Sabinus of Piacenza

Sabinus of Piacenza , Italian Savino di Piacenza , (* in the 4th century in Italy; † December 3, 421 in Piacenza ) was Bishop of Piacenza and pupil and friend of Ambrosius of Milan . His first name is derived from the Sabine people . He is the patron saint against floods. His feast day is December 11th. He will also be commemorated on December 3rd (day of death) and January 17th (day of burial).

Modern statue of the saint in the San Savino church in Piacenza

Life and legend

Sabinus was a deacon in Milan , collaborator with his spiritual father and teacher Ambrosius. Their friendship was so intense that, conversely, Ambrose asked him to double-read his own writings before they were published. Six letters from Ambrosius to him have survived. In 376 Sabinus became Bishop of Piacenza, during the reign of the Emperors Gratian and Theodosius . In Piacenza he built the church dedicated to the apostles. Like his friend and teacher Ambrose, he campaigned at the Council of Aquileia in 381 for the implementation of the resolutions of the 1st Council of Nicaea and shared its enthusiasm for the virgin status.

The most famous of his miracles is the taming of the buttocks . The Po had once again flooded the property of the Church of Piacenza. Bishop Sabinus ordered his deacon to go and order the river to return to bed on behalf of the bishop. When the deacon laughed, Sabinus called a notary and ordered him to write the following: “Sabinus, the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, sends the request to the Po: I command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you are no longer yours Cross the bank and do not allow yourself to damage the goods of the church. ” He asked the notary to throw this letter into the river. Once that happened, the water receded and never again flooded the Church's property.

Sabinus died after 45 years as bishop on December 3, 421 in Piacenza. His body was buried on January 27, 422 by his successor, Saint Maurus , in the Church of the Holy Apostles which he had built. It has had his name since the 8th century.

Sabinus worship in Germany

In Germany there is only one church that is consecrated to a St. Sabinus, namely in Prenzlau ( Uckermark ), first mentioned in 1250 as St. Sabini, since 1626 mainly called Sabinenkirche. This patronage, which is extremely rare in Germany, in Prenzlau of all places, is explained by the fact that Saint Sabinus is the patron saint against floods. The nucleus of Prenzlaus lay in a settlement around the Sabinenkirche on the left bank of the Ucker at its outflow from the Unteruckersee , i.e. in a protected waterfront typical of Slavic castle settlements . In the rainy and snowy seasons these settlements were threatened by flooding. Research in Prenzlau in the 20th century led to the opinion that the church was dedicated to Saint Sabinus of Assisi , because Sabinus, venerated in the diocese of Cammin , is clearly the martyr Sabinus; the diocese also includes Prenzlau and the Grobe monastery , also with veneration of Sabinus. However, Sabinus of Piacenza was not a martyr, but was patron saint against floods. The contradiction (Sabinus both as martyr and as patron saint against floods) is unresolved.

literature

• Johann Evangelist Stadler, Franz Joseph Heim, Johann Nepomuk (Ed.): Complete Lexicon of Saints , Volume 5, Augsburg 1882, pp. 181f. ( Digitized version )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Julius Boehmer: The Prenzlauer Sankt-Sabinen-Kirche as part of the medieval diocese of Cammin . Prenzlau 1936 ( digitized ).

Web links

• Sabinus of Piacenza in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints