Sabina of Rome (feast day 29 August)
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St. Sabina, detail of a fifteenth-century altarpiece showing the life of Saint Sabina, Antonio Vivarini, Church of Saint Zaccaria, Venice |
Probably born late in the first century CE, Sabina of Rome is said to have been the daughter of a man named Herod Metallarius and the widow of a Roman senator named Valentinus.
She was converted to Christianity by her slave, Serapia--who has her own complicated story.
Sabina's slave, Serapia of Syria, was born in Antioch and had come to Rome with her parents--after their death, she had given everything she owned to the poor and then had sold herself into slavery, thus entering Sabina's household.
Stories about the circumstances of Serapia's martyrdom vary--she had either been denounced and executed as a witch, or she was arrested after she had refused to honor the Roman gods,
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The Vivarini altarpiece, Church of Saint Zaccaria, Venice |
After Serapia's martyrdom in 119 Sabina retrieved her remains and buried them in her family's tomb.
Sabina of Rome was denounced as a criminal and accused of being a Christian. She was executed in 125 and later canonized as a saint. In 430, Sabina's remains were transferred to a basilica on the Aventine Hill, built on the site of her house in Rome.
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| Basilica of Saint Sabina at the Aventine, Rome |
The image you used comes from an altarpiece where Saint Sabina is prominently featured in the center! But the detail you're showing here is an image of Saint Margaret of Antioch, not Saint Sabina!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this information! I appreciate readers like you who can add necessary corrections. I've not only fixed the problem, I've added an image of the entire altarpiece and a link to the source, for more information.
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