Venerable (Monastic) 6th century

Eleutherius of Spoleto

died c. 585

Also known as Eleutherius the Wonderworker

Abbot of St. Mark's at Spoleto and later a monk in Rome, a wonderworker praised by St. Gregory the Great (c. 590)

Feast Day

September 6

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Eleutherius, Abbot of Spoleto

Life

Eleutherius was a sixth-century monastic in central Italy, abbot of the monastery of Saint Mark near Spoleto and later a monk at the monastery of Saint Andrew in Rome. He is known almost entirely through the testimony of Saint Gregory the Great, who knew him personally and recorded several accounts of his sanctity in the Dialogues. Gregory writes that Eleutherius lived for a long time with him in his own monastery in Rome, and praises the saint above all for his simplicity, humility, and spirit of compunction.

Gregory remembered Eleutherius as a man of great penance whose prayers were marked by abundant tears that came, in his description, from a humble and simple soul. The miracles attributed to him in the tradition are tied to this humility: when he forgot it he lost his power, and when he recovered it the power returned. He is commemorated as a wonderworker on September 6.

Having resigned his abbacy, Eleutherius died at the monastery of Saint Andrew in Rome around the year 585. According to the tradition his body was afterward transferred back to Spoleto.

Timeline 3 moments Read Hide

6th c. Abbot of Saint Mark's near Spoleto Eleutherius presided over the monastery of Saint Mark near Spoleto in central Italy.
later life Monk at Saint Andrew's in Rome Having resigned his abbacy, he lived for a long time with Gregory the Great in the monastery of Saint Andrew in Rome.
c. 585 Repose at Rome He died at the monastery of Saint Andrew in Rome; by tradition his body was later transferred back to Spoleto.

Contributions & Legacy

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Abbot of Saint Mark's near Spoleto

Eleutherius presided over the monastery of Saint Mark near Spoleto, in central Italy, during the sixth century. The best-known incident from his abbacy, related by Gregory the Great, concerns a child who had been delivered from demonic possession while being raised in the monastery. The abbot remarked that, since the boy now lived among the servants of God, the devil would not dare approach him. By tradition these words savored of presumption, and the demon at once returned and tormented the child anew. Eleutherius, acknowledging his fault, joined his whole community in fasting and prayer until the child was freed once more.

His monks also reported that by his tears he had raised a dead person to life. Gregory cites Eleutherius elsewhere in the Dialogues as a trustworthy witness to the lives of other holy men of the region, describing him as the 'old father Eleutherius' and a man familiarly acquainted with the holy Isaac.

Friendship with Gregory the Great

After leaving Spoleto, Eleutherius lived for a long time with Gregory in his monastery of Saint Andrew in Rome. The most frequently recounted episode of their friendship concerns a Holy Saturday on which Gregory, weakened by illness of the stomach, was unable to keep the customary fast. He asked Eleutherius to go with him to pray, and the saint prayed with many tears; afterward Gregory found his strength so restored that, in his own words, he did not so much as think of any food and was able to complete the fast.

Gregory drew from these events a lesson about the saint's character rather than about wonder-working alone, observing that Eleutherius was so simple and so penitent a man that Almighty God granted much to his tears and his humility.

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