Venerius was Archbishop of Milan from 400 (or 401) to 408. He is honoured as a Saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

 in the Catholic Church and his feast day is May 4.

Life

Almost nothing is known about the life of Venerius before his election as bishop of Milan. According to the 5th-century historian, Paulinus

Paulinus the Deacon

Paulinus the Deacon was the notary of Ambrose of Milan, and his biographer. His work is the only life of Ambrose based on a contemporary account, and was written at the request of Augustine of Hippo; it is dated to 422.-Against the Pelagians:...

, Venerius was a deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

 and he was present at the death of Ambrose

Ambrose

Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose , was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was one of the four original doctors of the Church.-Political career:Ambrose was born into a Roman Christian family between about...

 in 397. Venerius was elected bishop after the death of Simplician

Simplician

Simplician or Simplicianus was Archbishop of Milan from 397 to 400 . He is honoured as a Saint in the Catholic Church and his feast day is August 14.-Life:...

 in the winter between 400 and 401. He was already bishop of Milan when he received a request by a provincial synod

Synod

A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...

 held on June 18, 401 at Carthage

Carthage

Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...

 to send in North Africa some clerics from Milan. One of the clerics sent was actually Paulinus.

Venerius is also known from a letter written to him by Pope Anastasius I

Pope Anastasius I

Pope Saint Anastasius I, born in Rome the son of Maximus, was pope from November 27, 399 to 401.He condemned the writings of the Alexandrian theologian Origen shortly after their translation into Latin. He fought against these writings throughout his papacy and in 400 he called a council to discuss...

 concerning the condemnation of the ideas of the Origen

Origen

Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...

ists. He is also mentioned in a letter of the same pope to John II, Bishop of Jerusalem.

In 404 Venerius, along with Pope Innocent I

Pope Innocent I

-Biography:He was, according to his biographer in the Liber Pontificalis, the son of a man called Innocens of Albano; but according to his contemporary Jerome, his father was Pope Anastasius I , whom he was called by the unanimous voice of the clergy and laity to succeed -Biography:He was,...

 and Chromatius

Chromatius

Saint Chromatius was a bishop of Aquileia. He was probably born at Aquileia, and in any case grew up there. His father had died when Chromatius was an infant. He was raised by his mother and large family of older siblings....

 bishop of Aquileia

Aquileia

Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times...

, took a stand in favour of St. John Chrysostom who has been unjustly banned from Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, writing in his favour to Honorius

Honorius (emperor)

Honorius , was Western Roman Emperor from 395 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the eastern emperor Arcadius....

, the Western emperor, who sent this letter to his brother, Arcadius

Arcadius

Arcadius was the Byzantine Emperor from 395 to his death. He was the eldest son of Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the Western Emperor Honorius...

, the Eastern emperor. This intercession, however, availed nothing.

Venerius died on May 4, 408, and he was buried in the Church of Saint Nazarius and Celsus

San Nazaro in Brolo

The basilica of San Nazaro in Brolo or San Nazaro Maggiore is a church in Milan, northern Italy.-History:The church was built by St. Ambrose starting from 382 on the road that connected Milan to Rome...

in Milan. A late tradition, with no historical basis, associates Venerius with the Milan's family of the Oldrati.