Sabbas the Goth
Encyclopedia
Sabbas the Goth is a martyr
and Christian saint.
He was born in 334 to Christian
parents in a village in the Buzău river
valley and lived in what is now the Wallachia
region in Romania
. His Act of Martyrdom states that he was a Goth
by race and may have been a cantor
or a reader to the religious community there.
He was martyred during the reign of Valentinian
and Valens
. In the year 371, a Gothic
nobleman began the suppression of Christianity
in Sabbas' area. When his agents came to the village where Sabbas lived they forced the villagers to eat pagan sacrificial meat. According to the tale, non-Christian villagers wanting to help their Christian neighbours tricked the authorities by exchanging the sacrificial meat for meat that had not been sacrificed. However, Sabbas made a conspicuous show of rejecting the defiled meat altogether. His fellow villagers exiled him but after a while he was allowed to return. When the Gothic noble returned and asked if there were any Christians in the village, Sabbas stepped forward and proclaimed, “'Let no-one swear an oath on my behalf. I am a Christian.” Sabbas' neighbours then said that he was a poor man of no account. The leader dismissed him, saying, “This one can do us neither good nor harm.”
The next year (372), Sabbas celebrated Easter
with the priest Sansalas. Someone reported this and three days after Easter Athanaric
, the son of the Gothic king Rothesteus, arrived in the village to arrest Sansalas and present him to the higher authorities. However Sabbas was instead tortured on the spot, without any trial. He was dragged naked through thorn bushes, bound, alongside the parish priest, to trees and forced to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols. Both men refused to consume the meat.
The pagan Gothic prince Athanaric
, at war with Emperor Valens
of Rome, sentenced Sabbas to death and as he went with the soldiers he praised God the whole way, denouncing the pagan and idolatrous ways of his captors. The commander ordered Sabbas thrown in the river Musæus, a tributary of the Danube http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13286b.htm, tying a rock around his neck and binding his body to a wooden pole.
His relic
s were taken by St Sansala and hidden by the Christians until they could be sent for safe keeping to the Roman Empire. Here they were received by Bishop Ascholius of Thessalonica.
Basil the Great requested that the ruler of Scythia Minor
, Junius Soranus, send him the relics of saints and the Dacian priests sent the relics of Sabbas to him in Caesarea, Cappadocia
, in 373 or 374 accompanied by a letter, the 'Epistle of the Church of God in Gothia to the Church of God located in Cappadocia and to all the Local Churches of the Holy Universal Church'. This letter was written in Greek, possibly by St Vetranion of Tomis.
In response, Basil replied with two letters to Bishop Ascholius where he extolled the virtues of Sabbas calling him an 'athlete of Christ' and 'Martyr for the Truth'.
Sabbas' feast day is on the date of his martyrdom, 12 April in the Roman Martyrology
and 15 April in the Eastern Orthodox Churches. The Eastern Orthodox Church
commemorates him as "the holy, glorious, and right-victorious Great-martyr Sabbas."
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
and Christian saint.
He was born in 334 to Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
parents in a village in the Buzău river
Buzau River
Buzău is a river in eastern Romania, tributary of the Siret River. Its total length is 302 km. Its source is in the south-eastern Carpathian Mountains, east of Braşov. The Buzău flows through the Romanian counties Braşov, Covasna, Buzău and Brăila...
valley and lived in what is now the Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
region in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. His Act of Martyrdom states that he was a Goth
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
by race and may have been a cantor
Cantor (church)
A cantor is the chief singer employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir; also called the precentor....
or a reader to the religious community there.
He was martyred during the reign of Valentinian
Valentinian I
Valentinian I , also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces while Valentinian retained the west....
and Valens
Valens
Valens was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne...
. In the year 371, a Gothic
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
nobleman began the suppression of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
in Sabbas' area. When his agents came to the village where Sabbas lived they forced the villagers to eat pagan sacrificial meat. According to the tale, non-Christian villagers wanting to help their Christian neighbours tricked the authorities by exchanging the sacrificial meat for meat that had not been sacrificed. However, Sabbas made a conspicuous show of rejecting the defiled meat altogether. His fellow villagers exiled him but after a while he was allowed to return. When the Gothic noble returned and asked if there were any Christians in the village, Sabbas stepped forward and proclaimed, “'Let no-one swear an oath on my behalf. I am a Christian.” Sabbas' neighbours then said that he was a poor man of no account. The leader dismissed him, saying, “This one can do us neither good nor harm.”
The next year (372), Sabbas celebrated Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
with the priest Sansalas. Someone reported this and three days after Easter Athanaric
Athanaric
Athanaric was king of several branches of the Thervingian Goths for at least two decades in the fourth century. His name, Athanareiks, means "Year King" or "King for the Year" comes from the Gothic word Athni meaning "year" and the Gothic Reiks meaning "king."A probable rival of Fritigern, another...
, the son of the Gothic king Rothesteus, arrived in the village to arrest Sansalas and present him to the higher authorities. However Sabbas was instead tortured on the spot, without any trial. He was dragged naked through thorn bushes, bound, alongside the parish priest, to trees and forced to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols. Both men refused to consume the meat.
The pagan Gothic prince Athanaric
Athanaric
Athanaric was king of several branches of the Thervingian Goths for at least two decades in the fourth century. His name, Athanareiks, means "Year King" or "King for the Year" comes from the Gothic word Athni meaning "year" and the Gothic Reiks meaning "king."A probable rival of Fritigern, another...
, at war with Emperor Valens
Valens
Valens was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne...
of Rome, sentenced Sabbas to death and as he went with the soldiers he praised God the whole way, denouncing the pagan and idolatrous ways of his captors. The commander ordered Sabbas thrown in the river Musæus, a tributary of the Danube http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13286b.htm, tying a rock around his neck and binding his body to a wooden pole.
His relic
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
s were taken by St Sansala and hidden by the Christians until they could be sent for safe keeping to the Roman Empire. Here they were received by Bishop Ascholius of Thessalonica.
Basil the Great requested that the ruler of Scythia Minor
Scythia Minor
Scythia Minor, "Lesser Scythia" was in ancient times the region surrounded by the Danube at the north and west and the Black Sea at the east, corresponding to today's Dobruja, with a part in Romania and a part in Bulgaria....
, Junius Soranus, send him the relics of saints and the Dacian priests sent the relics of Sabbas to him in Caesarea, Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
, in 373 or 374 accompanied by a letter, the 'Epistle of the Church of God in Gothia to the Church of God located in Cappadocia and to all the Local Churches of the Holy Universal Church'. This letter was written in Greek, possibly by St Vetranion of Tomis.
In response, Basil replied with two letters to Bishop Ascholius where he extolled the virtues of Sabbas calling him an 'athlete of Christ' and 'Martyr for the Truth'.
Sabbas' feast day is on the date of his martyrdom, 12 April in the Roman Martyrology
Martyrology
A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs , arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by names borrowed from neighbouring churches...
and 15 April in the Eastern Orthodox Churches. The Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
commemorates him as "the holy, glorious, and right-victorious Great-martyr Sabbas."