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{{Short description|Bishop of Barcelona}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix = [[Saint]]
|name= Pacian
|birth_date=c. 310 AD
|death_date=c. 391 AD
|feast_day= March 9
|venerated_in= [[Catholic Church]]<br>[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
|image= San Paciano de Barcelona (cropped).jpg
|imagesize= 250px
|caption= Pacian of Barcelona by Joan Roig - Cathedral of Barcelona.
|birth_place=
|death_place=Barcelona
|titles= [[Church Father]]
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'''Saint Pacian''' (''Pacianus'') ({{langx|ca|Sant Pacià}}) ({{circa}} 310–391 AD) was an early Spanish Christian prelate.
== Biography ==
Pacian served as [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Barcelona|Bishop of Barcelona]] from about 365 AD to 391 AD. He succeeded Praetextatus.
Considered a [[Father of the Church]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Craig L. |first=Hanson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X5hkltq6rrMC&pg=PP4 |title=Iberian Fathers, Volume 3 |last2= |first2= |date=1999 |publisher=CUA Press |isbn=978-0-8132-0099-6 |pages=ii |language=en}}</ref> Pacian is eulogized in [[Jerome]]'s ''[[De Viris Illustribus (Jerome)|De viris illustribus]]'', in which Jerome praises his eloquence, learning, chastity, and holiness of life.
His writings are extant only in part in three letters and a short treatise, ''Paraenesis ad Poenitentiam''.<ref name="St. Pacian - Catholic Online">[http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5193 St. Pacian – Catholic Online<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>  In his writings, he discussed ecclesiastical discipline, [[baptism]], papal primacy, and teachings on [[penance]] against [[Novatianism]], which was then flourishing in Spain.  He is also remembered from a phrase from one of his letters: ''Christianus mihi nomen est, catholicus vero cognomen'' ("My name is Christian, my surname is Catholic.").<ref>[http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintp2x.htm Patron Saints Index: Saint Pacian of Barcelona<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
== Personal life ==
Pacian was married and had a son, [[Nummius Aemilianus Dexter]], who served under [[Theodosius I]] as [[proconsul]] and [[praetorian prefect]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=[[A. H. M. Jones]] |title=[[Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire]]|author2=[[J. R. Martindale]] |author3=[[John Morris (historian)|J. Morris]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1971 |isbn=978-0-521-20159-9 |volume=1 |page=251 |chapter=Nummius Aemilianus Dexter 3 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/prosopography-later-roman-empire/PLRE-I/page/250}}</ref> Jerome did not know Pacian personally, but knew Pacian's son, to whom ''De Viris Illustribus'' is dedicated.<ref>[http://www.stthomasirondequoit.com/SaintsAlive/id693.htm Irondequoit Catholic Communities – - Pacian<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028043122/http://www.stthomasirondequoit.com/SaintsAlive/id693.htm |date=October 28, 2007 }}</ref>
== Legacy ==
In 2023, a study by [[Jesús Alturo i Perucho]] and [[Tània Alaix i Gimbert]] has seen the first hunches of Catalan in the writings of Pacian when he uses terms such as ''ceruulus'' 'cèrvol' or ''subinde'' 'sovint' or uses the expression ''si te placet'' for 'si us plau', among many others.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alturo |first1=Jesús |last2=Alaix |first2=Tània |title=Lletres que parlen: viatge als orígens del català |date=2023 |publisher=La Magrana |location=Barcelona |isbn=9788419334053 |pages=55-56}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Camps |first1=Magí |title=El catalán escrito, dos siglos más antiguo de lo que se creía |url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/cultura/20230227/8788288/catalan-escrito-dos-siglos-mas-antiguo-creia.html |website=La Vanguardia |access-date=27 May 2023 |date=27 February 2023}}</ref>
==Notes==
<references/>
==External links==
{{commons category|Saint Pacianus}}
*[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/pacian_1_letter1.htm  The Extant Works of S. Pacian]
*[http://www.arqbcn.org/episcopologi.html Episcopologi de la catedral] {{in lang|ca}}
*{{Librivox author |id=15686}}
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{{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= Spain}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Catalan Roman Catholic saints]]
[[Category:Saints from Hispania]]
[[Category:Bishops of Barcelona]]
[[Category:4th-century bishops in Hispania]]
[[Category:4th-century writers in Latin]]
[[Category:391 deaths]]
[[Category:Church Fathers]]
[[Category:Letter writers in Latin]]
[[Category:4th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:310 births]]