Saint

Pacian
Pacian of Barcelona by Joan Roig - Cathedral of Barcelona.
Church Father
Bornc. 310 AD
Diedc. 391 AD
Barcelona
Venerated inCatholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
FeastMarch 9

Saint Pacian (Pacianus) (Catalan: Sant Pacià) (c. 310–391 AD) was a bishop of Barcelona during the fourth century. He was bishop from about 365 AD to 391 AD, succeeding Praetextatus (Pretextat), who had attended a church council at Sardica in 347 AD and who is the first recorded bishop of Barcelona.

Considered a Father of the Church,[1] Pacian is eulogized in Jerome's De viris illustribus, in which Jerome praises his eloquence, learning, chastity, and holiness of life.

His writings are extant only in part in three letters and a short treatise, Paraenesis ad Poenitentiam.[2] In his writings, he discussed ecclesiastical discipline, baptism, papal primacy, and teachings on penance against Novatianism, which was then flourishing in Spain. He is also remembered from a phrase from one of his letters: Christianus mihi nomen est, catholicus vero cognomen ("My name is Christian, my surname is Catholic.").[3]

Pacian was married and had a son, Nummius Aemilianus Dexter, who served under Theodosius I as proconsul and praetorian prefect.[4] Jerome did not know Pacian personally, but knew Pacian's son, to whom De Viris Illustribus is dedicated.[5]

In 2023, a study by Jesús Alturo i Perucho and Tània Alaix i Gimbert has seen the first hunches of Catalan in the writings of Pacian when he uses terms such as ceruulus 'cèrvol' or subinde 'sovint' or uses the expression si te placet for 'si us plau', among many others.[6][7]

Notes

  1. ^ Craig L., Hanson (1999). Iberian Fathers, Volume 3. CUA Press. pp. ii. ISBN 978-0-8132-0099-6.
  2. ^ St. Pacian – Catholic Online
  3. ^ Patron Saints Index: Saint Pacian of Barcelona
  4. ^ A. H. M. Jones; J. R. Martindale; J. Morris (1971). "Nummius Aemilianus Dexter 3". Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. p. 251. ISBN 978-0-521-20159-9.
  5. ^ Irondequoit Catholic Communities – - Pacian Archived October 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Alturo, Jesús; Alaix, Tània (2023). Lletres que parlen: viatge als orígens del català. Barcelona: La Magrana. pp. 55–56. ISBN 9788419334053.
  7. ^ Camps, Magí (February 27, 2023). "El catalán escrito, dos siglos más antiguo de lo que se creía". La Vanguardia. Retrieved May 27, 2023.

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