Saint Apollinare

The witness of the early Church in the region of Romagna is most vividly preserved not through grand political treaties, but through the blood of its shepherds. Among the most significant of these witnesses stands the bishop whose life was extinguished in the shadow of the Adriatic harbor at Classe. His name, Apollinare, has echoed through the liturgical calendar for centuries, marking a day of solemn remembrance on the twentieth of July. To know him is to know the quiet, steadfast courage required to lead a community of believers through the turbulent waters of the ancient world.