Venerable Барбатиан (Варвациан, Барвациан) Равеннский

Venerable Barbatian (also rendered Varvatian, Barvatian in various sources) labored in the city of Ravenna (Italy) in the 5th century, at a time when Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire. He is known as the spiritual father and advisor to Empress Galla Placidia — daughter of Emperor Theodosius the Great, who ruled in the name of her young son Valentinian III and did much to build Ravenna's churches (including the famous mausoleum bearing her name). He is venerated as a locally-honored saint of Ravenna; his image survives on a mosaic from Ravenna's cathedral (the Ursiana Basilica), dating to the 12th century. The exact date of his commemoration in the Orthodox calendar has not been established with certainty; the Western tradition mentions December 31.