Fulgentius of Ruspe

Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe (462 or 467 – 1 January 527 or 533) was bishop of the city of Ruspe, North Africa, in the 5th and 6th century and was canonized as a Christian saint.

Biography

Fabius Claudius Gordianus Fulgentius was born into a noble family of Carthage, which had been cut off from the Roman Empire some thirty years earlier by the Vandals. His father died while Fulgentius was still quite young. His mother, Mariana, taught him to speak Greek and Latin. Fulgentius became particularly good at the former, even speaking it like a native. He quickly gained wide respect for his conduct of the family affairs. This reputation helped him to acquire a post as a civil servant in the government of Rome, as a procurator of Byzacena. He quickly grew tired of the material life. This, together with his studies of religion, particularly a sermon of Augustine of Hippo on Psalm 36, which dealt with the transitory nature of physical life, determined him to become a monk.

He applied to Faustus, a bishop who had been forced from his diocese by the Vandal king Huneric and later set up a monastery at Byzacena. Faustus had serious concerns about Fulgentius's physical weakness, which might make him a poor fit for the rigorous life of the monastery, and tried to dissuade the twenty-two-year-old Fulgentius from his request. As Fulgentius persisted, though, Faustus relented and admitted him on a trial basis.