Severin of Cologne

Depiction of St. Severin above the main portal of the Basilica of St. Severin in Cologne

Saint Severin was the third known bishop of Cologne .

Life

In 376 he is said to have consecrated a monastery in Cologne in honor of the martyrs Cornelius and Cyprianus . The later St. Severin Abbey emerged from this .

In 397, according to Gregory of Tours , at the hour of his death, Bishop Martin of Tours , with whom he was friends, heard the heavenly choir singing of the angels. This legend could indicate that St. Severin was engaged in social charities in a similar way to St. Martin.

If, according to the Vita Severini of the late 9th or 10th century, Severin worked for a long time in Bordeaux , he died there and his body was later transferred to Cologne, this news may be due to the confusion with a bishop of Bordeaux of the same name .

Severin's burial in a grave field south of Cologne can no more be archaeologically proven than the time when a coemeterial basilica was built near his grave. The foundation of the Severinsstift at this point can be assigned to the 8th century. Severin's bones are now kept in an ornate gold shrine in the choir of the St. Severin Church in Cologne. An opening of the new Severin Shrine from 1819 in 1999 confirmed the documented relocation of the bones by Bishop Wichfried of Cologne (924–953), as the old inner wooden shrine could be dated to around 948 according to the latest dendrochronological studies. In addition, the discovery of an old fabric of probably Byzantine origin with which the wooden box was lined on the inside was noticed.

Attributes

Statue of St. Severin in Severinstraße in Cologne

The attributes of the saint include the crosier and the miter . He often holds the Church of St. Severin in his right hand on representations.

Patronages and honors

The saint is the patron saint of Cologne and the weaver . He is called when it is dry for rain. In addition, he should help in case of misfortune.

As part of the redesign of the sculpture program for the Cologne town hall tower in the 1980s, Severin was honored with a figure by Walter Hutz on the fourth floor on the east side of the tower.

Remembrance day

His Catholic feast day is October 23 . It is an obligatory day of remembrance in Cologne according to the general Roman calendar . His Orthodox feast day is January 8th .

Pawn rule

Corresponding to the name- Bauer rule is:

If Sankt Severin likes it, he brings the first cold with him. (23rd October)

literature

Joachim Oepen (ed.); Bernd Päffgen, Sabine Schrenk, Ursula Tegtmeier (arrangement): The St. Severin of Cologne. Adoration and legend. Findings and research on the opening of the shrine in 1999. Franz Schmitt, Siegburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-87710-456-9 (Studies on Cologne Church History, Volume 40, color-illustrated representation of the research after the opening in 1999).

Ekkart Sauser : Severin. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 9, Bautz, Herzberg 1995, ISBN 3-88309-058-1 , Sp. 1507-1510. ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )

Web links

Commons : Severin von Köln - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Stadt-koeln.de: Sculptures on the fourth floor, accessed on January 15, 2015.

predecessor	Office	successor
Euphrates	Bishop of Cologne 397	Carentinus (direct successor unknown)

personal data
SURNAME	Severin of Cologne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Bishop of Cologne, saint
DATE OF BIRTH	4th century
DATE OF DEATH	around 400

[1] Stadt-koeln.de: Sculptures on the fourth floor, accessed on January 15, 2015.