Saint

Severus of Vienne
BornIndia
Diedc. 455 A.D.
Italy
Feast8 August
AttributesHolding a devil in a chain[1]
PatronageVienne, Saint-Sève

Severus of Vienne (died c. 455) was a priest who evangelised in Vienne, France. He is venerated as a Catholic saint.[2][3][4][Note 1] Severus is said to have been Indian by birth[5] and of wealthy origins. His entry in the Roman Martyrology reads:[6]

'At Vienne, in France, St. Severus, priest and confessor, who undertook a painful journey from India in order to preach the Gospel in that city, and converted a great number of Pagans to the faith of Christ by his labors and miracles.'

Severus settled in Vienne around 430.[7] He founded a church in honour of Saint Alban (now the church of Saint-Alban-du-Rhône) near Vienne.[8] He died in Italy, but his body was brought back to Vienne and buried in the church dedicated to the protomartyr Saint Stephen, which he himself had constructed.[9]

Notes

  1. ^ In principle, those recognised as saints prior to 1050 are common to the Catholic and Orthodox churches, so Severus of Vienne is an Orthodox saint too.

References

  1. ^ Husenbeth, F. C. (Frederick Charles); Jessopp, Augustus; Blackburne, Edward Lushington; Marsh, William (1882). Emblems of saints. Norwich, Printed by A. H. Goose and co. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Saint Severus of Vienne". CatholicSaints.Info. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  3. ^ Abbey, Saint Augustine's; Press, Aeterna (1966). The Book of Saints. Aeterna Press. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  4. ^ Kurikilamkatt, James (31 December 2005). First Voyage of the Apostle Thomas to India: Ancient Christianity in Bharuch and Taxila. ISD LLC. ISBN 978-1-925612-63-9. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  5. ^ Raisharma, Sukanya (January 2021). "Much Ado about Vienne? A Localizing Universal Chronicon". Historiography and Identity III: Carolingian Approaches. Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Brepols Publishers. 29: 271–290. doi:10.1484/m.celama-eb.5.120167. ISBN 978-2-503-58655-7. S2CID 234198159. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  6. ^ The Roman Martyrology. Baltimore : John Murphy. 1916. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Saint Séver". nominis.cef.fr. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Thursday, 21st January, 1915". Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London. 27: 54–67. June 1915. doi:10.1017/S0950797300013512. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  9. ^ Thomas, P. (17 December 2020). Christians and Christianity in India and Pakistan: A General Survey of the Progress of Christianity in India from Apostolic Times to the Present Day. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-22821-2. Retrieved 2 September 2021.

Further reading

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