1. Severus of Barcelona
Severus of Barcelona (Catalan: Sant Sever,Spanish: San Severo) is venerated as a saint by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. His legend states that he was a bishop of Barcelonaand was martyred during the persecution of Christians by Diocletian in AD 304. Details concerning his life and death are uncertain and of questionable historicity, and his Acta actually date from around the sixth century.
Legend
According to his legend, he was born inBarcelona to a noble family and received a good education. In a hymn associated with his office, it is stated explicitly that he was a citizen of Barcelona. A variant of the legend status that he was a humble weaver upon whose head a dove landed. The people of the city saw this as a sign and elected him bishop.
He was chosen bishop of Barcelona around 290. During the persecution of Diocletian, Severus fled to Castrum Octavianum (Sant Cugat), where he encountered a fellow Christian, named Emeterius(Catalan: Sant Medir, Medí, Spanish: San Medir, Medín), sowing beans in the field. Severus instructed the man that if the soldiers sent to kill him asked the farmer where he had gone, to tell them that he had passed this way.
A miracle made the beans he was cultivating sprout immediately after Severus left. When the soldiers came across Emeterius and asked him if he had seen the bishop, Emeterius replied that he had and it was when he was sowing the fields. Angry at this lie and believing that Emeterius was mocking them, the soldiers arrested the man and took him to Castrum Octavianum.
Severus meanwhile appeared to the soldiers, along with four other priests from Barcelona who had fled with him. The four priests were flogged and then killed with a sword. Emeterius also suffered this fate. Severus was beaten with a cat o' nine tails, and nails were driven into his head. The soldiers left the bishop on the ground. However, he did not die and when Christians from Barcelona heard that Severus was still alive, they attempted to revive him. However, he expired in the arms of one of them.
Veneration
Some sources state that Severus' relics were buried at Sant Cugat, where a church dedicated to him was built. A monastery, the one that stands there today, was built alongside the church. When that church was destroyed, Severus’ relics were translated to the monastery. In the fifteenth century, some of the relics were taken to Barcelona, to which were attributed various miracles, including curing King Martin I of gangrene in his leg. Saint Peter Nolasco and Ferdinand I were also devoted to his cult. The Baroque church of Sant Sever, near theCathedral of Barcelona, was dedicated to him.
The hermitage of Sant Medir, near Sant Cugat, is dedicated to Emeterius. A separate festival dedicated to Emeterius is celebrated in the first week of March.
Source : wikipedia
2. Severus of Antioch
St. Severus the Great of Antioch, was a Syriac Arameanand last non-Chalcedonian patriarch to reside inAntioch and is considered one of the founders of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Severus is also considered a Church father and a saint in Oriental Orthodoxy.
Life
Severus was born in the town of Sozopolis in the Roman province of Pisidia. In Alexandria, he studied grammar and rhetoric in Latin and Greek. Severus later studied law and philosophy at the famous law school in Berytus. Severus was baptised in 488 in the Church of the MartyrLeontius in Tripolis.
He almost at once openly united himself with theAcephali, repudiating his own baptism and his baptiser, as well as the Christian church itself, believing it to be infected with Nestorianism(Labbe, u.s.). Upon embracing Non-Chalcedoniandoctrines, Severus became a monk at the monastery of Saint Romanus between Gaza and the port of Maiuma. Here he met Peter the Iberian, the bishop of Maiuma. Severus was later ordained as a priest before joining a Non-Chalcedonian brotherhood near Eleutheropolisunder the archimandrite Mamas.
At this time Severus rejected the Henotikon of Emperor Zeno, dismissing it as "the annulling edict," and "the disuniting edict" (Labbe, v. 121), and condemned Peter Mongus, the Non-Chalcedonian patriarch of Alexandria, for accepting it. We next hear of him in an Egyptian monastery, whose abbot Nephalius having been formerly a Non-Chalcedonian, now embraced theCouncil of Chalcedon. In the resulting disagreement, Nephalius expelled Severus and his supporters.
In 508, Severus is said to have stirred up a fierce religious war among the population of Alexandria, resulting in bloodshed and conflagrations (Labbe, v. 121). To escape punishment for this violence, he fled to Constantinople, supported by two hundred Non-Chalcedonian monks. Anastasius, who succeeded Zeno as emperor in 491, was a professed Non-Chalcedonian, and received Severus with honor. His presence initiated a period of fighting in Constantinople between rival bands of monks, Chalcedonian and Non, which ended in AD 511 with the humiliation of Anastasius, the temporary triumph of the patriarch Macedonius II, and the reversal of the Non-Chalcedonian cause (Theophanes, p. 132).
That same year Severus was eagerly dispatched by Anastasius to occupy the vacant patriarch of Antioch (Labbe, iv. 1414; Theod. Lect. ii. 31, pp. 563, 567; Theophanes p. 134), and the very day of his enthronement solemnly pronounced in his church an anathema on Chalcedon, and accepted the Henotikon he had previously repudiated. He had the name of Peter Mongus inscribed in the diptychs; entered into communion with the Non-Chalcedonian prelates,Timotheus of Constantinople and John Niciota of Alexandria; and received into communion Peter of Iberia and other leading members of the Acephali (Evagr. H. E. iii. 33; Labbe, iv. 1414, v. 121, 762; Theod. Lect. l.c.).
Non-Chalcedonianism seemed now triumphant throughout the Christian world. Proud of his patriarchal dignity and strong in the emperor's protection, Severus despatched letters to his brother-prelates, announcing his elevation and demanding communion. In these he anathematized Chalcedon and all who maintained the two natures. While many rejected them altogether, Non-Chalcedonianism was everywhere in the ascendant in the East, and Severus was deservedly regarded as its chief champion (Severus of Ashmunain apud Neale, Patr. Alex. ii. 27). Synodal letters were exchanged between John Niciota and Severus, which are the earliest examples of communication between theOriental Orthodox sees of Alexandria and Antioch that have continued to the present day.
The triumph of Severus was, however, short. His possession of the patriarchate of Antioch did not survive his imperial patron. Anastasius was succeeded in 518 by Justin I, who embraced the beliefs of Chalcedon. The Non-Chalcedonian prelates were everywhere replaced by Chalcedonian successors, Severus being one of the first to fall. Irenaeus, the count of the East, was commissioned to arrest him but Severus departed before his approach, setting sail at night on the 25th of September 518 for Alexandria (Liberat. Brev. l.c.; Theophanes, p. 141; Evagr. H. E. iv. 4), where he would stay for twenty years. Paul I was ordained in his place.
Severus and his doctrines were anathematized in various councils, while at Alexandria he was gladly welcomed by the patriarch Timotheos IIIand his other fellow doctrinarists, being generally hailed as the champion of the orthodox faith against the corruptions of Nestorianism. His learning and persuasion established his authority as "os omnium doctorum," and the day of his entrance into Egypt was long celebrated as a Coptic/Jacobite festival (Neale, u.s. p. 30).
Alexandria soon became a refuge of Non-Chalcedonians of every shade of opinion, becoming too numerous for the emperor to molest. But within this group fierce controversies sprang up on various subtle questions ofChristology, one of which involved Severus and his fellow-exile Julian of Halicarnassus as to the corruptibility of Christ's human body before His resurrection. Julian and his followers were styledAphthartodocetae and "Phantasiastae," Severus and his adherents "Phthartolatrae" or "Corrupticolae," and "Ktistolatrae." The controversy was a heated and protracted one and while no settlement was arrived at, the later Oriental Orthodox claim the victory for Severus (Renaudot, p. 129).
After some years in Egypt spent in continual literary and polemical activity, Severus was unexpectedly summoned to Constantinople by Justin's successor Justinian I, whose consortTheodora favored Severus' cause. The emperor was weary of the turmoil caused by the prolonged theological discussions; Severus, he was told, was the master of the Non-Chalcedonian party, and only through his influence could unity only be regained. At this time AD 535 Anthimus had been recently appointed to the Patriarch of Constantinople by Theodora's influence. He was a Non-Chalcedonian, who later joined heartily with Severus and his associates, Peter of Apamea and Zoaras, in their endeavours to get Non-Chalcedonianism recognized as the imperial faith. This introduction of Non-Chalcedonians threw the city into great disorder, and large numbers embraced their beliefs (Labbe, v. 124).
Eventually, at the instance of Pope Agapetus I, who happened to be present in Constantinople on political business, the Non-Chalcedonians Anthimus and Timotheus were deposed. Patriarch Mennas, who succeeded Anthimus, summoned a synod in May and June 536 to deal with the Chalcedon question. Severus and his two companions were cast out "as wolves", and once again anathematized (Labbe, v. 253-255). The sentence was ratified by Justinian. The writings of Severus were proscribed; any one possessing them who failed to commit them to the flames was to lose his right hand (Evagr. H. E. iv. 11; Novell. Justinian. No. 42; Matt. Blastar. p. 59). Severus returned to Egypt, which he seems never again to have left. The date of his death is said variously to be 538, 539, or 542. According to John of Ephesus, he died in the Egyptian desert. It is also believed that Severus died in the city of Sakha on 8 February 538, before his body was moved to a monastery north of Alexandria and buried there.
Writing and theology
He was a very copious writer, but of the original Greek we possess little more than fragments. An account of them, so far as they can be identified, is given by William Cave and Fabricius. A very large number of his writings exist only in Syriactranslation.
Severus was successful in his great aim of uniting the Non-Chalcedonians into one compact body with a definitely formulated creed. For notwithstanding the numerous subdivisions of the Non-Chalcedonians, he was, in Dorner's words, "strictly speaking, the scientific leader of the most compact portion of the party," and regarded as such by the Non-Chalcedonians and their opponents. He was the chief object of attack in the long and fierce contest with the Chalcedonians, by whom he is always designated as the author and ringleader of Non-Chalcedonianism. Hoping to embrace as many as possible of varying theological color, he followed the traditional formulas of the church as closely as he could, while affixing his own sense upon them.
Source : wikipedia
3. Severus of Avranches
Severus of Avranches was born to a poor peasant family in France. He was a shepherd in his youth. After joining the priesthood, he rose through the ranks of monk, priest and later abbot. He became bishop of Avranches. In his later years, he resigned his bishopric and returned to monastic life.
Source : wikipedia
4. Severus of Naples
Saint Severus (Italian: San Severo di Napoli) (died 409) was a bishop of Naples during the 4th and 5th centuries. He is considered the twelfth bishop of Naples, succeeding Maximus. His episcopate ran from February 363 to April 29, 409, the traditional date of his death. Maximus is actually considered the 10th bishop by the Catholic Church; between the episcopates of Maximus and Severus was the episcopate of Zosimus, who was Arian and thus considered heretical by the Catholic Church.
Severus was a friend of Saint Ambrose, whom he met at council at Capua in 392.
To Severus is attributed the construction of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Fonte, associated with the basilica of Santa Restituta.
Severus also built outside of the city walls the Basilica of San Fortunato, to which he translatedthe relics of his predecessor Maximus.
To Severus is also attributed the first translation of the body of St. Januarius from Pozzuoli to Naples, which occurred in 367. According to an early hagiography, Januarius' relics were transferred by order of Severus to the Neapolitan catacombs extra moenia.
Veneration
His relics were translated from the Battistero di Napoli to the district known as Rione Sanità in the 9th century, to what became known as theCatacombs of San Severo. In 1310, ArchbishopUmberto d’Ormont (Uberto d'Ormont), who had served as abbot of the Basilica of San Severo, placed Severus' relics in the main altar of San Severo, and had built a marble ciborium, which has been attributed to Tino da Camaino.
The Marble Calendar of Naples, sculpted in the ninth century and preserved in the Cathedral of Naples, lists Severus under the feast day of April 29 –the date that appears in the Roman Martyrology.
A legendary Vita, written in the eleventh century, states that Severus brought a dead man back to life after the man’s widow and children had been left destitute. The facts are these: a man of Naples one day went to a bathing establishment and forgot to take with him the usual fee for the proprietor: an egg. The man promised to pay the bath-keeper back. Unfortunately, he died a few days later and the bath-keeper then demanded from the widow a large amount of money that he pretended the deceased man had owed him. A judge ordered that the woman and her children be sold into slavery since she could not pay. The widow appealed to Saint Severus for assistance. Severus declared, “The dead man himself shall give evidence.” The town was gathered together at the man’s tomb and Severus asked the dead man to answer truthfully about how much he owed the bath-keeper. The corpse opened his eyes, and stood up, and said “I owe but one egg.” Then he fell back again. The crowd immediately attacked the bath-keeper, but Severus protected the man from further harm.
Source : wikipedia
5. Severus of Ravenna
February 1st - St. Severus of Ravenna B (RM)
Died c. 348. Severus was a poor weaver of Ravenna, Italy, who never dreamed that God would one day call him from his weaver's loom to rule a diocese, but God has strange ways of calling His servants and sometimes lays His hand upon them in the least likely places: from the plough and the bench have come some of the greatest of His apostles.
So it happened that when the bishopric of Ravenna fell vacant in 283 and the cathedral was filled with those who had gathered to elect a new bishop, Severus said to his wife, Vincentia, that he would visit the minister and see what
was going on. She replied that he had much better remain at home and not show himself in his working clothes among the nobles and well-dressed citizens. "What harm is there in my going?" he asked. "Why, you have work to do here," she
answered, "instead of gadding about sightseeing." When he persisted, she said, "Go, and may you come back with a good box on your ear," and added sarcastically: "Go, then, and get elected bishop."
Severus, accustomed to her sharp tongue, set out and, entering the crowded cathedral, stood at the back, ashamed of his working clothes covered with flocks of wool. When, in the course of the service, the power of the Holy Spirit was invoked in prayer, there appeared in the cathedral a white dove that attracted the attention of the assembly, and which after flying around fluttered at the ear of the poor spinner. He beat it off, but it returned and finally came to rest upon his shoulder. Every eye was now turned in his direction, and the people, regarding it as a heavenly sign, with one accord chose him to be their bishop.
Vincentia was still at home, and when a neighbor came running, breathless, to her door with the news, she laughed and would not believe it. "What a tale," she said, "that a man who tosses a shuttle should be made a prelate!" But when
another came with the same story, and yet another, and a crowd gathered at her door, and she found it was true, she was speechless.
Thus, it came to pass that Severus the weaver became bishop of Ravenna and who can doubt that he was a good weaver, well respected for his work and character, and that he was chosen not only because of a good omen but also for his own fine qualities. For these he was chosen to accompany the papal legate to the synod of Sardica in 344.
He made a good bishop, and when at last he came to die, he said his last Mass before all the people, then quietly dismissed them with his blessing. When all had departed save a single boy who served at the altar, he bade the boy close the doors, and clothing himself in his episcopal robes, went to the tomb of his wife and daughter, who had died before him. There with the help of the boy
he raised the stone, and descending into the grave, laid himself down, and after a prayer closed his eyes and fell asleep. After his death he was canonized a saint, and is usually portrayed in his bishop's robes and with a weaver's shuttle (Benedictines, Gill).
It may be that the dove was a common phenomenon, or that it was simply a pious addition to the story of unlikely bishops, but it occurs in several stories.
In art, St. Severus is a bishop weaving. He may have a loom and weaver's tools and, possibly, a dove on his shoulder (Roeder). He is the patron of glove makers, hatters, and weavers (Roeder).
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