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Sabas and Companions Apr 24
+ 272. An officer of Gothic descent, martyred with seventy companions in Rome under Aurelian.

Sabina Aug 29
? The famous basilica on the Aventine in Rome is dedicated to her. She was probably a wealthy lady who founded it in the third or fourth century and perhaps a martyr.

Sabina Aug 29
+ ? 275. By tradition the sister of St Sabinian of Troyes in France where she was venerated together with him.

Sabinian (Savinien) Jan 29
+ ? 275. A martyr honoured in Troyes in France, having suffered there in one of the early persecutions, perhaps under Aurelian. Tradition relates that he came from Samos in Greece from where he had fled with his sister St Sabina.

Sabinian Nov 22
+ c 720?. Third Abbot of Moutier-Saint-Chaffre in France.

Sabinian and Potentian Dec 31
+ c 300. Sabinian is honoured as the first Bishop of Sens in France. Potentian was perhaps his successor. Both were martyred.

Sabinus Feb 9
+ c 566. Bishop of Canosa in Apulia in Italy and a friend of St Benedict. He was entrusted with an embassy (535-536) to the Emperor Justinian. He is the patron saint of Bari where his relics are now enshrined.

Sabinus July 11
+ 5th cent. A saint venerated near Poitiers in France, said to have been a disciple of St Germanus of Auxerre. Local tradition considers him to have been a martyr.

Sabinus (Savinus) and Cyprian July 11
? Two martyrs and brothers venerated in Brescia in Italy.

Sabinus (Savin) Oct 9
+ c? 820 Venerated as one of the Apostles of the Lavedan in the Pyrenees in France.

Sabinus Oct 15
+ c 760 Bishop of Catania in Sicily. After a few years as bishop he resigned and became a hermit.

Sabinus Dec 11
+ 420 Bishop of Piacenza in Italy and a close friend of St Ambrose, who used to send him his writings for revision and approval.

Sabinus, Exuperantius, Marcellus, Venustian and Companions Dec 30
+ 303. Sabinus is described as a bishop who was martyred near Spoleto in Italy. Venustian and his family were converts of Sabinus, while Exuperantius and Marcellus are said to have been his deacons.

Sacer (Mo-Sacra) March 3
7th cent. Founder of the monastery of Saggard near Dublin in Ireland.

Sacerdos (Sardot, Sadroc, Sardou, Serdon, Serdot) May 4
670-c 720. Born in the neighbourhood of Sarlat in Périgord in France, he became a monk and eventually founded Calabre. He became Bishop of Limoges.

Sacerdos May 5
+ c 560. A saint venerated in Murviedro in Spain and said to have been bishop there.

Sacerdos Sept 12
+ 551. Bishop of Lyons 544-551. He presided over the Council of Orleans in 549.

Sadwrn (Sadwen) Nov 29
6th cent. Brother of St Illtyd and disciple of St Cadfan. A number of churches in Wales are dedicated to him.

Salaberga Sept 22
+ c 665. As a child she was healed of blindness by St Eustace of Lisieux in France. She married very young but her husband died after only two months. Her second husband was St Blandinus and she had five children, two of whom are venerated as saints. In later years husband and wife took up the monastic life, Salaberga in Poulangey. Later she founded the convent of St John the Baptist in Laon where she reposed.

Sallustian June 8
? A saint honoured in Sardinia from time immemorial. By some he is described as a martyr, by others as a hermit.

Salome and Judith June 29
9th cent. Salome is said to have been a princess from England who was exiled. She was befriended in Bavaria by a pious widow named Judith. Both became anchoresses at Oberaltaich in Germany.

Salvinus Sept 4
+ c 420. Third Bishop of Verdun in the north of France (c 383-420).

Salvinus Oct 12
+ 562. Bishop of Verona in Italy. His relics are enshrined in St Stephen's church there.

Salvius (Salve, Sauve) Jan 12
+ c 625. Bishop of Amiens in the north of France. His relics were enshrined in Montreuil in Picardy.

Salvius Jan 11
? A martyr in North Africa.

Salvius Feb 10
+ 962. Abbot of Albelda in the north of Spain.

Salvius and Superius June 26
+ c 768. Salvius was a bishop near Angouleme in France who was sent to Valenciennes to enlighten the Flemish. The greed of a noble led to his death and he was hastily buried beneath a martyred companion. When the relics were discovered his anonymous companion was found first and called 'Superius'.

Salvius Sept 10
+ 584. A lawyer who became a monk and abbot, then a hermit and finally Bishop of Albi in France (574-584). He died while tending the sick during an epidemic.

Salvius (Saire) Oct 28
6th cent. A hermit in France who lived at the place now called Saint-Saire after him.

Samson (Sampson) July 28
c 490-c 565. Born in Wales, he became a disciple of St Illtyd at Llantwit Major and then for a time was monk and abbot of the monastery on Caldey Island. He left Caldey and visited Ireland. Then he went to Cornwall and was consecrated bishop by St Dubricius. Finally he crossed to Brittany and spent the rest of his life enlightening that country, basing himself at Dol. He was one of the greatest missionaries of his century.

Samthan Dec 18
6th cent. Foundress of the convent of Clonbroney in Co. Longford in Ireland.

Sancho (Sanctius, Sancius) June 5
+ 851. Born in Albi in France, he was taken to Cordoba in Spain as a prisoner of war, educated at the Moorish court, and enrolled in the guards of the Emir. He was martyred by impalement for his refusal to embrace Islam.

Sanctan May 9
6th cent. Bishop of Kill-da-Les and Kill-na-Sanctan near Dublin in Ireland.

Sanctinus Sept 22
+ c 300. By tradition the first Bishop of Meaux and a disciple of St Denis of Paris.

Sandila (Sandalus, Sandolus, Sandulf) Sept 3
+ c 855. A martyr in Cordoba in Spain under the Moors.

Sandratus (Sandradus) Aug 24
+ 986. A monk of the monastery of St Maximinus at Trier in Geramny. In 972 he was sent by the Emperor Otto I to restore the monastery of St Gall. Shortly afterwards he became Abbot of Gladbach and in 981 Abbot of Weissenburg also.

Saragossa, The Eighteen Martyrs: Optatus, Lupercus, Successus, Martial, Urban, Julia, Quintilian, Publius, Fronto, Felix, Caecilian, Eventius, Primitivus, Apodemius and four named Saturninus Apr 16
+ c 304. Martyrs in Saragossa in Spain under Diocletian and the prefect Dacian. Prudentius, who lived in Saragossa a lifetime later, described their martyrdom.

Saragossa, The Innumerable Martyrs Nov 3
+ 304. An exceedingly large number of martyrs put to death in Saragossa under Diocletian by the savage prefect Dacian, who had been sent to Spain to enforce the decrees. He published an edict exiling all Orthodox from the city, and while they were leaving he ordered the soldiers to fall upon and massacre them. Eighteen of them are honoured separately on April 16.

Saturnina June 4
? A virgin-martyr from Germany murdered near Arras in France.

Saturninus, Dativus, Felix, Ampelius, Victoria and Companions Feb 11
+ 304. A group of forty-six martyrs in Albitina in North Africa. They were arrested at the liturgy and sent to Carthage for examination. Saturninus was a priest, and with him suffered his four children, Saturninus and Felix, readers, Mary, a virgin, and Hilarion, a young child. Dativus and another Felix were senators. Other names from this group which have come down to us are: Thelica, Ampelius, Emeritus, Rogatian and Victoria, a holy virgin of undaunted courage. The child Hilarion, when threatened by the magistrates while his companions were being tortured, replied: 'Yes, torture me too; anyhow, I am a Christian'. They all died in prison.

Saturninus, Castulus, Magnus and Lucius Feb 15
+ 273. These martyrs belonged to the flock of St Valentine, Bishop of Terni in Italy.

Saturninus and Companions March 22
? A group of ten martyrs in North Africa.

Saturninus Apr 7
4th cent. Bishop of Verona in Italy.

Saturninus, Nereus and Companions Oct 16
+ 450. A group of some three hundred and sixty-five martyrs who suffered in North Africa under the Vandal King Genseric.

Saturninus Oct 30
+ 303. A martyr in Cagliari in Sardinia under Diocletian. By tradition he was beheaded during a pagan festival of Jupiter.

Saturninus and Sisinius Nov 29
+ ? 309. According to tradition Saturninus was a priest in Rome, though born in Carthage. He and his deacon Sisinius were sentenced to hard labour and subsequently martyred. They were buried in the cemetery of St Thraso on the Salarian Way.

Saturninus (Sernin) Nov 29
+ c 257. A missionary who enlightened the area around Pampeluna (Pamplona) in Navarre in Spain and then the area and city of Toulouse in France. He is venerated as the first Bishop of Toulouse. By tradition he was martyred in the persecution of Valerian by being fastened to a wild bull which dragged him about until he was torn to pieces.

Satyrus Sept 17
+ 376. The elder brother of St Ambrose of Milan in Italy. As a lawyer he undertook the administration of the affairs of his brother's household. His high sense of justice, his integrity and his generosity were praised by St Ambrose in his funeral sermon for him.

Savina (Sabina) Jan 30
+ 311. Born in Milan in Italy, she ministered to martyrs in prison and buried their bodies during the persecution of Diocletian

Sawl Jan 15
6th cent. The father of St Asaph of Wales.

Saxburgh (Sexburga) July 6
c 635-c 699. Daughter of Anna, King of East Anglia in England, sister of Sts Etheldred, Ethelburgh and Withburgh and half-sister of St Sethrid. She married Erconbert, King of Kent, and so became mother of Sts Ermenhild and Ercongota. As Queen she founded the convent of Minster in Sheppey. Widowed in 664, she became a nun there, later moving to Ely in 679, where she became abbess.

Scannal May 3
+ c 563. Scannal of Cell-Coleraine in Ireland was a disciple of St Columba.

Scholastica Feb 10
c 480-c 543. Sister of St Benedict. She became a nun and lived near Montecassino. St Gregory in his Dialogues (2,33), says that St Benedict saw her soul ascend to heaven in the semblance of a dove.

Schotin (Scarthin) Jan 6
6th cent. While still a youth, Schotin left Ireland to become a disciple of St David in Wales. On his return to his native country he lived as a hermit on Mt Mairge in Leix for many years.

Scillitan Martyrs July 17
+ 180. Twelve martyrs, seven men and five women, who suffered at Scillium in North Africa under Septimius Severus. Their names are: Speratus, Narzales, Cythinus, Veturius, Felix, Acyllinus, Laetantius, Januaria, Generosa, Vestina, Donata and Secunda. The official Acts of these martyrs still exist.

Seachnall (Sechnall) Nov 27
+ 457. A disciple of St Patrick. In 433 he became the first Bishop of Dunsauglin in Meath in Ireland and later served in Armagh. He wrote the earliest poem of the Irish Church - an alphabetical hymn in honour of St Patrick.

Sebald Aug 19
+ c 770. Probably born in England, he lived as a hermit near Vicenza in Italy and then preached with St Willibald in the Reichswald in Germany.

Sebastian Jan 20
+ ? 288. One of the most renowned of all the martyrs of Rome. According to his Life, he was an officer in the imperial army and a favourite of Diocletian. Nevertheless, when he was discovered to be Orthodox no mercy was shown him. Tied to a tree, his body was made a target for Roman archers and he was finally martyred with clubs. His church is one of the seven main churches in Rome.

Sebastian Dec 30
+ c 1036. A monk who became Archbishop of Esztergom (1002) and Primate of Hungary in the time of St Stephen.

Sebbe (Sebba, Sebbi) Aug 29
664-694. King of Essex in England. After a peaceful reign of thirty years he became a monk at the monastery of Westminster ('the monastery in the West') which he had founded. His life was one of prayer, repentance and almsgiving.

Secundel Aug 1
6th cent. A hermit who lived near St Friard near Nantes in France.

Secundian, Marcellian and Verian Aug 9
+ 250. Martyrs who suffered near Civitavecchia in Italy under Decius. Secundian seems to have been a prominent official.

Secundina Jan 15
+ c 250. A virgin-martyr scourged to death near Rome in the persecution of Decius.

Secundinus May 21
+ c 306. A martyr in Cordoba in Spain under Diocletian.

Secundinus, Agrippinus, Maximus, Fortunatus and Martialis July 15
? 4th cent. Martyrs in Pannonia.

Secundus March 29
+ 119. A noble from Asti in Piedmont in Italy and an officer in the imperial army. He was beheaded in Asti under Hadrian.

Secundus June 1
+ 304. An martyr in Amelia in Italy who was drowned in the Tiber under Diocletian.

Secundus Aug 26
3rd cent. A soldier of the Theban Legion martyred near Ventimiglia in Italy.

Secundus, Fidentian and Varicus Nov 15
? Martyrs in North Africa.

Sedna March 10
+ c 570. Bishop of Ossory in Ireland and a friend of St Luanus.

Seiriol Feb 1
6th cent. A saint whose name is recalled by the island of Ynys-Seiriol (Puffin Island) off Anglesey in Wales where remains of his small monastery still exist.

Selyf (Selyr, Levan) June 25
6th cent. ? A hermit in St Levan in Cornwall.

Senach (Snach) Aug 3
6th cent. A disciple of St Finian and his successor in Clonard in Ireland.

Senan (Senames) March 8
+ c 540 A monk in Kilmanagh in Ireland. Having founded a monastery, probably in Enniscorthy, he is said to have visited Rome and on his way home stayed with St David in Wales. On his return to Ireland he founded more churches and monasteries, notably one in Iniscarra near Cork. Finally he settled on Scattery Island in the Shannon estuary where he was buried.

Senan Apr 29
7th cent. A hermit in the north of Wales.

Senator May 28
+ 480. A priest from Milan in Italy who attended the Council of Chalcedon as a young man and later became Archbishop of Milan.

Senator Sept 26
? A saint honoured in Albano in Italy.

Senorina Apr 22
+ 982. She was related to St Rudesind of Mondoñedo. Entrusted to the care of her aunt, Abbess Godina at the convent of St John of Venaria (Vieyra), she later became its abbess. As such she moved the convent to Basto near Braga in Portugal.

Sequanus (Seine, Sigo) Sept 19
+ c 580. A monk at Réomay and founder of a monastery in Segreste near Langres in France, which was later called Saint-Seine after him.

Serapia July 29
+ 119. A slave of Syrian descent who was beheaded in Rome under Hadrian.

Serenicus and Serenus May 7
+ c 669. Two brothers belonging to a noble family in Spoleto in Italy. They became monks and later settled as hermits near the River Sarthe in France. Serenus remained a hermit till the end of his life, but Serenicus became the abbot of a monastery with some one hundred and forty monks.

Serenus Aug 9
+ 606. Bishop of Marseilles in France.

Sergius Sept 8
+ 701. Of Syrian descent, he was born in Palermo in Sicily. He was Pope of Rome from 687 to 701. He blessed and fostered the missionary work of the English monks in Friesland and Germany.

Servan (Serf, Sair) July 1
? The Apostle of West Fife in Scotland who reposed and was buried in Culross.

Servandus and Germanus Oct 23
+ c 305. By tradition sons of St Marcellus of Léon in Spain. They were martyred in Cadiz while on their way to Tangiers under arrest.

Servatus (Servais) May 13
+ 384. Bishop of Tongres in Belgium. He was the host of St Athanasius when the latter was exiled to the West.

Servulus Dec 23
+ c 590. A righteous man who was a cripple and used to beg for alms at the door of the church of St Clement in Rome, sharing what he received with other beggars.

Servus Dec 7
+ 483. A layman of noble birth who lived in North Africa. He was seized and tortured to death under the Arian Vandal King Hunneric.

Sethrid (Saethryth) Jan 10
+ c 660. Stepdaughter of Anna, King of East Anglia. She became a nun at Faremoutiers-en-Brie in France under St Fara, whom she succeeded as abbess. She was the half-sister of Sts Etheldred (Audrey) and Ethelburgh.

Seven Brothers July 10 (In the East Jan 25)
+ c 150. Seven early martyrs in Rome who became brothers through sharing martyrdom. Their names are: Januarius, Felix and Philip, scourged to death; Sylvanus, thrown over a precipice; Alexander, Vitalis and Martial, beheaded. They suffered in Rome under Antoninus Pius.

Severa July 20
+ c 680. Sister of St Modoald, Bishop of Trier in Germany. First Abbess of St Gemma (later Sainte-Sevère) in Villeneuve near Bourges in France.

Severa July 20
+ c 750. Abbess of the convent of Oehren in Trier in Germany.

Severian and Aquila Jan 23
? A husband and wife martyred in Julia Caesarea in Mauritania in North Africa

Severinus Jan 8
+ 482. An Eastern monk who enlightened Noricum Ripense, now in Austria. He founded several monasteries, notably one on the Danube near Vienna, where he organised help for those afflicted by the invasions of Attila and the Huns and where he reposed. Six years after his repose, the monks were driven out and took his relics to Naples in Italy, where the monastery of San Severino was built to enshrine them.

Severinus Feb 11
+ ? 507. A Burgundian who became the Abbot of Agaunum in Switzerland.

Severinus June 8
+ 550. Bishop of Septempeda, now called after him Sanseverino in the Marches of Ancona in Italy. He and his brother Victorinus distributed their wealth among the poor and became hermits at Montenero. They were forced by Pope Vigilius to become bishops, the former of Septempeda, the latter of Camerino. Severinus reposed shortly before Septempeda was destroyed by the Ostrogoth Totila.

Severinus Oct 23
+ c 403. Born in Bordeaux in France, he became Bishop of Cologne in Germany and was a prominent opponent of Arianism.

Severinus (Seurin) Oct 23
+ c 420. Bishop of Bordeaux in France c 405-420.

Severinus Boethius Oct 23
c 480-524. The statesman and philosopher Anicius Manlius Torquatus Severinus Boethius was the author of De Consolatione Philosophiae. About the year 534 he fell into disfavour with the barbarian king and was martyred at Pavia in Italy. His relics are enshrined at the Cathedral of Pavia.

Severinus Nov 1
+ c 699. A monk who lived as a hermit in Tivoli in Italy. His relics are in the church of St Laurence in Tivoli.

Severinus, Exuperius and Felician Nov 19
+ 170. Martyrs in Vienne in France under Marcus Aurelius.

Severinus Nov 27
+ c 540. A hermit who lived near Paris in France.

Severinus Dec 21
+ c 300. Bishop of Trier in Germany.

Severus Feb 1
+ c 348. Born in Ravenna in Italy, he became bishop of that city in 283 and attended the Council of Sardica in 344.

Severus Feb 1
+ c 690. Born of poor parents in the Cotentin in the north of France, he became Abbot and Bishop of Avranches. Before his repose he returned to monastic life.

Severus Feb 15
+ c 530. A priest from the Abruzzi in Italy. St Gregory the Great relates that he brought a dead man back to life so that he could receive communion and unction.

Severus and Sixty-Two Companions Feb 21
3rd-4th cent. Martyrs in Syrmium in Pannonia.

Severus Apr 29
+ 409. Bishop of Naples in Italy and a famous wonderworker. He raised a dead man to life so that he bear witness in favour of his persecuted widow.

Severus Aug 1
+ c 500. A priest of noble family, famous for his charity, he has been honoured from time immemorial in the village that bears his name, St Sever de Rustan in Bigorre in south-west France.

Severus Aug 8
+ c 445. A priest who came from far away to enlighten the area around Vienne in France.

Severus Oct 15
+ c 455. Born in France, he was a disciple of St Germanus of Auxerre and St Lupus of Troyes. He accompanied St Germanus to Britain to oppose the Pelagian heresy. He preached the Gospel to the Germans on the lower Moselle and became Bishop of Trier in Germany (446-c 455).

Severus Nov 6
+ 633. Bishop of Barcelona in Spain, he was martyred under the Arian Visigoths who put him to death by driving nails into his temples.

Severus, Securus, Januarius and Victorinus Dec 2
+ c 450. Martyrs in North Africa who suffered under the Vandals.

Sezni Aug 4
+ c 529. Born in Britain, he went to Guic-Sezni in Brittany, where he founded a monastery and where his relics were venerated. He is the patron saint of Sithney in Cornwall.

Sidonius (Apollinaris) Aug 21
c 423-480. Caius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius was born in Lyons. A soldier, he married the daughter of Avitus, Emperor of the West, after which he served the State (468-9). He then became Bishop of Clermont in France. As bishop he saved his people from Goths under Alaric. Sidonius was a writer but he gave his wealth to the poor and to monasteries.

Sidonius (Säens) Nov 14
+ c 690. Born in Ireland, Sidonius became a monk at Jumièges in the north of France with St Philibert (644). Later he became the first abbot of a small monastery which that bishop had founded near Rouen. This monastery was later called Saint-Säens.

Sidronius July 11
+ c 270. A martyr in Rome under Aurelian.

Sidwell (Sativola) Aug 2
? A Briton from the West of England near Exeter. She was beheaded as a martyr, probably by a scythe.

Siffred (Siffrein, Syffroy, Suffredus) Nov 27
+ c 540. Born in Albano near Rome, he became a monk at Lérins and later Bishop of Carpentras in the south of France.

Sigebert Feb 1
631-656. Sigebert III was King of Austrasia, now eastern France. He lived piously but reposed at the age of twenty-five. He was revered as the founder of numerous hospitals, churches and monasteries, among them Stavelot and Malmédy in Belgium.

Sigebert Jan 25
+ 634. The first Christian King of East Anglia in England. He introduced Orthodoxy into his kingdom, later himself becoming a monk. He was killed by the pagan King Penda of Mercia and was venerated as a martyr.

Sigfrid Feb 15
+ c 1045. A priest and monk, probably at Glastonbury in England. He went to enlighten Sweden and was based in Vaxjo. One of his converts was King Olaf of Sweden.

Sigfrid Aug 22
+ 688. A monk and disciple of St Benedict Biscop, he became Abbot of Wearmouth in England in 686. He was an example of monastic virtue.

Sigibald Oct 26
+ c 740. Bishop of Metz in France 716-c 740. He was a builder of monasteries, notably of Neuweiter and Saint-Avold.

Sigiranus (Cyran, Siran, Sigram) Dec 5
+ c 655 (or 690?). Born in a noble family, he became archdeacon of Tours in France, where his father was bishop. Then he became a monk and founded monasteries at Meobecq and Lonrey. The latter was called Saint-Cyran after him.

Sigisbert and Placid July 11
+ c 650 (or c 750?). Sigisbert founded the monastery of Dissentis in Switzerland. He built it on land given to him by St Placid, a wealthy landowner who joined the monastery as a monk and was later martyred for defending it.

Sigismund May 1
+ 523. A Vandal by origin and by character, he was King of the Burgundians in what is now eastern France. He repented for his sins by giving generously to the Church and the poor. He was murdered near the monastery of Agaunum in Switzerland which he had built and was then honoured as a martyr.

Sigolena (Segoulème) July 24
+ c 769. Daughter of a noble in Aquitaine, once widowed she became a nun in the convent of Troclar on the Tarn in the south of France, where she later became abbess.

Sigolinus (Sighelm) Oct 29
+ c 670. Abbot of Stavelot and Malmédy in Belgium.

Sigrada Aug 8
+ c 678. Mother of Sts Leodegarius and Warinus, as a widow she became a nun at the convent in Soissons in France. She reposed shortly after the martyrdom of her sons.

Silin (Sulian) July 29
6th cent. Born in Brittany, he founded a small monastery in Luxulyan in Cornwall.

Sillan (Silvanus) Feb 28
+ c 610. A disciple of St Comgall in Bangor in Co. Down in Ireland and his second successor as abbot there.

Silvanus Feb 10
? Bishop of Terracina in Italy.

Silvanus May 5
? A martyr in Rome.

Silvanus Sept 22
? A saint venerated from ancient times in Levroux near Bourges in France.

Silverius Dec 2
+ c 537. Born in Frosinone in Campania in Italy, he was the son of Pope Hormisdas. He was a subdeacon when elected Bishop of Rome. He was hated by the Empress Theodora for objecting to the Monophysite Bishop Anthimus. Condemned for high treason, he was finally exiled to an island off Naples where he was left to die and perhaps martyred.

Silvester March 10
+ c 420. A companion of St Palladius in enlightening Ireland.

Silvester Apr 15
+ c 625. Second Abbot of Moutier-Saint-Jean (Réome) near Dijon in France.

Silvester Nov 20
+ c 525. Bishop of Châlons-sur-Saône in France from c 484 to c 525. St Gregory of Tours describes him as 'the glory of confessors'.

Silvester Dec 31 (In the East Jan 2)
+ 335. Silvester came from Rome and served the Church as Pope from 314 to 335, helping convert St Constantine. Most of his relics are enshrined in San Silvestro in Capite in Rome.

Silvinus Feb 17
+ c 720. A courtier who gave up his worldly life to preach the Gospel. He enlightened the area near Thérouanne in the north of France. After some forty years of unceasing work, during which he paid the ransoms of many slaves, he went to the monastery of Auchy-les-Moines, where he lived the few remaining years of his life as a monk.

Silvinus Sept 12
+ c 550. Bishop of Verona in Italy

Silvinus Sept 28
+ 444. Bishop of Brescia in Italy.

Simbert (Simpert, Sinthert) Oct 13
+ c 809. A monk and Abbot of Murbach near Colmar in Alsace in France. In 778 he became Bishop of Augsburg in Germany

Simeon of Trier June 1
+ 1035. Born in Syracuse in Sicily and educated in Constantinople, Simeon lived as a hermit by the Jordan. He became a monk in Bethlehem and later lived near Mt Sinai as a hermit, first in a small cave near the Red Sea and then on the summit of Mt Sinai. From there he was sent by the Abbot of Mt Sinai to seek alms in Normandy. Eventually he settled in Trier in Germany, one of the last great figures linking the Orthodox West with the Orthodox East

Simeon of Padolirone July 26
+ 1016. An Armenian hermit, he went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Rome, Compostella and Tours. He was renowned for the miracles he worked on these journeys. Finally he settled at the monastery of Padolirone near Padua in Italy.

Similian (Sambin) June 16
+ 310. Third Bishop of Nantes in France. St Gregory of Tours testified to his holiness.

Simitrius and Companions May 26
+ c 159. A group of twenty-three martyrs in Rome, arrested while praying in the church of St Praxedes and beheaded without trial.

Simplician Aug 16
+ 400. A friend and advisor of St Ambrose, whom he succeeded as Bishop of Milan in Italy.

Simplicius March 10
+ 483. Born in Tivoli in Italy, he became Pope of Rome from 468 to 483. He upheld the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon against Monophysitism. When the Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476, he also had to deal with the Arian King Odoacer.

Simplicius May 15
+ 304. A martyr in Sardinia buried alive at the time of Diocletian.

Simplicius of Bourges June 16
+ 477. He was the father of a large family when the local bishops chose him to be Bishop of Bourges in France. He defended the Church against the Arian Visigoths.

Simplicius of Autun June 24
+ c 360. A married man who lived a virginal life with his wife and became Bishop of Autun. He worked zealously and successfully to uproot paganism in his diocese.

Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix July 29
+ c 303. By tradition, two brothers and their sister martyred in Rome under Diocletian.

Simplicius Oct 22
+ c 570. A disciple of St Benedict and third Abbot of Montecassino.

Simplicius of Verona Nov 20
+ c 535. Bishop of Verona in Italy.

Sincheall March 26
5th cent. A disciple of St Patrick and founder of the monastery of Killeigh in Offaly in Ireland, where there were one hundred and fifty monks.

Sindulf of Rheims Oct 20
+ 660. Born in Gascony, he lived as a hermit in Aussonce near Rheims in France.

Sindulf (Sindulphus) of Vienne Dec 10
+ c 669. The thirty-first Bishop of Vienne in France.

Siricius Nov 26
+ 399. Born in Rome, he was Pope from 384 to 399.

Sisenandus July 16
+ 851. Born in Badajoz in Estremadura, he became a deacon in the church of St Acisclus in Cordoba in Spain. He was beheaded under Abderrahman II.

Sisinius, Diocletius and Florentius May 11
+ 303. Martyrs in Osimo near Ancona in Italy under Diocletian. They were stoned to death at the same time as the Roman priest, St Anthimus.

Sisinius, Martyrius and Alexander May 29
+ 397. By tradition from Cappadocia, they were received by St Vigilius of Trent in Italy on the recommendation of St Ambrose. They were sent to enlighten the Tyrol in Austria and martyred by pagans.

Siviard March 1
+ c 729. A monk at Saint-Calais on the River Anisole in France. He succeeded his father as abbot of the monastery. He wrote the life of St Calais, the founder of the monastery.

Sixtus I (Xystus) Apr 3
+ c 125. Pope of Rome from 117 to c 125, sometimes referred to as a martyr.

Sixtus III (Xystus) March 28
+ 440. Pope of Rome from 432. A Roman by birth, he is remembered for opposing Nestorianism and Pelagianism and restoring several Roman basilicas.

Sixtus II (Xystus) Aug 7 (in the East Aug 10)
+ 258. Born in Athens in Greece, this Pope was martyred. While celebrating the liturgy in the catacomb of Praetextatus in Rome, he was arrested together with his deacons Felicissimus, Agapitus, Januarius, Magnus, Vincent and Stephen. All of them were martyred and later the seventh deacon St Laurence followed them.

Sixtus (Xystus) of Rheims Sept 1
+ c 300. First Bishop of Rheims in France c 290-300.

Slebhene (Slebhine) March 2
+ 767. A monk from Ireland, he became Abbot of Iona in Scotland from 752 to 767.

Socrates and Stephen Sept 17
? By tradition early martyrs venerated in Britain, now England.

Sola (Sol, Solus, Suolo) Dec 3
+ 794. A monk and priest from England who followed St Boniface to Germany and lived as a hermit first near Fulda later near Eichstätt. Finally he settled on a piece of land where he founded the monastery called Solnhofen as a dependency of Fulda.

Solangia (Solange) May 10
+ c 880. A poor shepherdess near Bourges in France who defended her chastity and was brutally murdered.

Solemnis (Soleine) Sept 25
+ c 511. Bishop of Chartres in France c 490-511.

Solina Oct 17
+ c 290. Born in Gascony in France, she escaped to Chartres to avoid marriage to a pagan. She was beheaded in Chartres.

Solomon I June 25
5th cent. By tradition he was born in Cornwall, the husband of St Gwen and father of St Cuby (Cybi). He lived in Brittany and was murdered by heathen.

Solomon III (Selyf) June 25
+ 874. King of Brittany and a brave warrior against Franks and Northmen alike. The Bretons count him among their national heroes. He repented for the crimes of his youth and when he was murdered, he was proclaimed a martyr.

Solomon (Salonius) Sept 28
+ c 269. First Bishop of Genoa in Italy.

Sophia Apr 30
+ c 250. A virgin from Fermo in central Italy martyred under Decius.

Sophia Sept 30 (In the East Sept 17)
+ c 173. The mother of the virgin-martyrs Faith, Hope and Charity who were martyred in Rome under Hadrian. Three days later, while praying at their tomb, Sophia also reposed, martyred in her soul.

Sostratus, Spirus, Eraclius, Eperentius and Cecilia July 8
? 4th cent. Martyrs of Syrmium in Pannonia.

Soter Apr 22
+ c 174. Like most Orthodox in Rome at this time, he was a Greek. He became Pope and corresponded with the Church of Corinth and traditionally he is regarded as a martyr.

Soteris Feb 10
+ 304. A virgin-martyr in Rome under Diocletian. She seems to have been related to St Ambrose who often mentioned her.

Speciosus March 15
+ c 555. A wealthy landowner from Campania in Italy who became a monk at Montecassino with his brother Gregory. He was attached to the new foundation at Terracina but reposed in Capua.

Spes March 28
+ c 513. An Abbot of Campi in central Italy. He was totally blind for forty years, but fifteen days before his repose his eyesight was restored.

Spinulus (Spinula, Spin) Nov 5
+ 707 (or 720). A monk at Moyenmoutier with St Hidulf. Later he founded the monastery of Bégon-Celle (now Saint-Blasien) also in France.

Stacteus Sept 28
? A martyr in Rome.

Stephen of Lyons Feb 13
+ 512. Bishop of Lyons in France, he was active in converting the Arian Burgundians to Orthodoxy.

Stephen of Rieti Feb 13
+ c 590. An Abbot in Rieti in Italy whom St Gregory the Great describes as 'rude of speech but of cultured life'.

Stephen of Reggio July 5
1st cent. By tradition he was consecrated first Bishop of Reggio in Italy by the Apostle Paul and martyred under Nero. He is the main patron of Reggio.

Stephen I Aug 2
+ 257. He became Bishop of Rome in 254. Tradition says that he was beheaded during the celebration of the Eucharist in the catacombs, but the earliest liturgical documents present him as a bishop and confessor.

Stephen of Cardeña and Companions Aug 6
+ 872. Abbot of the Castilian monastery of Cardeña near Burgos in Spain where there were over two hundred monks. By tradition the Abbot and the monks were martyred by the Saracens.

Stephen of Hungary Aug 16
+ c 935-1038. On the death of his father, Geza (997), Stephen became King of Hungary. He had married Gisela, a sister of the Emperor Henry II in 995, and they set about enlightening their people. Stephen gradually welded the Magyars into national unity. He organised dioceses and founded monasteries (among them Pannonhalma, which still exists). The declining years of St Stephen were darkened by many misfortunes and difficulties, though he never ceased to be just, kind and merciful. To this day the Magyars consider him their greatest national saint and hero.

Stephen of Perugia Sept 16
+ 1026. Third Abbot of St Peter in Perugia in Italy.

Stephen of Cajazzo Oct 29
935-1023. Born in Macerata in Italy, he became Abbot of San Salvatore Maggiore and in 979 Bishop of Cajazzo. He is now venerated as the main patron of that city.

Stephen of Apt Nov 6
975-1046. Born in Agde, he became Bishop of Apt in the south of France in 1010.

Stephen, Pontian, Attalus, Fabian, Cornelius, Sextus, Flos, Quintian, Minervinus and Simplician Dec 31
? Early martyrs in Catania in Sicily.

Sturm (Sturmi) Dec 17
+ 779. As a child he was entrusted to St Boniface and brought up in the monastery of Fritzlar in Germany. Ordained, he was sent to enlighten the Saxons. He went to find a suitable site for a monastery in central Germany and chose Fulda. Sturm then went to Montecassino and on his return became Abbot of Fulda. Dearly loved by his monks, Sturm is considered as second only to Boniface as Apostle of Germany.

Suairlech March 27
+ c 750. First Bishop of Fore in Westmeath in Ireland from c 735 to c 750.

Sulpicius (II) the Pious Jan 17
+ 647. Bishop of Bourges in France from 624 to 647. He devoted himself to the care and defence of the poor and persecuted.

Sulpicius (I) Jan 29
+ 591. Bishop of Bourges in France from 584 to 591.

Sulpicius and Servilian Apr 20
+ c 117. Martyrs in Rome who were beheaded under Trajan.

Sulpicius of Bayeux Sept 4
+ 843. Bishop of Bayeux in France from c 838 to 843. He was martyred by the Vikings in Livry.

Sunniva (Sunnifa) July 8
10th cent. By tradition, Sunniva was a princess who fled from Ireland with her brother and others. They were shipwrecked off the coast of Norway but landed on Selje Island. Here they were slain by people from the mainland and their relics were enshrined in Bergen.

Suranus Jan 24
+ c 580. Abbot of a monastery at Sora near Caserta in Italy, who gave away all the goods of the monastery to refugees from the Lombards. When the latter arrived and found that nothing remained to plunder, they martyred Suranus on the spot.

Susanna Aug 11
+ 295. A martyr in Rome to whom the Roman church of St Susanna is dedicated.

Swithbert March 1
c 647-713. A monk from Northumbria in England who went to Friesland in Holland with St Willibrord in 690. He preached the Gospel here with success. In 693 he was consecrated bishop at Ripon and returned to preach along the right bank of the Rhine in Germany. His work here was undone by Saxon invaders and he withdrew to the small island of Kaiserswerth on the Rhine near Düsseldorf. Here in 710 he founded a monastery, where he reposed and where his relics are still venerated.

Swithbert the Younger Apr 30
+ 807. Born in England, he joined the missionaries in Germany and became Bishop of Werden in Westphalia.

Swithun (Swithin) July 2
+ 862. Born in Wessex in England, he spent his youth at the monastery in Winchester. He became a priest and in 852 Bishop of Winchester. On his repose and at his request, he was buried in the cemetery outside the minster. His relics were translated into the cathedral in 971, many miracles occurring, not least very heavy rainfall which gave rise to the popular saying, 'St Swithn's day if thou dost rain, For forty days it will remain'.

Syagrius (Siacre) May 23
+ c 787. A monk at Lérins in the south of France who later founded the monastery of St Pons at Cimiez, after which he became Bishop of Nice (777).

Syagrius (Siacre) Aug 27
+ 600. Bishop of Autun in France c 560-600.

Sylvia Nov 3
+ c 572. The mother of St Gregory the Great. A chapel was built in her honour over her house on the Coelian Hill in Rome.

Symmachus July 19
+ 514. Born in Sardinia, he became Pope of Rome in 498. Energetic and competent, despite the activities and accusations of enemies, he built many churches in Rome.

Symphorian Aug 22
+ c 200. A member of a senatorial family in Autun in France, he was martyred under Marcus Aurelius for refusing to sacrifice to a pagan goddess.

Symphorosa and Companions July 18
A martyr in Tivoli under Hadrian and widow of the martyr St Getulius. She is commemorated together with other martyrs: Crescens, Julian, Nemesius, Primitivus, Justin, Stracteus and Eugene.

Symphronius, Olympius, Theodulus and Exuperia July 26
+ 257. Symphronius was a Roman slave who brought about the conversion of the tribune Olympius, the latter's wife Exuperia and their son Theodulus. They were all burnt to death under Valerian.

Syncrotas, Antigonus, Rutilus, Libius, Senerotas and Rogatianus Feb 23
4th cent. Martyrs at Syrmium in Pannonia.

Synesius Dec 12
+ 275. A reader in Rome martyred under Aurelian.

Syra (Syria) June 8
7th cent. By tradition, the sister of St Fiacre (Fiaker) who followed her brother from Ireland to France and lived as an anchoress there.

Syra Oct 23
+ c 660. A nun at Faremoutiers in France, from where she was asked by Bishop Ragneboldus to become Abbess of Châlons-sur-Marne.

Syrus of Genoa June 29
+ c 380. Priest and later Bishop of Genoa in Italy from c 324 to c 380. He is the main patron of the city.

Syrus Dec 9
3rd cent? First Bishop and main patron-saint of Pavia in Italy.