St Bassian, Bishop of Lodi.

Commemorated June 10 in the Orthodox Christian Menaion

From the Prologue

A pagan born in Syracuse of eminent and wealthy parents, he studied philosophy in Rome. At his own desire, he was baptised by the devout elder Gordianus. This offended his parents and, to escape their wrath, he went to Ravenna on the advice of St John the Theologian, who appeared to him, and there in Ravenna made himself known to the bishop, Ursus, a kinsman of his. On the bishop's instructions, Bassian found lodgings near the Church of the Holy Martyr Apollinarius outside the city, and there laboured a long time in toil, fasting and prayer. When the Bishop of Lodi in Liguria died, Bassian was elected, not according to his own desire but through a revelation in a dream. He was consecrated by Ambrose of Milan and Ursus of Ravenna. He had a great gift of healing, and could even raise the dead. He was present during St Ambrose's last hours and heard from those holy lips how Ambrose had seen the Lord Jesus Christ. He lived to a great age in toil and asceticism and finished his earthly course at the age of ninety, entering into the Kingdom of God in about 409. His holy relics continue to work miracles as a witness to the power of God and the greatness of His saint.

From The Prologue From Ochrid by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich
©1985 Lazarica Press, Birmingham UK