ST SEVERUS, BISHOP OF TRIER - 15 OCTOBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER 

Saints celebrated on the 15th of October

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 SEVERUS, BISHOP OF TRIER 

This holy bishop of Trier [Treves] was the successor of St Auctor. He was a man of perfect holiness (vir totius sanctitatis), a contemporary of St Jerome, who studied at Trier at the time. He was a student of St Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, and shortly after his election in 447 to the shepherd's seat of Trier, he accompanied St Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, on his second missionary journey to Britain. (On his first voyage St Lupus had been his companion.) 

St Severus contributed much to the spreading and strengthening of Christianity in Germany. That is why the German Martyrology of the blessed Canisius says of him: "Industrious in the preaching office, he faithfully performed his duty as pastor." How long he presided over the church of Trier, and in what year he was recalled to eternity, is not known due to the complete lack of historical information. In the Diocese of Trier he is commemorated on October 15. His name is also found in the Roman Martyrology. The Bollandists give his feast as March 16. St Severus must not be confused with St Severin of Cologne (as this did happen occasionally).

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