<p>St. Sabinus lived under the cruel edicts of Diocletian and Maximin and their persecution against the Christians. He was the Bishop of Assisium in the Catholic Church who resisted the persecutions of Diocletian. He and his deacons were arrested in Assisi. Diocletian’s order required that all Christians sacrifice to the gods or be put to death. Along with that, their estates were seized for the state. Venustian mocked Sabinus’s faith, accusing him of leading the people to the worship of a “dead” man. When Sabinus said that Christ rose on the third day, Venustian invited him to do the same thing. He had Sabinus’s hands cut off, to stop him from consecrating the Blessed Sacrament. The deacons were in great fear, but Sabinus encouraged them to hold to their faith, and they died after being torn apart by iron hooks. In prison after the martyrdom of his deacons, a woman named Serena tended him. It was here that he healed a man born blind. Venustian heard of the cure and sought a cure for his own eyes from Sabinus. Sabinus healed the Governor and converted him to Christianity. Venustian then sheltered Sabinus from Diocletian and Maximin. It was when Maximianus Herculius heard of this, that he ordered the tribune Lucius to address the matter. To make his point, he had Venustian and his wife, and their two sons beheaded in public, at Assisi. After that, he had Sabinus beaten, in a slow, cruel death at Spoleto. The Church celebrates his feast on December 30th as a Bishop of the early Church. Practical Take Away St. Sabinus was a Bishop in the early Church. He had to fight for the faith, and denounce pagan worship in his time. He was a great example to his flock, and proudly professed the faith to his enemies, having his hands cut off for doing so. Eventually his deacons were tortured for not denouncing the faith and in time, he was beaten to death. He is celebrated as a great saint in the early Church, being canonized pre-congregation.</p>
