Sabinus of Spoleto (died c. 303) was a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

in the early

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

church who resisted the Diocletianic Persecution and was

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

ed.

Traditional narrative

According to legend, Venustian, governor of

Etruria Etruria ( ) was a region of Central Italy delimited by the rivers Arno and Tiber, an area that covered what is now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and north-western Umbria. It was inhabited by the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that f ...

and

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

, had Sabinus and his

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

s arrested in

Assisi Assisi (, also ; ; from ; Central Italian: ''Ascesi'') is a town and comune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Prope ...

. Diocletian's order required all Christians to sacrifice to the

Roman gods The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts, integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin literature, Roman art, and relig ...

or be put to death; their estates were then to be 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 Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

rose on the third day, Venustian invited him to do the same thing. 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. Venustian had Sabinus's hands cut off. In prison after the martyrdom of his deacons, he was tended by a woman named Serena. While in prison, he healed a man born blind. 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 Maximian (; ), nicknamed Herculius, was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar (title), Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocleti ...

, hearing of this, ordered the

tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the Tribune of the Plebs, tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs ac ...

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 Spoleto (, also , , ; ) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is south of Trevi, north of Terni, southeast of Perugia; southeast of Florence; and north of Rome. H ...

Veneration

Sabinus's feast day is 30 December in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

and in the ''Roman Martyrology'' of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

.See: *
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
* He is depicted in the ''

Maestà Maestà , the Italian word for "majesty", designates a classification of images of the enthroned Madonna with the child Jesus, the designation generally implying accompaniment by angels, saints, or both. The ''Maestà'' is an extension of the " ...

'' of

Duccio Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ), commonly known as just Duccio, was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religi ...

. The church of San Sabino, dedicated to the saint, is outside Spoleto.

Other saints of the name

The ''

Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' () is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved appendices to it. It provid ...

'' lists six saints called Sabinus, three of whom were bishops. The other two are

Sabinus of Canosa :''for other people called Sabinus, see Sabinus (disambiguation)'' Saint Sabinus of Canosa () (461 – 9 February 566), venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic church, was bishop of Canosa di Puglia from 514. Life He was sent twice as a papal ...

(died ; feast day, 9 February) and Sabinus of Piacenza (died late 4th century; feast day, 11 December).

Notes

References

Bibliography

*Englebert, Omer. "The Lives of the Saints." Anne and Christopher Fremantle, trans. ''Nihil obstat'' 1954. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1994, p. 494-495

External links

''St. Sabinus''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabinus 3rd-century births 303 deaths Italian saints 3rd-century Christian martyrs 3rd-century Romans Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian