Bishop of Bettona; and

  • St Herculanus became Bishop of Perugia.

An angel later appeared to St Brictius and told him to build another oratory on a spot that later became the site of San Brizio.  He died soon after, as the angel had promised, and was buried in the oratory.  The sarcophagus that once contained the presumed relics of St Brictius is in the crypt of the church.

The first cathedral of Orvieto (Santa Maria Prisca) had a secondary dedication to St Brictius.  The venerated icon known as the Madonna di San Brizio, which he was believed to have given the city, survives in the Cappella Nuova (also known as the Cappella della Madonna di San Brizio) in the Duomo there.