Saint Placid

Saint Placidus
Saint Benedict orders Saint Maurus to the rescue of Saint Placidus, by Fra Filippo Lippi, ca. 1445.
Died	3rd century
Venerated in	Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	5 October
Attributes	being rescued from drowning
Patronage	Messina (co-patron), Biancavilla, Castel di Lucio, Montecarotto, Poggio Imperiale

Saint Placidus (also known as Saint Placid) was a disciple of Saint Benedict. He was the son of the patrician Tertullus, was brought as a child to St. Benedict at Sublaqueum (Subiaco) and dedicated to God as provided for in chapter 69 of the Rule of St. Benedict (oblate).

Here too occurred the incident related by Saint Gregory the Great (Dialogues, II, vii) of his rescue from drowning when his fellow monk, Saint Maurus, at Saint Benedict's order ran across the surface of the lake below the monastery and drew Placidus safely to shore. It appears certain that he accompanied Saint Benedict when, about 529, he removed to Monte Cassino, which was said to have been made over to him by the father of Placidus.

Of his later life nothing is known, but in an ancient psalterium at Vallombrosa his name is found in the Litany of the Saints placed among the confessors immediately after those of Saint Benedict and Saint Maurus; the same occurs in Codex CLV at Subiaco, attributed to the ninth century.

He is venerated together with Saint Maurus on 5 October. He is the co-patron of Messina along with the Madonna of the Letter, and is the official patron of Biancavilla, Castel di Lucio, Montecarotto, and Poggio Imperiale. Because a large portion of Easton, Pennsylvania's Italian community originally came from Castel di Lucio, Saint Placidus is given particular veneration with an annual parade through South Side on the Sunday before Labor Day. The Sunday after is the Feast of the Holy Cross, celebrated by immigrants from the neighboring town of Santo Stefano di Camastra.