Severus of Ravenna

Saint Severus of Ravenna was a 4th-century Bishop of Ravenna who attended the Council of Sardica in 343. He was ordained as a bishop due to his personal virtue and because of "the sign of a dove". He is commemorated on February 1.

Saint Severus of Ravenna
St. Severus of Ravenna - mosaic in Sant'Apollinare in Classe
Bishop of Ravenna
BornRavenna, Roman Empire
Diedcirca 348
Venerated inCatholic Church
Western Orthodoxy
CanonizedPre-Congregation
Major shrinePavio/Pavia (original)
Erfurt, Germany
Feast1 February
PatronageHatters, wool weavers,[1] spinners, policemen, cloth, stocking, and glove makers.

Life

According to legend, Severus, a wool weaver, went with his wife, Vincentia, to observe the election of a successor to Bishop Agapitus for Ravenna. When he arrived at the church a white dove landed three times on his shoulders, so the people took this as a sign elected him.[2] When he became bishop, his wife and daughter, Innocentia, took the veil.

He attended the Council of Sardica in 343.[2]

He was buried in Classe near Ravenna.[2]

Veneration

He was purported to be an example of not only a married priest, but a married archbishop.[3]

Andreas Agnellus, in his Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis, mentions the founding of a church dedicated to Severus at Classe and the later translation of his relics from a nearby monasterium dedicated to Rophilius, which appears to have taken place around the year 500.[4]

On the feast of Pentecost 582, Archbishop John II "Romanus" consecrated the Basilica of San Severo in Ravenna-Classe at his burial place and in his honor - it was destroyed in 1820 (and excavated from 1964 to 1967).

A Gallic priest named Felix stole Severus' bones together with those of his wife Vincentia and daughter Innocentia and brought them to Pavia.[1] In 836 Bishop Otgar of Mainz acquired the relics and transferred them to first to Mainz, Germany, and eventually to a predecessor building of St Severus' Church, Erfurt, where they were buried and still lie today.[5][6] Severus is depicted in Justinian's mosaics in Saint Apollinaire in Classis, and his name is recorded in early martyrologies.[3]

There is a Saint Severus Parish Church in Boppard, Germany.

A different St. Severus was martyred in Ravenna during the reign of Maximian, and some early records confused him with the bishop.

References
  1. "Severus von Ravenna", Die Mainzer Heiligen
  2. "Severus von Ravenna". Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon (in German). Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  3. Berman, Constance H. (2005). Medieval religion new approaches. Routledge. p. 127. OCLC 1267427298.
  4. Trzeciak, Frances. Cult of Saints, E05789, University of Oxford
  5. Oppermann, Johann M., Der heilige Severus von Ravenna, Patron der Stiftskirche zu Erfurt: sein Leben, die Geschichte seiner Reliquien, sowie seine Verehrung in Lied und Gebet, Schöningh, 1878
  6. "Saint Severus of Ravenna". CatholicSaints.Info. 31 January 2010.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.