04 works, Today, November 15th, is Saint Felix of Nola's day, his story illustrated #318

Giovanni da San Giovanni and Volterrano

Saint Felix helps Saint Maximus, c. 1636

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Saint Felix of Nola (d. ca. 250) Felix was the elder son of Hermias, a Syrian centurion who had retired to Nola, Italy. After his father's death Felix sold off most of his property and possessions, gave the proceeds to the poor, and pursued a clerical vocation. Felix was ordained by, and worked with, Saint Maximus of Nola.

Unknown artist

Felix was arrested and beaten, c. 15th century

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When bishop Maximus fled to the mountains to escape the persecution of the Roman emperor Decius, Felix was arrested and beaten for his faith instead. He escaped prison, according to legend being freed by an angel, so that he could help bishop Maximus. 

Giovanni da San Giovanni and Volterrano

Saint Felix helps Saint Maximus, c. 1636

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Giovanni da San Giovanni (20 March 1592 – 9 December 1636), also known as Giovanni Mannozzi, was an Italian painter of the early Baroque period.

Born in San Giovanni Valdarno, he trained under Matteo Rosselli. Mannozzi started the decoration of the Sala degli Argenti in the Palazzo Pitti and planned decorations at Villa La Petraia. He painted two ceiling canvases of Putti Supporting the profile of Michelangelo, and in the same period frescoed a choir of musician-angels for the dome of the church of the Ognissanti in Florence. 

While escaping Florence during the plague, he painted some frescoes in Monsummano Terme. He painted a fresco cycle on the vault of the Mellini Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo which displays The Story of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in 1623–24.

He died in 1636 and was buried in the church of San Pier Gattolino in Florence. More on Giovanni da San Giovanni

Felix found Maximus alone, ill, and helpless, and hid him from soldiers in a vacant building. 

Unknown artist

A spider quickly spun a web over the door

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When the two were safely inside, a spider quickly spun a web over the door, fooling the imperial forces into thinking it was long abandoned, and they left without finding the Christians. A subsequent attempt to arrest Felix followed, which he avoided by hiding in a ruined building where again spider web was spun across the entrance convinced the soldiers the building was abandoned. The two managed to hide from authorities until the persecution ended with the death of Emperor Decius in 251.

After Maximus's death, the people wanted Felix to be the next bishop of Nola, but he declined, favoring Quintus, a "senior" priest who had seven days more experience than Felix. Felix himself continued as a priest. He also continued to farm his remaining land, and gave most of the proceeds to people even poorer than himself.

Legend assigns to Felix a martyr's death either in the year 255 under Emperor Valerian (253–260) or, in another version, in the general persecution instigated by the Emperor Decius (249-251). According to Butler, Felix died in a good old age, on the fourteenth of January.

Unknown artist

St. Felix of Nola

Mural on the walls of Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta, Positano
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There is another Felix of Nola, bishop and martyr under a Prefect Martianus. He is considered by some to be the same as the above. More on Saint Felix of Nola

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