Subj : February 9th - St. Sabinus To : All From : rich Date : Thu Feb 08 2018 09:07:24 From: rich February 9th - St. Sabinus, Bishop of Canosa (c. A.D. 566) THE history of St. Sabinus is rather difficult to disentangle, not only because it has been overlaid with legend, but also because there are two other saints of the same name inscribed in the Acta Sanctorum on February 9 and some points in their lives are so similar that it seems as though they had been confused. One of them was a bishop who assisted at the consecration of St. Michael's sanctuary on Monte Gargano in 493 and was buried at Atripaldo, but our saint lived later and his body was interred elsewhere. He was born at Canosa* in Apulia. * Canosa in Apulia (Canusium) is quite a different place from Canossa, not far from Parma, famous in the life of Pope St. Gregory VII. From his youth he only desired the things of God and cared nothing for money, except as a means of helping the poor which he did most generously. He became bishop of Canosa, and was on friendly terms with the most prominent men of his time, including St. Benedict himself, who appears to have foretold to him that Rome would not be destroyed by Totila and the Goths. Pope St. Agapitus I sent him to the court of the Emperor Justinian to support the newly-appointed patriarch, St. Mennas, against the heretic Anthimus, and he attended the council presided over by Mennas in the year 536. On his way back through Lycia, he visited the tomb of St. Nicholas at Myra and saw the saint in a vision. In old age Sabinus lost his sight, but was endowed with great inward light and with the gift of prophecy. It is related that Totila, wishing to test it, persuaded the bishop's cupbearer to let him proffer the drinking-cup to the blind saint. No sooner had Sabinus grasped the cup than he exclaimed, =E2=80=9CLong live that hand;=E2=80=9D a= nd from thenceforth Totila and his courtiers held him to be indeed a prophet. Another occasion on which he displayed this power was when his archdeacon, Vindimus, who was eager to obtain the bishopric, wishing to hasten his death induced the cupbearer to put poison in the old man's cup. St. Sabinus said to the youth, =E2=80=9CDrink it yoursel= f: I know what it contains=E2=80=9D. Then, as the cupbearer started back in terror, t= he saint took the goblet and drained it, saying, =E2=80=9CI will drink this, b= ut the instigator of this crime will never be a bishop=E2=80=9D. The poison di= d him no harm, but his would-be successor died that same hour, in his own house three miles away. St. Sabinus died in his 52nd year, and his body was eventually translated to Ban, where it seems to have been forgotten for a time and rediscovered in 1901. In 1562, the marble altar under which his relics lay was overlaid with silver and an inscription engraved upon it, recording the saint's chief actions. See the Acta Sanctorum, February, vol. ii; the Dialogues of St. Gregory, bk ii, ch. Is, and bk iii, ch. 5 ; and Ughelli-Coletus, Italia Sacra, vol. x (1722), p. 37. Saint Quote: Jesus honored her before all ages, and will honor her for all ages. No one comes to Him, nor even near Him, no one is saved or sanctified, if he too will not honor her. This is the lot of Angels and of men. --Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Martyr Bible Quote: Wonder not at this: for the hour cometh wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that have done good things shall come forth unto the resurrection of life: but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment. [John 5:28,29 ] DRB <><><><> When Macarius was returning one day to his cell, he met the devil, who, with a scythe in his hand, tried to cut him in pieces. But he could not do it, because as soon as he came near, he lost his strength. Then, full of rage, he said, "Great misery do I suffer from thee, O Macarius; for, though I wish so much to hurt thee, I am not able. It is strange! I do all that thou doest, and even more; thou dost fast sometimes, and I never eat; thou sleepest little, and I never close my eyes; thou art chaste, and so am I. In one thing only thou surpassest me." "And what is that one thing?" inquired Macarius. "It is thy great humility" replied the demon. Saying this, he disappeared, and was seen no more. The devil once appeared to a monk in the form of the Archangel Gabriel, and said that he was sent to him by God. The monk replied, "See that thou be not sent by another!" And the devil immediately disappeared. When an old priest was exorcising a possessed person, the demon said that he would never come out, if he did not first tell him what the goats and what the lambs were like. The good priest quickly answered: "The goats are all those who are like me. What the lambs may resemble, God knows." At these words, the devil cried out: "Through your humility I can no longer remain here" and immediately departed. ( "A Year with the Saints". February - Humility)< --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .