Portal:Catholicism/Patron Archive/December 30
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Sabinus (d. 304) was a bishop in the Christian church who resisted the persecutions of Diocletian and was martyred and later made a saint. The Italian cities of Assisi, Faenza and Spoleto claim Sabinus to have been their bishop, but there is no proof for any of these claims. Venustian, governor of Etruria and Umbria had Sabinus and his deacons arrested in Assisi.
Nothing is known about the life of the saint. Only the last part of his live, leading to his death and sainthood, seems to be known and even documented.
In 303, Emperor Diocletian launched the last but also the greatest major persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. It began with the destruction of Christian scriptures and places of worship across the Empire but soon, the reprisals became deadly. According to many estimates, a total of 3,000–3,500 Christians were killed in the persecution. Diocletian's order required all Christians to sacrifice to the gods or be put to death, with their estates seized for the state. Venustian mocked Sabinus's faith, accusing him of leading the people to the worship of a dead man. When Sabinus said that Christ rose on the third day, Venustian invited him to do the same thing. He had Sabinus's hands cut off. The deacons were in great fear, but Sabinus encouraged them to hold to their faith, and they died after being torn apart by iron hooks. In prison after the martyrdom of his deacons, he was tended by a woman named Serena. He healed a man born blind in prison. All the fifteen witnesses of this miracle converted to christianity.
Venustian heard of the cure and sought a cure for his own eyes from Sabinus. Sabinus healed the governor and converted him to Christianity. Venustian then sheltered Sabinus. Maximianus Herculius, hearing of this, ordered the tribune Lucius to address the matter. Lucius had Venustian, his wife, and his two sons beheaded at Assisi, and he had Sabinus beaten to death at Spoleto.
He was buried near the street to Spoleto. Later, his bones were spread as relics over many Italian towns. Some even were brought to Windsberg abbey, near Straubing, in Bavaria.
Attributes: a martyr with a crown in covered hands
Patronage: the Italian towns of Spoleto, Siena, Assisi and Fermo
Prayer:
