Felix of Nola, St.
FELIX OF NOLA, ST.
Third-century confessor; b. Nola, near Naples, Italy. Felix, born of a Syrian father, became a priest; he was imprisoned during a persecution, and later released. His reputation for holiness, working miracles, and attracting pilgrims is perpetuated by St. paulinus of nola who chose Felix as his patron, erected a basilica in his honor, and wrote many poems (natalicia ) eulogizing Felix on his feast day. Paulinus consulted St. augustine on requests from people desiring to be buried near the tomb of Felix and received Augustine's De cura gerenda pro mortuis (c. 424) in response. Felix is invoked in finding lost articles, also as the avenger of perjury.
Feast: Jan. 14.
Bibliography: g. luongo, Lo specchio dell'agiografo: S. Felice… (Naples 1992). b. kÖtting, Peregrinatio religiosa (Münster 1950). r. c. goldschmidt, ed., Paulinus' Churches at Nola (Amsterdam 1940). a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater (New York 1956) 1:80–81.
[a. c. rush]