The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): JanuaryBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): January
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Christian saints
Saying this, when they had embraced him, he stretched out his feet, and,
as if he saw friends coming to him, and grew joyful on their account
(for, as he lay, his countenance was bright), he departed and was
gathered to his fathers. And they forthwith, as he had commanded them,
preparing the body and wrapping it up, hid it under ground: and no one
knows to this day where it is hidden, save those two servants only.
In art, S. Antony appears (1), with a hog which has a bell attached to
its neck. Sometimes, however, S. Antony holds the bell. He was regarded
as the Patron of the Hospitallers; and when ordinances were passed
forbidding the poor from allowing their swine to run loose about the
streets, as they were often in the way of horses, an exception was made
in favour of the pigs of the hospitallers, on consideration of their
wearing a bell round their necks. But it is possible that this did not
originate the symbol, but that rather, on account of the hog being the
symbol of S. Antony, the Antonine Hospitallers were allowed to preserve
theirs, and that the hog represents the flesh which S. Antony
controlled, and the bell is a common symbol of hermits; (2), he is
represented with his peculiar cross. The cross of S. Antony is a
crutch, or the Egyptian cross, like the letter T.
S. SABINE, B. OF PIACENZA.
(END OF 4TH CENT.)
[Authorities: Roman Martyrology and the Dialogues of S. Gregory the
Great, lib. III., c. 10.]
S. Sabine or Savine, was of Roman origin; he was made Bishop of Piacenza
in Italy, and was present at the great Council of Nicaea, and also at
that of Aquileija. S. Gregory relates of him, that on one occasion the
river Po had overflowed its banks, and was devastating the church lands.
Then Sabine said to his deacon, "Go and say to the river, 'The Bishop
commands thee to abate thy rage, and return into thy bed.'" But the
deacon refused to go, thinking he was sent on a fool's errand. Therefore
Sabine said to his notary, "Write on a strip of parchment these words,
Sabine, servant of the Lord Jesus Christ to the river Po, greeting:--I
command thee, O river, to return into thy bed, and do no more injury to
the lands of the church, in the name of Jesus Christ, our common Lord."
And when the notary had thus written, the Bishop said, "Go, cast this
into the river." And he did so; then the flood abated, and the Po
returned within its banks, as aforetime. After having governed his
diocese forty-five years, he died on December 11th, and was buried in
the church of the Twelve Apostles, but now known as the church of S.
Savine, on Jan. 17th.
S. MILDGYTHA, V. (ABOUT A.D. 730.)
[Mildgytha, Mildwitha, Milgith or Milwith, as she is variously
called, is commemorated in the English Kalendars.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account