Pierius
Life and witness
The same day, the birth-day of St. Pierius, priest of Alexandria, who being excellently learned in the holy Scriptures, and renowned for purity of life, and that he might better attend to Christian philosophy, wholly discharged of all worldly impediments, under Cams and Dioclesian, emperors, (Theonas then governing the Church of Alexandria) taught the people with great applause, and set forth divers books but after the persecution ended, spending the rest of his life at Rome, he finally rested in peace.
The Lives Of The Saints: Volume 13, November, Pt. 1 · S. PIERIUS, P.
S. PIERIUS, P.
(ABOUT A.D. 312.)
[Roman Martyrology. Usuardus, Ado, &c. Authorities : — Euse- bius, H. E. vii. c. 32, S; Jerome, De Vir. illust c. 86.]
S. Pibrius of Alexandria, whom Eusebius reckons among the most remarkable men who lived just before his time, was greatly celebrated for his voluntary poverty and his philo- sophical knowledge. He was great in expounding the Scrip- tures, and in discoursing before the congregation in the church. He was called, from his learning and depth of teaching, the Younger Origen. S. Jerome says that he went to Rome, having survived the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian. Photius,1 however, says that he and his brother Isidore received the crown of martyrdom; and S. Epi- phanius mentions a church in Alexandria dedicated to Pierius; and at that date this would not have been the case if
1 Cod. zi8, 1x9.
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Digitized by
Nov. 4.] SS. Vitalis and Agricola. 107
he had not died a martyr's death. But the statement of S. Jerome, and the silence of Eusebius are sufficient to show that the Pierius who was a martyr cannot have been the same as the philosophic teacher. S. Pierius wrote a tractate on Easter, and a commentary on Hosea the prophet, together with other works. Photius commends his easy and fluent style.
Biographical overview
Pierius was a Christian priest and probably head of the Catechetical School of Alexandria, conjointly with Achillas. He flourished while Theonas was bishop of Alexandria, and died at Rome after 309. The Roman Martyrology commemorates him on 4 November. His skill as an exegetical writer and as a preacher gained for him the appellation, "Origen the Younger". Philip of Side, Photius, and others assert that he was a martyr. However, since Jerome assures us that he survived the Diocletianic Persecution and spent the rest of his life at Rome, the term "martyr" can only mean that he underwent sufferings, not death, for his faith.
Martyrologium Romanum · Latin witness
Romae natalis sancti Pierii, Presbyteri Alexandrini, qui, in divinis Scripturis nobiliter eruditus, vita purissimus, et ad Christianam philosophiam nudus penitus et expeditus, sub Caro et Diocletiano Principibus, regente Alexandrinam Ecclesiam Theona, florentissime docuit populum, et diversos tractatus edidit; post persecutionem vero, omne vitae suae tempus Romae versatus, in pace quievit.