Frigidian of Lucca, St.
FRIGIDIAN OF LUCCA, ST.
Bishop; d. Lucca, Italy, c. 588. The chief source of information on his life is a vita (in manuscripts no earlier than the 11th century) claiming that he was of Irish origin and that he settled as a hermit in Italy. His reputation for sanctity caused him to be chosen bishop of Lucca. His cult spread through Tuscany into other regions of Italy and to Corsica, and his relics, miraculously discovered in the eighth century, are preserved in the church dedicated to his memory at Lucca. Recent scholars reject the legendary chronology and nationality, and one even puts him as far back as the third century. He should not be confused with another Irish traveler in Italy, St. finnian of Moville.
Feast: March 18; March 20 (Ireland).
Bibliography: j. f. kenney, The Sources for the Early History of Ireland: v.1, Ecclesiastical (New York 1929) 1:184–185, 391. Vita Sancti Fridiani, critical edition, ed. g. zaccagnini (Lucca 1989). a. m. tommasini, Irish Saints in Italy, tr. j. f. scanlan (London 1937) 363–377. a. pedemonte, "S. Frediano," Bollettino storico Lucchese 9 (1937) 3–32; "L'Antico catalogo dei vescovi di Lucca," ibid. 10 (1938) No. 2. j. hennig, "A Note on the Traditions of St. Frediano and St. Silao of Lucca," Mediaeval Studies 13 (1951) 234–242. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4 v. (New York 1956) 1:626–627.
[c. mcgrath]