:''for other people called Sabinus, see Sabinus (disambiguation)'' Saint Sabinus of Canosa () (461 – 9 February 566), venerated as a saint in the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church, was bishop of Canosa di Puglia from 514.

Life

He was sent twice as a papal envoy to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, in 525, by Pope John I and in 536 to accompany Pope Agapitus I, who lost his life on the journey, to defend the true faith against the

Monophysite Monophysitism ( ) or monophysism ( ; from Greek , "solitary" and , "nature") is a Christological doctrine that states that there was only one nature—the divine—in the person of Jesus Christ, who was the incarnated Word. It is rejected as ...

heresy. He attended the

Council of Constantinople (536) The Council of Constantinople was a conference of the endemic synod held in Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, in May–June 536. It confirmed the deposition of the Patriarch Anthimus I of Constantinople and condemned three ...

. In 531, in the papacy of Pope Boniface II, he took part in the Synod of Rome. He was a builder of churches and other religious buildings, according to the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

discipline of ''

Ora et labora The phrases "pray and work" (or "pray and labor"; ) and to work is to pray () refer to the monastic practice of working and praying, generally associated with its use in the Rule of Saint Benedict. History ''Ora et labora'' is the traditiona ...

'' ("Work and pray"). He died after 52 years as bishop, on 9 February 566.

Cult

Sabinus was a friend of

Saint Benedict Benedict of Nursia (; ; 2 March 480 – 21 March 547), often known as Saint Benedict, was a Great Church, Christian monk. He is famed in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Churches, the Anglican Communion, and Old ...

, whom he visited at

Montecassino The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient Roman town of Casinum, it is the first house ...

and to whom, as recorded by

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Rom ...

, he once expressed his preoccupations on the incursions of the

Ostrogoth The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

King

Totila Totila, original name Baduila (died 1 July 552), was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of the Gothic War (535–554), Gothic War, recovering b ...

into the Italian peninsula. According to the hagiographic legend, he succeeded in saving Canosa di Puglia from the threat of the latter. There is a story that in 548 Totila wanted to test the prophetic gifts of Sabinus, who was by then old and blind. The king, pretending to be a servant, offered him a goblet of wine, but Sabinus was not deceived and thanked him by name, which impressed Totila so much that he renounced his pillaging. Another legend of Sabinus relates that a jealous

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

tried to poison him. Sabinus drank the poison but did not die; but the archdeacon did. For this reason he appeared in the liturgy as a protector against poisons. His relics were translated to the present Canosa Cathedral on 1 August in an unknown year of the 8th century by bishop Pietro. After the destruction of the town by the Saracens, the relics were rescued from the ruins by Saint Angelarius in 844 and taken to Bari Cathedral. Saint Sabinus is venerated in Canosa and

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, in both of which places the cathedrals are dedicated to him, in Torremaggiore and Furci. The only church in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

dedicated to him is the Church of St Sabinus in Woolacombe in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

Feast days

* Canosa di Puglia, 9 February: death of Saint Sabinus * Torremaggiore, the first Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in June: Festa Patronale *Canosa di Puglia, 31 July to 2 August: Festa Patronale

References

*Gerardo A. Chiancone - ''La Cattedrale e il Mausoleo di Boemondo a Canosa'' (tip. D. Guglielmi, Andria, 1983; pag. 54) *Attilio Paulicelli - ''San Sabino nella storia di Canosa'' (tip. San Paolo,

, 1967) *''La tradizione barese di s. Sabino di Canosa''. A cura di Salvatore Palese. Bari, Edipuglia, 2001. Contiene i seguenti studi: *Ada Campione, ''Sabino di Canosa tra storia e leggenda'', p. 23-46 *Pasquale Corsi, ''Canosa e Bari nelle modificazioni ecclesiastiche dei Bizantini'', p. 47-56 *Gioia Bertelli, ''Le reliquie di s. Sabino da Canosa a Bari: tra tradizione e archeologia'', p. 57-78 *Gerardo Cioffari o. p., ''Le origini del culto di s. Sabino a Bari'', p. 79-98 *Nicola Bux, ''La liturgia barese di s. Sabino'', p. 99-106 *Anna Maria Tripputi, ''La devozione barese a s. Sabino in età moderna e contemporanea'', p. 107-114 *Francesco Quarto - ''Un isolato omaggio tra devozione ed erudizione. La vita di S. Sabino del canonico Giuseppe Di Cagno'', p. 115-170. *''La Historia di S. Sabino di Antonio Beatillo (1629)''. A cura di Francesco Quarto. In Nicolaus Studi Storici, XVII, 2006, p. 97-160.

External links

Santi E Beati: San Sabino di Canosa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabinus Of Canosa Italian saints Bishops in Apulia People from Canosa di Puglia 461 births 566 deaths