Sabbas the Goth
Born	341 in Buzău river valley, Romania
Died	372 in Buzău river valley, Romania
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church
Feast	12 April
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Sabbas (Sava or Savva) the Goth, also known as Sava the Romanian, is the earliest known native born martyr on Romanian soil. He was born in 334 to Christian parents in a village in the Buzău river valley and lived in Wallachia in what is now Romania, and his Act of Martyrdom states that he was a Goth by race. It is known that he was a church reader there, though how he gained his interest in Christianity and was eventually converted is not known. The Buzău is a river in eastern Romania, tributary of the Siret River. ... The Eastern Orthodox Church is a Christian body that views itself: as the historical continuation of the original Christian community established by Jesus and the Twelve Apostles. ... The term Oriental Orthodoxy refers to the churches of Eastern Christian traditions that keeps the faith of only the first three ecumenical councils of the undivided Church - the councils of Nicea, Constantinople and Ephesus. ... The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see terminology below) is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter. ... The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organising a liturgical year on the level of days by associating each day with one or more saints, and referring to the day as that saints day. ... Image File history File links Gloriole. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For the novel by Thomas M. Disch see 334 (novel). ... Christians believe that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (see Hebrews 8:6). ... The Buzău is a river in eastern Romania, tributary of the Siret River. ... Map of Romania with Wallachia in yellow. ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche, is a highly romanticized portrait of the Goths as cavalrymen. ... St. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ...

In the year 372, a Gothic ruler began a pogrom of his Christian subjects. When he came to the village where Sabbas lived and asked if there were any Christians about, Sabbas stepped forward and said, “'Let no-one swear an oath on my behalf. I am a Christian.” The leader dismissed him, saying, “This one can do us neither good nor harm.” The next year, a priest came to the village and celebrated Easter with Sabbas. The pagans of the village reported this, and the leader returned a second time to arrest Sabbas. They dragged Sabbas naked through thorn bushes, bound him and the priest to trees and forced them to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols. Both men refused to touch the meat. Events Emperor Fei is dethroned as emperor of China. ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche, is a highly romanticized portrait of the Goths as cavalrymen. ... Pogrom (from Russian: ; from громить IPA: - to wreak havoc, to demolish violently) is a form of riot directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious or other, and characterized by destruction of their homes, businesses and religious centers. ... Christians believe that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (see Hebrews 8:6). ... Roman Catholic priests in clerical clothing. ... This article is about the Christian festival. ...

The pagan Gothic prince Athanaric, at war with Emperor Valens of Rome, sentenced Sabbas to death, and he went off with the soldiers praising God the whole way, denouncing the pagan and idolatrous ways of his captors and scorning them. The commander ordered Sabbas to be thrown in a river, tying a rock around his neck and his body to a wooden pole. Athanaric (died 381) was ruler of several branches of the Visigoths for at least two decades in the fourth century and undisputed King of the Visigoths for the last year of his life. ... Solidus minted by Valens in 376. ...

His relics were taken by St Sansala and hidden by the Christians until they could be sent for safety to the Roman Empire. Here they were received by Bishop Ascholius of Thessalonica.

Basil the Great requested of the ruler of Scythia Minor, Junius Soranus, that he should send him the relics of saints and so 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 is the oldest known writing to be composed on Romanian soil and was written in Greek, possibly by St Vetranion of Tomis. Basil (ca. ... Major ancient towns and colonies in Schythia Minor Scythia Minor (Greek: Μικρά Σκυθία, Mikrá 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 todays Dobruja (a large part in Romania and a smaller part in... Caesarea is the name of several Roman cities and towns, including: Caesarea Antiochia, properly Antioch in Pisidia, near modern Yalvaç, Turkey Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, modern Kayseri, Turkey Caesarea Palaestina: modern Caesarea, in Israel Caesarea Philippi in the Golan Heights Iol Caesarea: modern Cherchell, in Algeria Caesarea Magna or Caesara... Map showing Cappadocia as a province of the Armenian Empire under Tigranes the Great Photo of a 15th Century map showing Capadocia. In ancient geography, Cappadocia (or Capadocia) (from Persian: Katpatuka meaning the land of beautiful horses, Greek: Καππαδοκία; see also List of traditional Greek place names; Turkish Kapadokya) was an... Events The Battle of the Tanais River near the Don where the Huns defeat the Alans. ... Events 4 May: Spearthrower Owl becomes emperor of Teotihuacan. ...

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'.

His feast day is on the date of his martyrdom, April 12. The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates him as "the holy, glorious, and right-victorious Great-martyr Sabbas." The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organising a liturgical year on the level of days by associating each day with a saint, and referring to the day as the saints day of that saint. ... April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ... The Eastern Orthodox Church is a Christian body that views itself: as the historical continuation of the original Christian community established by Jesus and the Twelve Apostles. ...

Martyred in the reign of Valentinian, he is commemorated on April 12 in the Eastern Orthodox Churches and April 14 in the Roman Martyrology. Flavius Valentinianus, known in English as Valentinian I, (321 - November 17, 375) was a Roman Emperor (364-375). ... April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ... Eastern Orthodoxy (also called Greek Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodoxy) is a Christian tradition which represents the majority of Eastern Christianity. ... April 14 is the 104th day of the year (105 in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 261 days remaining. ... A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs, or, more exactly, of saints, arranged in the order of their anniversaries. ...

Reference

• Sava the Goth from OrthodoxWiki
• (Italian) San Saba il Goto

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