Lucifer of Cagliari

Saint Lucifer of Cagliari was born in Sardinia, though the details of his early life are not known. He emerged in the mid-fourth century as a courageous bishop of Cagliari and a steadfast defender of the Church’s faith in the divinity of Christ during the Arian crisis. Sent as an envoy of Pope Liberius to Emperor Constantius II, he pleaded for a council and, at the Council of Milan in 355, boldly upheld Saint Athanasius against efforts to condemn him. For this witness Lucifer endured harsh treatment and repeated exile—first to Germanicia, then Palestine, and finally Egypt—where he wrote impassioned works calling the emperor to fidelity and declaring his readiness to suffer for the truth. When imperial policy changed, he returned from exile, yet his uncompromising refusal to reconcile with former Arians contributed to divisions in the Church of his day. He died in Cagliari around 370 or 371 and is venerated especially in Sardinia. He is honored as patron of Vallermosa. His feast day is May 20.