Saint Elpidius

What we know about Elpidius is very scarce and contradictory, and it’s worth saying why. Petrus de Natalibus wrote that he came from Cappadocia. Palladius of Galatia, in the Lausiac History — which dates from the fifth century and is one of the best sources on early monasticism — tells of an Elpidius who lived for years as an anchorite in a cave near Jericho. According to tradition he then came to Italy, to the lands of today’s province of Fermo, and preached there, helped by his disciples Ennesius and Eustasius. Other scholars, however, believe he came from Picenum and spent his whole life there, following a hermit’s rule inspired by that of the Desert Fathers. In 1955 a Bollandist found, in the Chapter Library of Spoleto, a collection of saints’ lives from the eleventh or twelfth century that tells his life with more imaginative details added. What remains, and it’s no small thing, is a name on the map: Sant’Elpidio a Mare and Sant’Elpidio Morico, in the Fermo area, are named after him. The abbey that keeps his relics has been there for centuries. It often happens with ancient saints: the biography got lost, and the land held on to him. If your name is Elpidio, today is your name day.