SS. SAVINIAN, MARTYR - 29 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 29th of January

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST SAVINIAN OF TROYES, MARTYR

St Sabina

Saint Savinian (Sabinianus) suffered martyrdom at Troyes (Trecae) ​​in Champagne under Emperor Aurelian. Legend has it that Savinian was a Greek by birth from the city of Samos, who was so inspired by the reading of holy Scripture that he was converted. 

HE WAS CONVERTED BY THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

His death for the Christian faith is thought to have occurred in the year 275 or 278. After he had been beaten with iron bars and had a burning cap put on his head, he still remained unharmed, and so the governor had him beheaded. As the place where he completed his fight, Rilly is referred to, which is also called Sainte Syre because a holy woman discovered his grave here. 

ST SAVINIAN'S RELICS

His relics were kept in the Cathedral of Troyes. A part of them was brought to St Syre on the Seine in the year 640. The Roman Martyrology names him on January 29, on which he is said to have been martyred, but the Church of Troyes celebrates his feast on the 24th of the same month. In  portraits he stands with a sword cutting his throat, or he carries his head in his hands as a sign of the beheading that has taken place. 

ST SABINA IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN HIS SISTER

Sabina (Savina) is said to have been his sister (she is also commemorated on August 29). In our opinion she is St Sabina pedissequa. The fact that her martyrdom is erroneously transferred to Trier strengthens our view, for Trier and Troyes have been confused countless times. 

In fact, according to legend, she followed her brother "on the heels" to Troyes, but when she arrived she found him already dead. Then she began to pray and gave up her spirit in prayer. They buried her on the banks of the Seine, at Croix la Motte. In one of the suburbs of Troyes there was a church dedicated to her. Her body lay in the church of Montier-la-Celle, not far from town, now a parish church that bears her name. In pictures she carries the pilgrim's staff and a book. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)