Severus of Vienne

Contents

Severus of Vienne (died c. 455) was a priest who evangelised in Vienne, France. He is a saint venerated throughout the Catholic Church[1][2] as well as in other denominations.[3][4] Severus was reportedly Indian by birth[5] and of wealthy origins. His entry in the Roman Martyrology reads:[6]

Life and ministry

"At Vienne, in France, St. Severus, priest and confessor, who undertook a painful journey from India in order to preach the Gospel in that city, and converted a great number of Pagans to the faith of Christ by his labors and miracles."

— The Roman Martyrology (1916), p. 237

Severus settled in Vienne around 430.[7] He founded a church in honour of Saint Alban (now the church of Saint-Alban-du-Rhône) near Vienne.[8] He died in Italy, but his body was brought back to Vienne and buried in the church dedicated to the protomartyr Saint Stephen, which he himself had constructed.[9]

References

  1. 1."Saint Severus of Vienne". CatholicSaints.Info. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  2. 2.Abbey, Saint Augustine's; Press, Aeterna (1966). The Book of Saints. Aeterna Press. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  3. 3.Kurikilamkatt, James (31 December 2005). First Voyage of the Apostle Thomas to India: Ancient Christianity in Bharuch and Taxila. ISD LLC. ISBN 978-1-925612-63-9. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  4. 4.In principle, those recognised as saints prior to 1050 are common to the Catholic and Orthodox churches, so Severus of Vienne is an Orthodox saint too.
  5. 5.Raisharma, Sukanya (January 2021). "Much Ado about Vienne? A Localizing Universal Chronicon". Historiography and Identity III: Carolingian Approaches. Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. 29. Brepols Publishers: 271–290. doi:10.1484/m.celama-eb.5.120167. ISBN 978-2-503-58655-7. S2CID 234198159. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  6. 6.Catholic Church (1916). The Roman Martyrology. John Murphy Company, Baltimore. p. 237. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  7. 7."Saint Séver". nominis.cef.fr. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  8. 8."Thursday, 21st January, 1915". Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London. 27: 54–67. June 1915. doi:10.1017/S0950797300013512. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  9. 9.Thomas, P. (17 December 2020). Christians and Christianity in India and Pakistan: A General Survey of the Progress of Christianity in India from Apostolic Times to the Present Day. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-22821-2. Retrieved 2 September 2021.