Saints, Feast, Family
- Traditions passed down with Cooking, Crafting, & Caring -
June 26
Saint of the day:
Saint Vigilius of Trent
Patron Saint of Trento, Trentino, Italy; mining and mines
Saint Vigilius of Trent's Story
Bishop of Trent (German for Trento), Italy, and martyr. A member of the patricians (the Roman noble class), he was born at Trent. He studied at Athens, Greece, and then returned to his native city, where he was appointed bishop. Vigilius long labored to aid the poor, resist the pernicious practice of usury, and most of all to promote conversions among the populace away from paganism. When he commanded that a statue of Saturn be hurled into a river, a group of irate pagans stoned Vigilius to death. He is venerated as the patron of Trent and the Tyrol region of Austria.
Saint Vigilius of Trent (Italian: San Vigilio di Trento) is venerated as the patron saint and first bishop of Trent. He should not be confused with the pope of the same name.
Life
According to tradition, he was a Roman patrician, the son of Maxentia and a man whose name is sometimes given as Theodosius. His brothers, Claudian and Magorian, are also venerated as saints.
Vigilius was educated at Athens and seems to have been a friend of Saint John Chrysostom. He then went to Rome.
In 380, Vigilius settled in the city of Trent and was chosen as the city's bishop. He may have been consecrated by either Ambrose of Milan or Valerian (Valerianus) of Aquileia. Ambrose donated the episcopal insignia and showed a paternal solicitude for Vigilius. As bishop, Vigilius attempted to convert Arians and pagans to Nicene Christianity and is said to have founded thirty parishes in his diocese. He is traditionally regarded as the founder of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, Trent. A letter attributed to Ambrose encourages Vigilius to oppose marriages between Christians and pagans. Vigilius also preached in Brescia and Verona, which lay outside of his diocese.
His companions during his missions were Saints Sisinnius, Martyrius and Alexander, who were sent by Ambrose to assist Vigilius. Tradition makes these three natives of Cappadocia. A work called De Martyrio SS. Sisinnii, Martyrii et Alexandri is attributed to Vigilius.
Sisinnius, Martyrius and Alexander (Sisinio, Martirio e Alessandro) were killed at Sanzeno after they attempted to convert the local population there to Christianity. Vigilius forgave their killers and had the remains of the three men sent to John Chrysostom in Constantinople, as well to Simplician, Ambrose's successor, in Milan. Milan would later give some of those relics back to Sanzeno in the 20th century, where they rest in the Basilica dei Ss. Martiri dell'Anaunia.
Vigilius is associated with the legend of St. Romedius, who is often depicted alongside or astride a bear. According to Romedius' hagiography, Romedius once wished to visit Vigilius, a friend of his youth, but Romedius' horse was torn to pieces by a wild bear. Romedius, however, had the bear bridled by his disciple David (Davide). The bear became docile and carried Romedius on its back to Trento.
Death
According to a much later tradition, Vigilius, who had been accompanied by his brothers Claudian and Magorian as well as a priest named Julian, was killed in the present-day parish of Rendena, in the Rendena Valley, where he had been preaching against the locals there, who worshipped the god Saturn. Vigilius said Mass and overturned a statue of the god into the Sarca River. As punishment, he was stoned to death near Lake Garda at the area called Punta San Vigilio.
Ironically, a statue of the god Neptune stands in front of Vigilius' shrine in Trent today.
Veneration
Vigilius was buried at a church that he built at Trent, later expanded by his successor Eugippius, and dedicated to Vigilius. This became Trento Cathedral. He was immediately venerated after his death, and the acts of his life and death were sent to Rome, and Pope Innocent I, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "seems to have made a formal canonization, for Benedict XIV calls Vigilius the first martyr canonized by a pope.”
Vigilius’ arm was removed as a separate relic and placed into its own reliquary in 1386. He is venerated in Tyrol. A German farmers’ saying associated with a 2nd feast day of January 31 was: "Friert es zu Vigilius / im März die Eiseskälte kommen muss!" (“If it freezes on St. Vigilius’ Day, frost will come in March!”). There are similar sayings associated with other “weather saints.”
https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1984
Prayer:
Visit:
Church of Saint Vigilius of Trento (Pinzolo), Italy
Visit:
Trento, Italy
Trento Cathedral & Castle
Saint Vigilius is buried
Visit:
Punta San Vigilio, where Saint Vigilius is said to have been killed
Visit:
Trento, Italy
Trento Cathedral
Recipe:
Canederli
This warming and filling Italian bread dumplings recipe is a delicious way to use up stale bread. Cooked in broth this is a northern Italian comfort food at its best!
Ingredients
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8-10 slices stale bread (quite thick)
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200 ml warm milk (1 cup)
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200 g speck (7oz) or bacon cut into small cubes
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2 eggs lightly beaten
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1 onion peeled and finely chopped
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50 g Parmigiano cheese (1/4 cup 2oz) grated
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40 g all purpose flour (1/3 cup 1.5oz)
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30 g butter (1oz)
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1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
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1/4 tsp nutmeg grated
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6 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
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salt to taste
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pepper to taste
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2 Lts beef broth (8.5 cups) or chicken or vegetable
Direction
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Cut the bread into small squares and put it in a bowl. Add the milk and beaten eggs. Mix everything together and leave covered for up to 2 hours. Mix again a couple of time in the 2 hours.
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If making your own broth you can do it while the bread is soaking. The broth needs to be filtered before cooking the canederli in it.
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Cut the speck into small cubes and peel and finely chop the onion. Cook the speck and onions in olive oil and butter for 5 to 8 minutes in a skillet over a medium heat, or until the speck starts to crisp. Pour off and discard fat. Set pan aside to cool.
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Using your hands, mix together the pre-soaked bread with the onions and speck, grated parmigiano, 4 to 5 tablespoons of chopped parsley, salt, black pepper and nutmeg. Add the flour and mix again. Leave the mixture to rest for 30 minutes.
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Form soft balls from the canederli mixture of about 8-10 cms in diameter (3-4 ins) (You can make balls bigger or smaller but you may need to adjust cooking time.) Place the dumplings on a floured surface until you have made them all.
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Bring the broth to a simmer and drop the canederli, one at a time, into the heated broth. Don’t overcrowd the pan. You may have to do them in batches and keep warm while you cook the rest. Simmer the dumplings for 15 minutes, or until each turns slightly yellow and rises to the top. Remove balls carefully with a slotted spoon.
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Serve one or two dumplings per bowl, covered with heated broth. Garnish with remaining parsley and more grated parmigiano.
Notes
You can also use bacon, prosciutto, ham, spicy sausage or normal pork sausage meat instead of speck. The broth can be made a day or two in advance and kept in the fridge in a sealed container. The canederli can also be kept for one to two days in the fridge after cooking.
