Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Day 39: Donatus of Arezzo

Not much is known about Donatus, but that didn't keep people from writing about him. There are at least two written accounts of his life that claim Donatus:

• Was orphaned when his family moved to Rome, where he would get religious instruction along with a boy named Julian - who, as Julian the Apostate, would become emperor and kill several Christians, including Donatus' parents... who were already dead?
• Killed a dragon who poisoned a well (no word if Donatus was able to unpoison the well).
• Brought a dead woman back to life and restored the sight of a different blind woman.
• Fixed a glass chalice shattered by pagans, but with one piece missing. The wine did not flow out of the hole, leading 79 pagans to convert.
• Was martyred, or not. 

With that much uncertainty, it's not hard to see why Donatus was dropped from the calendar. His veneration does continue in two interesting ways:

1. A church bearing his name on the island of Murano near Venice has some of his relics, including relics of the dragon he slew. 
2. He's one of two patron saints of Guardiagrele in Abruzzo, and during the festival celebrating the pair it's traditional to eat porchetta.  Given the choice between alleged dragon bones and three days of eating roast pork, I'm taking the pork.