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Saint Séverin de Norique
Abbé en Autriche (+ 482)
Protecteur de l'Autriche et de la Bavière. Moine inconnu, venu sans doute de l'Asie Mineure après les invasions d'Attila. Il fonda en 454 un monastère à Passau en Allemagne et, de là, il évangélisa toutes ces régions. Il défendit les pauvres contre les petits rois barbares et sut faire vivre en bonne entente les Romains et les Barbares. Il mena une vie ascétique qui impressionnait son disciple et biographe, Eugypius. Il inculqua à tous ses convertis les mœurs chrétiennes.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/393/Saint-Severin-de-Norique.html
8 janvier. Saint Séverin du Norique, Apôtre de l'Autriche et de la Bavière. 482.
Pape : Saint Simplice. Empereur romain, d'Orient
: Zénon. Chute de l'empire romain d'Occident : Julius Népos (+480)
; Romulus Augustule. Chef des Hérules, patrice romain, etc. : Odoacre. Roi
des Francs Saliens : Clovis Ier.
" Quand vous aurez vaincu, ne tuez pas les ennemis."
Saint Séverin au chef de la garnison de Vienne.
Dans le Ve siècle, un Solitaire d'Orient, poussé par
l'esprit d'en-haut, vint annoncer la pénitence et le royaume de Dieu aux
peuples barbares du Septentrion. On ne put savoir sa patrie ; aux questions
qu'on lui faisait à ce sujet, il répondait qu'un prédicateur de l'Evangile
n'avait point d'autre âge que l'éternité, ni d'autre pays que le ciel.
Toutefois, on reconnut facilement, à son parler et à ses manières, qu'il était
Romain ou d'un endroit ou d'un endroit où l'on parlait encore le bon latin.
Comme il était humble et qu'il refusait de dire la condition de sa famille, on
crut, non sans raison, que ses parents étaient illustres selon le monde. Il
faisait précéder sa prédication de l'exemple de sa vie ; il était pieux,
austère et charitable envers les pauvres, les malades et tous les nécessiteux.
Au temps où vécut saint Séverin, il y a plus de treize cents ans, Attila, ce
terrible roi des Huns, dont nous avons déjà parlé, venait de mourir. En
mourant, il laissa plusieurs fils, qui se disputèrent l'empire, principalement
dans les contrées situées le long des deux rives du Danube. Au loin régnaient
la terreur et la désolation. Saint Séverin demeurait alors aux environs de la
ville d'Astures ; il anonça aux habitants de cette ville qu'ils étaient menacés
des horreurs de la guerre, et que leur cité serait détruite, à moins qu'ils ne
fléchissent le ciel par des jeûnes, des prières et des aumônes. Pour leur
malheur, les Asturiens n'écoutèrent pas les sàges exhortations du Saint, et
leur ville fut ruinée de fond en comble, de sorte qu'aujourd'hui l'on ne sait
plus même le lieu où elle s'est trouvée (d'aucuns pensent que Stockeraw, au
nord de Vienne est située sur le site de l'ancienne Astures).
Mais avant le désastre, saint Séverin s'était retiré
dans une autre ville, appelée Cumanis (aujourd'hui Haynburg, à une vingtaine de
kilomètres à l'Ouest de Vienne). Là il renouvela ses conseils et ses sinistres
prédictions ; mais là aussi il ne fut pas écouté. Alors un vieillard, qui seul
avait échappé ua massacre et à l'incendie d'Astures, raconta aux habitants de
Cumanis tous les détails de l'horrible désastre dont il avait été témoin ; et
il ajouta qu'avant l'événement un homme inconnu était venu leur prédire tout ce
qui était arrivé, et les avait exhortés à détourner ces malheurs par la
pénitence :
" Et c'est parce qu'on ne l'a pas cru, dit-il en
terminant son récit, que tous ces malheurs sont venus sur ma patries !..."
Et le vieillard, ayant vu saint Séverin qui l'écoutait
discrètement mélé à son nombreux auditoire, s'écria aussitôt :
" C'est lui-même, écoutez-le !"
Alors les Cumaniens lui demandèrent pardon de n'avoir
pas voulu l'écouter d'abord et pendant trois jours ils implorèrent le secours
du ciel par des prières, des jeûnes et des aumônes. Pendant ce temps les
farouches ennemis s'étaient rapprochée de Cumanis mais vers la fin du troisième
jour leur camp fut ébranlé par un terrible tremblement de terre, et ils
s'enfuirent épouvantés. Pendant la nuit suivante, ils s'imaginèrent être
poursuivis, et, prenant leurs compagnons pour des ennemis, ils s'entre-tuèrent.
Une autre ville * plus loin sur le
Danube était désolée par la famine. C'était au cœur de l'hiver, et l'on
attendait des vivres qui devaient arriver des pays qui sont près de l'Inn. Mais
le fleuve était gelé, les bateaux qui devaient transporter les vivres ne
pouvaient arriver. Or, les habitants de cette ville ayant entendu parler de la
merveilleuse efficacité des prières de saint Séverin, le firent inviter à se
rendre auprès d'eux.
Son premier soin, en arrivant, fut de les exhorter à la prière et à la
pénitence. Et presque aussitôt l'on vit arriver une foule de bateaux chargés de
vivres. Que s'était-il donc passé ? Le fleuve, qui depuis longtemps tenait les
bateaux emprisonnés dans les glaces, s'était subitement fondu par l'effet d'un
dégel miraculeux survenu à une époque tout à fait indue. Grande fut la
reconnaissance des Viennois, et grandes furent aussi leurs actions de grâces.
Or, il y avait à Vienne une riche veuve nommée Procule qui avait caché, pendant
une famine, une immense quantité de blé : l'Esprit de Dieu ayant révélé cet
acte d'avarice à Séverin, le Saint reprit publiquement la veuve sans
entrailles, lui reprocha d'être cause, par sa cupidité, de la mort d'un grand
nombre de pauvres, et lui fit voir qu'elle se disait en vain chrétienne,
puisqu'en adorant les richesses elle était tombée dans une détestable
idolâtrie. Procule comprit l'énormité de sa faute et la répara en ouvrant gratuitement
ses greniers.
Dans le même temps, des barbares menaçaient cette
ville par le fer et le feu tout ce qu'ils pouvaient saisir au dehors des murs,
hommes et bêtes, ils l'emmenaient avec eux. La ville était presque entièrement
dépourvue de soldats : saint Séverin harangua leur chef, lui disant d'avoir
confiance en Dieu, et d'aller attaquer résolument l'ennemi, lui assurant que
Dieu lui donnerait la victoire. Il ajouta encore ces paroles remarquables :
" Mais quand vous aurez vaincu, ne tuez pas les
ennemis !"
Le capitaine partit aussitôt, plein de confiance en Dieu et dans les prières de
son fidèle serviteur. Les barbares, en l'apercevant, furent saisis d'épouvante,
jetèrent leurs armes et s'enfuirent. Ceux d'entre eux qu'on put emmener
captifs, furent conduits devant saint Séverin, qui, après leur avoir reproché
leurs brigandages, leur fit donner à boire et à manger, et puis les renvoya
dans leur pays.
Plus tard saint Séverin se retira dans une solitude, avec le désir de ne plus
vivre que pour Dieu mais il n'y demeura pas longtemps seul. Une foule de gens
allaient le trouver pour lui demander aide et conseil dans leurs besoins
spirituels ou corporels.
Un homme, nommé Rufus, était malade depuis douze ans :
il souffrait horriblement dans tous les membres de son corps. Or, les moyens
employés jusque-là avaient été infructueux. Sa mère le mit sur une voiture et
le conduisit devant l'habitation du Saint. Elle le supplia de guérir son fils.
Le Saint répondit :
" Dieu seul peut rendre la santé aux malades ;
mais je vais vous donner un conseil donnez des aumônes, selon vos moyens."
Cette femme, n'ayant pour le moment aucune autre chose
à donner, se dépouilla de ses habits pour les donner aux pauvres. Mais le Saint
lui dit :
" Remettez vos habits ; votre fils va être guéri
ensuite, quand vous serez retournée chez vous, prouvez votre foi par es
oeuvres."
Saint Séverin se mit ensuite en prières ; et aussitôt,
au grand étonnement de tous les assistants, le malade se leva guéri, et s'en
retourna chez lui. L'étonnement de tous ceux qui le connaissaient était si
grand, que plusieurs ne voulurent pas croire que ce fût le même homme qu'ils
avaient vu si infirme.
La renommée de la sainteté et des miracles de saint Séverin se répandit au
loin. Plusieurs cités pensèrent que si elles possédaient un tel trésor, elles
seraient à l'abri de toutes les calamités. Le Saint fut donc appelé avec
instance de divers côtés. Or, un jour il se trouvait dans une ville, où une
partie des habitants s'adonnait à l'idolâtrie. Saint Séverin leur représenta
combien grand était ce crime, mais personne ne voulut s'avouer coupable.
Alors il prescrivit un jeûne de trois jours, et ordonna que le troisième jour
chaque famille se rendrait à l'église avec un cierge non allumé. Le Saint
s'étant mis en prières avec les prêtres et le peuple, les cierges des vrais
croyants s'allumèrent d'eux-mêmes, tandis que ceux des idolâtres demeurèrent
non allumés. Etant ainsi miraculeusement convaincus, les idolâtres confessèrent
leur péché ; et le chroniqueur, en rapportant ce fait, ajoute :
" Ô douce puissance de mon Créateur, qui alluma
les coeurs en même temps que les cierges ! Car le feu se mit aussi aux cierges
des coupables, après qu'ils eurent confessé leur faute et pendant que ce feu
consumait la cire qu'ils tenaient en leurs mains, un feu immatëriel consumait
leurs cœurs et faisait couler de leurs yeux des larmes de componction."
Une autre fois les campagnes d'alentour furent
ravagées par des nuée de sauterelles, et l'on supplia encore saint Séverin
d'éloigner ce fléau par ses prières. Comme toujours, il recommanda d'avoir
recours à la prière, au jeûne et aux aumônes ; en même temps il exigea que
personne n'allât aux champs : " car, dit-il, vos soins intempestifs
seraient faits pour éloigner le secours de Dieu plutôt que pour chasser les
sauterelles ". Tous se conformèrent scrupuleusement aux prescriptions du
Saint, à l'exception d'un tout pauvre homme, qui voulait absolument aller
visiter son champ. Ce champ se trouvait environné de plusieurs autres, et le
pauvre homme s'y rendit pour en chasser les insectes destructeurs. Mais la nuit
même les sauterelles disparurent complètement, en laissant intacts tous les
champs, à l'exception de celui du pauvre incrédule, sur lequel elles ne
laissèrent pas un fruit, ni un brin d'herbe. Ce malheureux alors courut à la
ville, en se lamentant devant tout le monde de ce qui lui était arrivé.
Là-dessus tous sortirent, et virent avec étonnement que leurs champs avaient
été préservés du fléau, et que seul le champ de l'incrédule avait été
dépouillé.
Le Saint alors leur dit ces simples paroles :
" Apprenez par les sauterelles à obéir toujours à
Dieu !"
Alors le pauvre dit en se lamentant :
" Je veux bien, à l'avenir, obéir fidèlement à
Dieu, mais qui me donnera de quoi vivre, car mon champ est dévasté ?"
Le Saint s'adressant à la foule, dit :
" Il est juste que celui qui par son châtiment
vous apprend à être humbles et obéissants, soit, pour cette année, nourri par
vous."
Et il fut fait une collecte au profit du pauvre.
Une autre fois une femme, après avoir été longtemps
malade, entra en agonie quelques-uns de ceux qui l'entouraient, la croyant déjà
morte, se mirent à se lamenter, suivant la coutume en pareille occurrence. Les
autres, au contraire, leur imposèrent silence, et, emportant la malade, ils
allèrent la déposer devant la porte de saint Séverin. Le Saint leur dit :
" Que me voulez-vous ?"
Ils répondirent :
" Nous vous prions de rendre à ta santé cette
femme qui va mourir."
Le Saint reprit :
" Vous demandez trop à un pauvre pécheur comme
moi. Je suis indigne de faire des miracles ; tout ce que je puis faire, c'est
de prier Dieu de me pardonner mes péchés."
Ceux-ci répliquèrent :
" Nous croyons que si vous priez pour la malade,
elle sera guérie."
Alors le Saint se mit à prier et aussitôt la malade
put se lever. Et le Saint leur dit :
" Ce miracle n'est pas dû à mes mérites, mais à
votre foi ; pareille chose arrive journellement en maint endroit, chez tous les
peuples, par la toute-puissance de Dieu, qui seul peut guérir les malades et
ressusciter les morts, afin que tous les peuples sachent qu'il est le seul vrai
Dieu."
Trois jours après, cette même femme était si bien
guérie, qu'elle put de nouveau vaquer à ses travaux habituels.
Mais, quoiqu'il fît ces prodiges pour gagner les peuples à Jésus-Christ, il ne
voulut point guérir un mal d'yeux qui causait des douleurs très vives à Bonose,
le plus cher de ses disciples ; il aurait cru, en lui enlevant la souffrance,
le priver d'un moyen de perfection. Sa réputation alla si loin que les princes,
même d'au-delà du Danube, infidèles ou Ariens, lui demandaient ses avis pour la
conduite civile de leurs Etats, quoiqu'ils refusassent d'ouvrir les yeux à la
vérité et de corriger les déréglements de leur vie.
Il établit plusieurs monastères, dont le plus
considérable était près de Favienne. Il le quittait souvent pour aller à deux
lieues au delà, dans un endroit écarté, pour prier plus tranquillement. Mais la
charité l'obligeait souvent d'aller en divers lieux, consoler les habitants
dans leurs alarmes car ils se croyaient en sûreté quand il était avec eux. Il
recommandait à ses disciples surtout l'imitation des anciens et l'éloignement
du siècle ; ses exemples leur prêchaient plus encore que ses paroles. Car,
excepté les fêtes, il ne mangeait qu'après le soleil couché, et en Carême une
seule fois dans la semaine il dormait tout vêtu sur un cilice, étendu sur le
pavé de son oratoire. Il marchait toujours pieds-nus, même lorsque le Danube
était gelé. Plusieurs villes le demandèrent pour évêque, mais il ne voulut
jamais se rendre à leurs instances :
" N'est-ce pas assez que j'aie quitté ma chère
solitude pour venir ici vous instruire et vous consoler ?"
Il ne faut donc pas croire que notre Saint ait établi d'une manière définitive
et durable, ni la religion catholique, ni la vie monastique dans ces pays ; ce
n'était ni le lieu ni le moment. La Providence l'avait amené là, lui Romain,
moine catholique, représentant du monde civilisé qui allait être enfin envahi,
afin d'arrêter un instant, et d'adoucir les envahisseurs ; ainsi Attila trouva
saint Léon au passage du Mincio, saint Aignan sous les murs d'Orléans, et saint
Loup aux portes de Troyes ainsi saint Germain d'Auxerre arrêta Eocharich, roi
des Allemands, au cœur de la Gaule.
L'anachorète qui défendit le Norique, veillait en même temps dans l'intérêt de
toute la Chrétienté. Si le débordement des invasions se fût précipité d'un seul
coup, il aurait submergé la civilisation. L'empire était ouvert, mais les
peuples n'y devaient entrer qu'un à un et le sacerdoce chrétien se mit sur la
brèche, afin de les retenir jusqu'au moment marqué, et pour ainsi dire jusqu'à
l'appel de leur nom. c'était le tour des Hérules : saint Séverin avait contenu
leurs bandes sur le chemin de l'Italie.
Parmi ceux qui venaient demander sa bénédiction, se
trouva un jour un jeune homme, pauvrement vêtu, mais de race noble, et si grand
qu'il lui fallait, se baisser pour entrer dans la cellule du moine :
" Va, lui dit Séverin, va vers l'Italie ; tu
portes maintenant de chétives fourrures, mais bientôt tu auras de quoi faire
largesse."
Ce jeune homme était Odoacre, à la tête des
Thurilinges et des Hérules ; il s'empara de Rome, envoya Romulus Augustule
mourir en exil, et, sans daigner se faire lui-même empereur, se contenta de
rester le maître de l'Italie. Du sein de sa conquête, il se souvint de la
prédiction du moine romain qu'il avait laissé sur les bords du Danube, et lui
écrivit pour le prier de lui demander tout ce qu'il voudrait. Séverin en
profita pour obtenir la grâce d'un exilé.
Si Odoacre, maître de Rome, usa de clémence, s'il
épargna les monuments, les lois, les écoles, et ne détruisit que le vain nom de
l'empire, c'est qu'il se souvint, notamment, du moine romain qui avait prédit
sa victoire et béni sa jeunesse.
Une autre fois, comme les Allemands ravageaient le territoire de Passau, où il
se trouvait alors, il alla trouver Gibold leur roi, et lui tint un langage si
ferme, que le barbare troublé promit de rendre les captifs et d'épargner le
pays on l'entendit ensuite déclarer à ses compagnons que jamais, en aucun péril
de guerre, il n'avait tremblé si fort. Saint Séverin était donc là comme un
rempart céleste sur les rives du grand fleuve qui ne protégeait plus le
territoire de l'empire. Quand une ville, une contrée de l'empire étaient
menacées par une armée barbare, il entreprenait quelquefois la défense
militaire avec le calme d'un vieux capitaine, rendant d'une parole le courage
aux plus timides, se faisant obéir là où personne ne l'était plus ; s'il
fallait reculer, il organisait la retraite ; s'il n'y avait plus espoir de
salut, il se rendait au camp des vainqueurs, et, au nom de Dieu, il obtenait
que les vaincus seraient respectés dans leurs personnes et dans leurs biens, et
que tous vivraient en paix.
Il avait surtout le plus grand soin des captifs,
d'abord à cause d'eux, en qui il voyait Notre-Seigneur dans les chaînes et la
misère, mais aussi à cause du salut de l'âme des maîtres qui les opprimaient.
Il plaida, selon son habitude, cette sainte cause auprès de Fléthée, roi des
Rugiens, peuplade qui était venue, des bords de la mer Baltique, s'établir en
Pannonie ; peut-être le cœur de ce barbare se serait-il laissé fléchir ; mais
Gisa, sa femme, qui était arienne et plus féroce que lui, dit un jour à Séverin
:
" Homme de Dieu, tiens-toi tranquille à prier
dans ta cellule, et laisse-nous faire ce que bon nous semble de nos
esclaves."
Mais lui ne se lassait pas et finissait presque
toujours par triompher de ces âmes sauvages, mais non encore corrompues. Sentant
sa fin approcher, il mande auprès de son lit de mort le roi et la reine. Après
avoir exhorté le roi à se souvenir du compte qu'il aurait à rendre à Dieu, il
posa la main sur le cœur du barbare, puis se tournant vers la reine :
" Gisa, aimes-tu cette âme plus que l'or et
l'argent ?"
Et comme Gisa protestait qu'elle préférait son époux à
tous les trésors :
" Eh bien donc, cesse d'opprimer les justes, de
peur que leur oppression ne soit votre ruine. Je vous supplie humblement tous
les deux, en ce moment où je retourne vers mon maître, de vous abstenir du mal
et de vous honorer par vos bonnes actions."
Saint Séverin avait prédit à ses disciples le jour de sa mort, deux ans
auparavant il les avertit en même temps que les habitants du Norique seraient
obligés de se réfugier en Italie, et leur ordonna de les suivre et d'emporter
son corps. Il fut attaqué d'une pleurésie le 5 janvier 482. Le quatrième jour
de sa maladie, il demanda le saint Viatique ; puis, ayant fait le signe de la
Croix et dit avec le Psalmiste : " Que tout esprit loue le Seigneur
", il s'endormit doucement dans le Seigneur.
CULTE ET RELIQUES
Six ans après, les disciples de saint Séverin furent, selon sa prédiction,
obligés de fuir devant la fureur des barbares ; ils emportèrent le corps de leur
bienheureux Père ; presque toute la contrée l'accompagna, et partout où il
passait on courait lui rendre hommage, de sorte que c'était plutôt un triomphe
qu'une retraite. Il fut déposé à Monte-Feltro, en Ombrie, d'où il fut
transféré, cinq ou six ans après, à Lucullano, entre Naples et Pouzzolles, par
l'autorité du pape saint Gélase.
Saint Séverin est invoqué particulièrement par les
prisonniers, les vignerons et les tisserands.
On y bâtit un monastère dont Eugippe, auteur de la vie
de saint Séverin, fut second abbé. En 910, ses saintes reliques furent
transportées à Naples, dans un monastère de Bénédictins qui porte son nom.
Saint Séverin du Norique est l'un des Patrons de la Bavière, de l'Autriche, et
de Vienne où il est somptueusement fêté dans le quartier de l'Heiligenstadt,
dans le district de Döbling. Il est aussi le saint patron du diocèse de Linz,
de la ville italienne de San Severo.
Les Français, et plus particulièrement les Parisiens,
prendront soin de ne pas le confondre avec saint Séverin d'Agaume, ou de Paris,
ermite, qui, notamment, guérit Clovis miraculeusement. Ce saint Séverin,
quasi-contemporain de notre Saint du jour, retourna à Notre Père des cieux en
540.
* Probablement Vienne car le chroniqueur dont
s'inspire cette notice - Eugippe, moine bénédictin de Naples du Ve siècle -
nomme cette ville Favienna ou Fabienna. Or, il n'y a pas loin, philologiquement
parlant, de Favienna ou Fabienna à Vienne qui reçut son nom du général romain
Annius Fabianus. Il convient de mentionner que certains modernes, non sans
raisons - lesquelles sont d'être suffisantes pour le soutenir sans doutes
sérieux -, soutiennent qu'il pourrait s'agir de la ville de Mautern. Cependant,
ce que les auteurs catholiques " intégraux " ont appelé au XIXe
" l'hypercritique ", doit être prise en compte avec une grande
prudence compte tenu du fait que ses zélateurs revisitaient tout au plan
historique, hagiographique, etc. Cette hypercritique, résolument naturaliste,
donnera des escrocs contemporains tels que les sinistres Prieur et Mordillat :
leurs descendants directs ; vulgarisateurs de thèses monstrueuses et
hérétiques."
Protasio Crivelli . : Madonna col Bambino in trono tra San Severino Abate e San Sossio Levita e Martire, 1506, 187 X 210, Church of San Giovanni Battista
Saint Severinus of Noricum
- Severino of Noricum
- c.410 in North Africa
- 8 January 482 at Favianae, Noricum (in modern Austria) of pleurisy
- relics moved to the Benedictine monastery at Monte Feltre
- relics moved to Castellum Lucullanum in Naples, Italy
- relics enshrined in a chapel at the Benedictine monastery of San Severino, Naples in 910
- relics moved to Fratta Maggiore in Avera, Italy in 1807
- pilgrim with a book
- abbot in a tomb with staff and crucifix
- preaching pilgrim
- with Odoacer (Severinus prophesied an invasion by him)
Lorch ( Enns/Upper Austria ). Basilica of Saint
Lawrence: Saint Severin gate ( 1971 ) by Peter Dimmel showing scenes of the
life of Saint Severin ( detail ).
Lorch ( Enns/Oberösterreich ). St.Laurenz-Basilika: Severinstor ( 1971 ) von Peter Dimmel mit Szenen aus dem Leben des heiligen Severin ( Detail ).
Detail des Hauptportals der Sieveringer Pfarrkirche
Pictorial
Half Hours with the Saints – Saint Severinus
Do Penance
Saint Severinus quitted the solitudes of the East,
where he had been devoting himself to the exercises of the coenobitic life, in
order to evangelize the population of Norica, a province which comprised the
greater part of Austria and the Tyrol. He at first encountered great resistance,
but soon effected wonders of conversion, as well by reason of his humble and
mortified life, as because he announced to his hearers the calamities wherewith
the rebellious nations would be afflicted. “Do penance,” exclaimed he, “sin is
the cause of all the woes that God scatters upon the earth!” Before consenting
to pray for those who were afflicted, and before releasing them from their
infirmities, he required that they should do penance. His own life showed forth
the constant example thereof. He foretold to Odoacer, king of the Herules, that
he was to lay waste Italy, by way of punishment for its crimes; and the
prophecy was amply verified. Hence kings and nations and rulers ended by
holding him in singular veneration, regarding him as the envoy of Heaven. He
yielded up his spirit on the 9th January 482.
Moral Reflection
If not out of tenderness towards Ood, let us, at least
from charity for ourselves, repair our past guilt, and avoid committing fresh
offences; for, “As by one man sin entered into the world, 80 death passes by
sin.” – Romans 5:12
– from Pictorial
Half Hours with the Saints, by Father Auguste
François Lecanu, 1865
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-half-hours-with-the-saints-saint-severinus/
Die Statue des Hl. Severin, die 1982 von Leopold Hafner
zum 1500. Todestag des Hl. Severins errichtet wurde. Sie befindet sich auf dem
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Baring-Gould’s Lives of the Saints –
Saint Severinus, Priest, Apostle of Noricum
Article
(A.D 482)
[Roman Martyrology and those of Germany. The life of
Saint Severinus was written by his disciple, Eugippius, in the year 511, as he
states in a letter to Paschatius, the deacon. The following life is extracted
from Mr. Kingsley’s “Hermits,” with certain necessary modifications. What has
been once well done, the author is unwilling to do again, and do in an inferior
manner.]
In the middle of the fifth century the province of
Noricum (Austria, as we should now call it), was the very highway of invading
barbarians, the centre of the human Maelstrom, in which Huns, Allemanni, Rugii,
and a dozen wild tribes more, wrestled up and down, and round the starving and
beleaguered towns of what had once been a happy and fertile province, each
tribe striving to trample the other under foot, and to march southward, over
their corpses, to plunder what was still left of the already plundered wealth
of Italy and Rome. The difference of race, of tongue, and of manners, between
the conquered and their conquerors, was made more painful by difference in
creed. The conquering Germans and Huns were either Arians or heathens. The
conquered race (though probably of very mixed blood), who called themselves
Romans, because they spoke Latin, and lived under the Roman law, were orthodox Catholics;
and the miseries of religious persecution were too often added to the usual
miseries of invasion.
It was about the year 455 — 60. Attila, the great King
of the Huns, who called himself — and who was — “the Scourge of God,” was just
dead. His empire had broken up. The whole centre of Europe was in a state of
anarchy and war; and the hapless Romans along the Danube were in the last
extremity of terror, not knowing by what fresh invader their crops would be
swept off up to the very gates of the walled towers, which were their only
defense; when there appeared among them, coming out of the East, a man of God.
Who he was he would not tell. His speech showed him to be an African Roman — a
fellow-countryman of Saint Augustine — probably from the neighbourhood of
Carthage. He had certainly at one time gone to some desert in the East, zealous
to learn “the more perfect life.” Severinus, he said, was his name; a name
which indicated high rank, as did the manners and the scholarship of him who
bore it. But more than his name he would not tell.” If you take me for a
runaway slave,” he said, smiling, “get ready money to redeem me with when my
master demands me back.” For he believed that they would have need of him; that
God had sent him into that land that he might be of use to its wretched people.
And certainly he could have come into the neighbourhood of Vienna, at that
moment, for no other purpose than to do good, unless he came to deal in slaves.
He settled first at a town, called by his biographer
Casturis; and, lodging with the warden of the church, lived quietly the hermit
life. Meanwhile the German tribes were prowling round the town; and Severinus,
going one day into the church, began to warn the priests and clergy, and all
the people, that a destruction was coming on them which they could only avert
by prayer, and fasting, and the works of mercy. They laughed him to scorn,
confiding in their lofty Roman walls, which the invaders — wild horsemen, who
had no military engines — ^were unable either to scale or batter down.
Severinus left the town at once, prophesying, it was said, the very day and
hour of its fall. He went on to the next town, which was then closely
garrisoned by a barbarian force, and repeated his warning there: but while the
people were listening to him, there came an old man to the gate, and told them
how Casturis had been already sacked, as the man of God had foretold; and going
into the church, threw himself at the feet of Saint Severinus, and said that he
had been saved by his merits from being destroyed with his fellow-townsmen.
Then the dwellers in the town hearkened to the man of
God, and gave themselves up to fasting, and almsgiving, and prayer for three
whole days.
And on the third day, when the solemnity of the
evening sacrifice was fulfilled, a sudden earthquake happened, and the
barbarians, seized with panic fear, and probably hating and dreading — like all
those wild tribes — confinement between four stone walls, instead of the free
open life of the tent and the stockade, forced the Romans to open their gates
to them, rushed out into the night, and, in their madness, slew each other.
In those days a famine fell upon the people of Vienna;
and they, as their sole remedy, thought good to send for the man of God from
the neighbouring town. He went, and preached to them, too, repentance and
almsgiving. The rich, it seems, had hidden up their stores of com, and left the
poor to starve. At least Saint Severinus discovered (by divine revelation, it
was supposed), that a widow named Procula had done as much. He called her out
into the midst of the people, and asked her why she, a noble woman and
free-born, had made herself a slave to avarice, which is idolatry. If she would
not give her corn to Christ’s poor, let her throw it into the Danube to feed
the fish, for any gain from it she would not have. Procula was abashed, and
served out her hoards thereupon willingly to the poor; and a little while
afterwards, to the astonishment of all, vessels came down the Danube laden with
every kind of merchandise. They had been frozen up for many days near Passau,
in the thick ice of the river Enns : but the prayers of God’s servant had
opened the ice-gates, and let them down the stream before the usual time.
Then the wild German horsemen swept around the walls,
and carried oif human beings and cattle, as many as they could find. Severinus,
like some old Hebrew prophet, did not shrink from advising hard blows, where
hard blows could avail. Mamertinus, the tribune, or officer in command, told
him that he had so few soldiers, and those so ill-armed, that he dare not face
the enemy. Severinus answered that they should get weapons from the barbarians
themselves; the Lord would fight for them, and they should hold their peace:
only if they took any captives they should bring them safe to him. At the
second milestone from the city they came upon the plunderers, who fled at once,
leaving their arms behind. Thus was the prophecy of the man of God fulfilled.
The Romans brought the captives back to him unharmed. He loosed their bonds,
gave them food and drink, and let them go. But they were to tell their comrades
that, if ever they came near that spot again, celestial vengeance would fall on
them, for the God of the Christians fought from heaven in his servants cause.
So the barbarians trembled, and went away. And the
fear of Saint Severinus fell on all the Goths, heretic Arians though they were
and on the Rugii, who held the north bank of the Danube in those evil days.
Saint Severinus, meanwhile, went out of Vienna, and built himself a cell at a
place called ” At the Vineyards.” But some benevolent impulse — divine
revelation his biographer calls it — prompted him to return, and build himself
a cell on a hill close to Vienna, round which other cells soon grew up,
tenanted by his disciples. “There,” says his biographer, “he longed to escape
the crowds of men who were wont to come to him, and cling closer to God in
continual prayer: but the more he longed to dwell in solitude, the more often
he was warned by revelations not to deny his presence to the afflicted people.”
He fasted continually; he went barefoot even in the midst of winter, which was
so severe, the story con- tinues, in those days around Vienna, that waggons
crossed the Danube on the solid ice: and yet, instead of being puffed-up by his
own virtues, he set an example of humility to all, and bade them with tears to
pray for him, that the Saviour’s gifts to him might not heap condemnation on
his head.
Over the wild Rugii Saint Severinus seems to have
acquired unbounded influence. Their king, Flaccitheus, used to pour out his
sorrows to him, and tell him how the princes of the Goths would surely slay
him; for when he had asked leave of him to pass on into Italy, he would not let
him go. But Saint Severinus prophesied to him that the Goths would do him no
harm. Only one warning he must take: “Let it not grieve him to ask peace even
for the least of men.” The friendship which had thus begun between the
barbarian king and the cultivated Saint was carried on by his son Feva: but his
“deadly and noxious wife,” Gisa, who appears to have been a fierce Arian,
always, says his biographer, kept him back from clemency. One story of Gisa’s
misdeeds is so characteristic both of the manners of the time and of the style
in which the original biography is written, that I shall take leave to insert
it at length.
“The King Feletheus (who is also Feva), the son of the
afore-mentioned Flaccitheus, following his father’s devotion, began, at the
commencement of his reign, often to visit the holy man. His deadly and noxious
wife, named Gisa, always kept him back from the remedies of clemency. For she,
among the other plague-spots of her iniquity, even tried to have certain
Catholics re-baptized: but when her husband did not consent, on account of his
reverence for Saint Severinus, she gave up immediately her sacrilegious
intention, burdening the Romans, nevertheless, with hard conditions, and
commanding some of them to be exiled to the Danube. For when one day, she,
having come to the village next to Vienna, had ordered some of them to be sent
over the Danube, and condemned to the most menial offices of slavery, the man
of God sent to her, and begged that they might be let go. But she, blazing up
in a flame of fury, ordered the harshest of answers to be returned. ‘I pray
thee,’ she said, ‘servant of God, hiding there within thy cell, allow us to
settle what we choose about our own slaves.’ But the man of God hearing this,
‘I trust,’ he said, ‘in my Lord Jesus Christ, that she will be forced by necessity
to fulfill that which in her wicked will she has despised.’ And forthwith a
swift rebuke followed, and brought low the soul of the arrogant woman. For she
had confined in close custody certain barbarian goldsmiths, that they might
make regal ornaments. To them the son of the aforesaid king, Frederick by name,
still a little boy, had gone in, in childish levity, on the very day on which
the queen had despised the servant of God. The goldsmiths put a sword to the
child’s breast, saying, that if any one attempted to enter, without giving them
an oath that they should be protected, he should die; and that they would slay
the king’s child first, and themselves afterwards, seeing that they had no hope
of life left, being worn out with long prison. When she heard that, the cruel
and impious queen, rending her garments for grief, cried out, ‘O servant of
God, Severinus, are the injuries which I did thee thus avenged? Hast thou
obtained, by the earnest prayer thou hast poured out, this punishment for my
contempt, that thou shouldst avenge it on my own flesh and blood?’ Then,
running up and down with manifold contrition and miserable lamentation, she
confessed that for the act of contempt which she had committed against the
servant of God she was struck by the vengeance of the present blow; and
forthwith she sent knights to ask for forgiveness, and sent across the river
the Romans, his prayers for whom she had despised. The gold- smiths, having
received immediately a promise of safety, and giving up the child, were in like
manner let go.
“The most reverend Severinus, when he heard this, gave
boundless thanks to the Creator, who sometimes puts off the prayers of
suppliants for this end, that as faith, hope, and charity grow, while lesser
things are sought. He may con- cede greater things. Lastly, this did the mercy
of the Omnipotent Saviour work, that while it brought to slavery a woman free,
but cruel over much, she was forced to restore to liberty those who were
enslaved. This having been marvellously gained, the queen hastened with her
husband to the servant of God, and showed him her son, who, she confessed, had
been freed from the verge of death by his prayers, and promised that she would
never go against his commands.”
To this period of Severinus’ life belongs the famous
story of his interview with Odoacer, the first barbarian king of Italy, and
brother of the great Onulf or Wolf, who was the founder of the family of the
Guelphs, Counts of Altorf, and the direct ancestors of Victoria, Queen of
England. Their father was Aedecon, secretary at one time of Attila, and chief
of the little tribe of Turklings, who, though German, had clung faithfully to
Attila’s sons, and came to ruin at the great battle of Netad, when the empire
of the Huns broke up at once and for ever. Then Odoacer and his brother started
over the Alps to seek their fortunes in Italy, and take service, after the
fashion of young German adventurers, with the Romans; and they came to Saint
Severinus’ cell, and went in, heathens as they probably were, to ask a blessing
of the holy man; and Odoacer had to stoop and to stand stooping, so huge he
was. The Saint saw that he was no common lad, and said, “Go to Italy, clothed
though thou be in ragged sheepskins: thou shalt soon give greater gifts to thy
friends.” So Odoacer went up into Italy, deposed the last of the Caesars, a
paltry boy, Romulus Augustulus by name, and found himself, to his own
astonishment, and that of all the world, the first German king of Italy; and,
when he was at the height of his power, he remembered the prophecy of
Severinus, and sent to him, offering him any boon he chose to ask. But all that
the Saint asked was, that he should forgive some Romans whom he had banished.
Saint Severinus meanwhile foresaw that Odoacer’s kingdom would not last, as he
seems to have foreseen many things. For when certain German knights were
boasting before him of the power and glory of Odoacer, he said that it would
last some thirteen, or at most fourteen years; and the prophecy (so all men
said in those days) came exactly true.
There is no need to follow the details of Saint
Severinus’s labours through some five-and-twenty years of perpetual
self-sacrifice — and, as far as this world was concerned, perpetual disaster.
Eugippius’s chapters are little save a catalogue of towns sacked one after the
other, from Passau to Vienna, till the miserable survivors of the war seemed to
have concentrated themselves under Saint Severinus’s guardianship in the latter
city. We find, too, tales of famine, of locust-swarms, of little victories over
the barbarians, which do not arrest wholesale defeat: but we find, through all,
Saint Severinus labouring like a true man of God, conciliating the invading
chiefs, redeeming captives, procuring for the cities which were still standing
supplies of clothes for the fugitives, persuading the husbandmen, seemingly
through large districts, to give even in time of dearth a tithe of their
produce to the poor; — a tale of noble work indeed.
Eugippius relates many wonders in his life of Saint
Severinus. The reader finds how the man who had secretly celebrated a heathen
sacrifice was discovered by Saint Severinus, because, while the tapers of the
rest of the congregation were hghted miraculously from heaven, his taper alone
would not light. He records how the Danube dared not rise above the mark oi the
cross which Saint Severinus had cut upon the posts of a timber chapel; how a
poor man, going out to drive the locusts off his little patch of corn instead
of staying in the church all day to pray, found the next morning that his crop
alone had been eaten, while all the fields around remained untouched. Also he
records the well-known story, which has a certain awfulness about it, how Saint
Severinus watched all night by the bier of the dead priest Silvinus, and ere
the morning dawned bade him, in the name of God, speak to his brethren; and how
the dead man opened his eyes, and Severinus asked him whether he wished to
return to life, and he answered complainingly, “Keep me no longer here; nor
cheat me of that perpetual rest which I had already found,” and so, closing his
eyes once more, was still for ever.
At last the noble life wore itself out. For two years
Severinus had foretold that his end was near; and foretold, too, that the
people for whom he had spent himself should go forth in safety, as Israel out
of Egypt, and find a refiige in some other Roman province, leaving behind them
so utter a solitude, that the barbarians, in their search for the hidden
treasures of the civilization which they had exterminated, should dig up the
very graves of the dead. Only, when the Lord willed to deliver them, they must
carry away his bones with them, as the children of Israel carried the bones of
Joseph.
Then Severinus sent for Feva, the Rugian king and
Gisa, his cruel mfe; and when he had warned them how they must render an
account to God for the people committed to their charge, he stretched his hand
out to the bosom of the king. ” Gisa,” he asked, “dost thou love most the soul
within that breast, or gold and silver?” She answered that she loved her
husband above all. “Cease then,” he said, “to oppress the innocent: lest their
affliction be the ruin of your power.”
Severinus’ presage was strangely fulfilled. Feva had
handed over the city of Vienna to his brother Frederick — “poor and impious,”
says Eugippius. Severinus, who knew him well, sent for him, and warned him that
he himself was going to the Lord; and that if, after his death, Frederick dared
touch aught of the substance of the poor and the captive, the wrath of God
would fall on him. In vain the barbarian pretended indignant innocence;
Severinus sent him away with fresh warnings.
“Then on the nones of January he was smitten slightly
with a pain in the side. And when that had continued for three days, at midnight
he bade the brethren come to him.” He renewed his talk about the coming
emigration, and en- treated again that his bones might not be left behind; and
having bidden all in turn come near and kiss him, and having received the most
Holy Sacrament, he forbade them to weep for him, and commanded them to sing a
psalm. They hesitated, weeping. He himself gave out the psalm, “Praise the Lord
in His saints, and let all that hath breath praise the Lord;” and so went to
rest in the Lord.
No sooner was he dead than Frederick seized on the
garments kept in the monastery for the use of the poor, and even commanded his
men to carry off the vessels of the altar. Then followed a scene characteristic
of the time. The steward sent to do the deed shrank from the crime of sacrilege.
A knight, Anicianus by name, went in his stead, and took the vessels of the
altar. But his conscience was too strong for him. Trembling and delirium fell
on him, and he fled away to a lonely island, and became a hermit there.
Frederick, impenitent, swept away all in the monastery, leav- ing nought but
the bare walls, “which he could not carry over the Danube.” But on him, too,
vengeance fell. Within a month he was slain by his own nephew. Then Odoacer
attacked the Rugii, and carried off Feva and Gisa captive to Rome. And then the
long-promised emigration came. Odoacer, whether from mere policy (for he was
trying to establish a half-Roman kingdom in Italy) or for love ot Saint
Severinus himself, sent his brother Onulf to fetch away into Italy the miserable
remnant of the Danubian provincials, to be distributed among the wasted and
unpeopled farms of Italy. And with them went forth the corpse of Saint
Severinus, undecayed, though he had been six years dead, and giving forth
exceeding fragance, though (says Eugippius) no embalmer’s hand had touched it.
In a coffin, which had been long prepared for it, it was laid on a waggon, and
went over the Alps into Italy, working (according to Eugippius) the usual
miracles on the way, till it found a resting-place near Naples, in that very
villa of Lucuilus at Misenum, to which Odoacer had sent the last Emperor of
Rome to dream his ignoble life away in helpless luxury.
So ends this tragic story. Of its truth there can be
no doubt. M. Ozanam has well said of that death-bed scene between the saint and
the barbarian king and queen — “The history of invasions has many a pathetic
scene: but I know none more instructive than the dying agony of that old Roman
expiring between two barbarians, and less touched with the ruin of the empire,
than with the peril of their souls.” But even more instructive, and more tragic
also, is the strange coincidence that the wonder-working corpse of the starved
and bare-footed hermit should rest beside the last Emperor of Rome. It is the
symbol of a new era. The kings of this world have been judged and cast out. The
empire of the flesh is to perish, and the empire of the spirit to conquer
thenceforth for evermore.
Relics in the church of Saint Severino at Naples.
Patron (but not sole Patron) of Austria, Vienna,
Bavaria.
MLA Citation
Sabine Baring-Gould. “Saint Severinus, Priest, Apostle
of Noricum”. Lives of the Saints, 1897. CatholicSaints.Info.
11 August 2018. Web. 20 January 2021.
<https://catholicsaints.info/baring-goulds-lives-of-the-saints-saint-severinus-priest-apostle-of-noricum/>
Hans Gustav Dittenberger von Dittenberg (–1879).
Der heilige Severin segnet das Land Österreich , 1849, 494 x 634, Kunsthistorisches Museum ,
Belvedere
LETTER OF EUGIPPIUS TO PASCHASIUS
TABLE OF
CHAPTERS
THE LIFE OF SAINT SEVERINUS
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XXVII.
LETTER OF PASCHASIUS TO EUGIPPIUS
Morborum omne genus, quae corpora nostra fatigant,
Infandumque malum, crudelem avertite pestem.
Sit flavae Cereris, laeti sit copia Bacchi:
Tartareo sonitu reboent nec classica Martern,
Sed Pax alma ferens ramum felicis olivae
Illustret terras, soror et Concordia mitis."
Fas regnat ruri, regnat in urbe nefas."
Qua vicina sedent Breonum loca, perge per Alpem,
Ingrediens rapido qua gurgite volvitur Aenus.
Inde Valentini benedicti templa require,
Norica rura petens, ubi Byrrus vertitur undis."
111. 1 Julius Jung (Römer und Romaner in den
Donaidandern, p. 205) believes that the exodus was less general than the
words of Eugippius would seem to imply. Whatever may have been the case with
respect to the Roman population of Riverside Noricum, it is obvious that there
was no general withdrawal from Noricum Mediterrancum, where the provincial
organization was still in operation in the time of Theodoric.
Cassiodorus, Variae, iii, 50; Quitzmann, Die älteste Geschichte
der Baiern, p. 123.
112. 1 Probably the present
Macerata di Monte Feltre, south of San Marino.
113. 1 Thomas Hodgkin (Italy
and her Invaders, in, Oxford, 1885, pp. 190 f.; or 2d ed., 1896, pp. 172
f.) seeks to identify Barbaria with the widow of Orestes and mother of Romulus
Augustulus. On this point see Jung's Römer und Romaner in den
Donauländer, p. 134; and Max Büdinger's Eugipius, eine Untersuchung, in Sitzungsberichte
der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Vienna),
philosophisch-historische Classe, xci, 1 (1878), pp. 802 f.
115. 3 Two more
translations still awaited the body. October 14, 903, the Lucullan castle was
abandoned through fear of the marauding Saracens. The remains of the saint were
borne in solemn procession to the great Benedictine monastery of Saint
Severinus, within the walls of Naples. Joannes Diaconus Neapolitanus, Martyrium
Sancti Procopii, in Octavius Cajetanus's Vitae Sanctorum
Siculorum (Panormi, 1657), ii, p. 62, reprinted in L. A. Muratori's Rerum
Italicarum Scriptores (Mediolani, 1723-51), i, 2, pp. 271 f.; and the
same, printed from another manuscript, under the title of Translatio
Sancti Severini or Historia Translationis, in Acta
Sanctorum, January, i (1643), pp. 1100-1103, and reprinted thence in Monumenta
Germaniae Historica: Scriptores Rerum Langobardicarum et Italicarum Saec.
VI-IX (Hannoverae, 1878), pp. 452-459. ----It should be noted, however, that
Luigi Parascandolo, in his Memorie Storiche-Critiche-Diplomatiche della
Chiesa di Napoli (Naples, 1847-51), ii, pp. 253 f., doubts the
authenticity of this narrative, which, he thinks, owes at least its present
form to the labor of some Benedictine monk living in the monastery of Saint
Severinus at the time of the revival of learning.---- Descriptions of the
monastery, now for the most part secularized and occupied by the Royal
Neapolitan State Archives, and of the church of Saints Severinus and Sosius
connected with it, may be found in Napoli e i Luoghi Celebri delle sue
Vicinanze (Naples, 1845), i, pp. 233-243, and in the current guidebooks.
Here the remains of Severinus reposed for many
centuries, not in the large church, but beneath the great altar of the smaller
primitive church, or chapel, connected with it. The inscription on the great
altar is given in Acta Sanctorum, January, i, p. 499:
"Hic duo sancta simul divinaque corpora Patres
Sosius unanimes et Severinus habent."
According to Sebastian Brunner (Leben des St.
Severin, Vienna, 1879, p. 170), the following inscription was found in the
crypt when it was opened in 1807: "Divis Severino Noricorum in Oriente
Apostolo et Sosio Levitae B. Januarii Episcopi in Passione socio Templum ubi
eorum SS. Corpora sub Altare majori requiescunt et Apostolico indultu cum
oblatione sacra purgantes animae liberantur."
The fourth removal was on May 30, 1807, after the
dissolution of the monastery under the French domination, to the town of Fratta
Maggiore, a few miles north of Naples. Stanislao d'Aloe, in Napoli e i
Luoghi Celebri dette sue Vicinanze, i, p. 240 (d'Aloe errs as to the
date); G. A. Galante, Memorie dell' Antico Cenobio Lucullano di S.
Severino Abate (Naples, 1869), p. 41; Brunner, St. Severin, pp.
167-172. There was, it would appear from Brunner's account, some ecclesiastical
as well as civil authority for the removal of the remains. Nevertheless Dr.
Galante considers that they were " fraudolentemente rapitoci " (p.
41), and in his dissertation (pp. 41 f.) strongly urges their return to Naples.
"Cives Fractenses," he writes me under date of March 20, 1914, "
non S. Severini, sed S. Sosii corpus repetebant, et occasionem nacti
expulsionis Monachorum e coenobio et templo Severinianio, prope Archivium
Magnum, corpora utriusque simul quiescentia rapuerunt, et ad oppidum suum
transtulerunt, ubi nunc in majori templo Fractensi quiescunt. Quamvis Monachi
postea redierint, haud curae fuit, sacra lipsana repetere. Superioribus annis
ego null uni non movi lapidem ut corpus S. Severini Neapoli restitueretur, sed
frustra; praecordia tantum sanguine intincta, et quatuor ossa restituta sunt,
quae nunc in templo S. Severini asservantur."
From 1807 to 1874 the bodies of Severinus and Sosius
lay in a small chapel near the parish church of Fratta Maggiore. They were then
removed into the church, to a new chapel, where the coffins, placed on either
side the altar, were covered with red velvet, and distinguished by the gilt
letters S. S. M. (Sanctus Sosius Martyr) and S. S. A. (Sanctus Severinus
Abbas). Brunner, St. Severin, pp. 179 f.
116. 1 Paschasius here
imitates Sulpicius Severus, De Beati Martini Vita, Praef., i:
"Quid enim esset, quod non amori tuo vel cum detrimento mei pudoris
inpenderem?"
120. 4 I Maccabees, ii,
49 seq.
121. 1 I Maccabees, iii,
8; v, 44, 68; x, 83 f.
123. 3 "As one lamp
lights another nor grows less, So nobleness enkindles nobleness."
SOURCE : http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/severinus_02_text.htm
Bernardino di Mariotto (1478–1566). Madonna and Child with Sts Severino and Dominic, 1512, 50 X 34, Vatican Pinacoteca
San Severino Abate
410-482
Nato da nobile famiglia romana,
visse una vita austera e penitente ed ebbe fama di taumaturgo. Tale era
il suo carisma che, da regioni lontane, i potenti gli chiedevano consigli. Egli
aveva compreso che la società romana in decadenza avrebbe beneficiato di questa
linfa nuova quando fosse stata evangelizzata; in questo senso è esempio, ancora
oggi, di apertura e lungimiranza.
Etimologia: Severino = austero,
rigido, signif. chiaro
Emblema: Bastone pastorale
Martirologio Romano: Nel Norico
lungo il Danubio, nell’odierna Austria, san Severino, sacerdote e monaco:
venuto in questo territorio dopo la morte di Attila, capo degli Unni, difese le
popolazioni inermi, ammansì i violenti, convertì gli infedeli, fondò monasteri
e si dedicò a quanti erano privi di istruzione religiosa.
Incerto è il luogo e il tempo della nascita di questo grande monaco, apostolo del Norico Ripense, della regione cioè che si estende tra il Danubio e le Alpi Carniche. A chi gli chiedeva notizie riguardo alla sua età e alla sua famiglia, Severino si limitava a rispondere che un predicatore del Vangelo non ha altra età che l'eternità, né altro paese che il cielo. Tuttavia, da come parlava e agiva, si capiva facilmente che era romano di origine. Secondo Eugippio, suo discepolo e biografo, sappiamo che egli, ancora giovane, attratto dal desiderio della perfezione, si era recato in Oriente per vivere nella solitudine conforme alla regola di S. Basilio. In seguito ad un avviso soprannaturale, si recò nel Norico, verso il 455, cioè circa due anni dopo la morte di Attila, terribile re degli Unni, tenuto lontano da Lutetia (Parigi) e dalle preghiere di S. Genoveffa (+ 512) e sconfitto sui campi catalaunici, presso Chalons-sur-Marne, dal generale Romano Ezio. Attila aveva lasciato parecchi figli che se ne disputarono il regno con lotte sanguinose sulle sponde del Danubio.
Severino si era stabilito nel villaggio di Astura (oggi Stocheraw), alle dipendenze del custode della chiesa locale. Con la sua ardente pietà, purezza dei costumi, esercizio della carità, si guadagnò subito la stima e l'affetto del suo ospite. Un giorno egli uscì improvvisamente dal suo modesto ritiro, e percorse le vie del villaggio per chiamare alla chiesa i chierici e i laici. Con accenti misti a umiltà e a convinzione disse agli uditori che erano minacciati da un imminente pericolo: "I barbari sono molto vicini; chiudete le porte della città; mettetevi in stato di difesa e soprattutto pregate, fate penitenza". Il popolo non prestò ascolto alle ispirate parole dell'eremita. I sacerdoti stessi non si mostrarono disposti a prendere sul serio le proposte dello sconosciuto che si atteggiava a profeta.
In preda ad una giusta indignazione, Severino lasciò la chiesa, ritornò presso il suo ospite e gli predisse il giorno e l'ora del disastro. Poi, allontanandosi, dichiarò: "Per parte mia, abbandono questa città ostinata e votata ad una prossima distruzione". Si rifugiò nel borgo fortificato di Comagena (oggi Holembourg), non molto lontano da Astura, sul Danubio. La piccola guarnigione era impotente a difendere gli abitanti dalle scorrerie dei barbari. Anche qui Severino rinnovò a quanti trovò radunati in chiesa i suoi consigli e le sue predizioni. In principio nessuno gli volle dare ascolto, ma quando un vecchio di Astura, scampato all'eccidio, raccontò loro l'orribile disastro di cui era stato spettatore, e che non era stato evitato perché l'invito alla penitenza rivolto a tutti dal santo eremita era rimasto inascoltato, per tre giorni essi implorarono l'aiuto del cielo con preghiere, digiuni ed elemosine. I barbari posero t'assedio anche alla loro città, ma in capo al terzo giorno furono messi in rotta da un terremoto che gettò il panico nelle loro fila.
Da quel giorno Severino divenne l'apostolo del Norico, il benefattore dei poveri, il taumaturgo, il consigliere non solo dei romani, ma anche dei barbari che, soggiogati dalla sua santità, lo ascoltavano, ubbidivano e veneravano. Tuttavia, siccome non era sacerdote, con la sua attività suscitò invidie e gelosie tra il clero locale. Severino si recò allora a Favianis (oggi Mauer), sul Basso Danubio, dove la sua predicazione ebbe migliore accoglienza. Per le sue preghiere e penitenze la città fu liberata dalla fame e dalle minacce dei barbari. Bande di predoni un giorno apparvero a razziare sotto le sue mura. Severino andò dal capo della guarnigione, lo esortò alla fiducia in Dio e lo consigliò a cacciare risolutamente quei predoni. Nello stesso tempo gli ordinò: "Quando avrete sgominato i nemici, non uccideteli". I barbari, all'improvvisa sortita dei soldati da Flavianis, furono presi da sgomento e fuggirono alla rinfusa. Quelli che caddero prigionieri, furono condotti davanti a Severino il quale, dopo averli rimproverati per il loro brigantaggio, li fece rifocillare e rimandare ai loro paesi. Agli abitanti che avevano accolto i suoi inviti alla preghiera, al digiuno ed alla elemosina, egli diede quest'ultimo avviso: "La vostra città non soffrirà più razzie se, tanto nella buona quanto nella cattiva fortuna, osserverete fedelmente la legge di Dio e la pietà".
Dopo una breve parentesi di vita eremitica, verso il 456 Severino fondò nei dintorni di Flavianis un monastero, in cui ben presto fu raggiunto da numerosi discepoli desiderosi di condividere il suo genere di vita e di aiutarlo nell'apostolato.
Un altro monastero egli fondò a Boiotro, alla confluenza dell'Inn e del Danubio, di fronte a Passavia. Se avesse dato ascolto alle proprie inclinazioni, il santo avrebbe trascorso la vita in un deserto. Era invece volontà di Dio che non diventasse un puro contemplativo, ma un uomo di una prodigiosa attività a vantaggio del prossimo. Per umiltà e per conservare la sua libertà d'azione, non accettò mai l'ufficio episcopale. Formò i suoi discepoli più con l'esempio che con le parole. È appena concepibile l'austerità della vita che conduceva. Camminava scalzo anche d'inverno, e non faceva uso che di una tunica; dormiva disteso sul pavimento del suo oratorio; non rompeva mai il digiuno prima del tramonto del sole, se non in qualche determinata solennità; in quaresima non mangiava che una volta la settimana; per una speciale grazia talvolta prolungava il digiuno per diverse settimane.
La forma di preghiera allora più comune e più estesa presso gli asceti e i monaci era la salmodia. Severino l'incremento e la compi sempre solennemente insieme con i suoi discepoli e anche con il popolo che vi prendeva parte in chiesa in giorni ed ore determinate. Dio palesò con un prodigio quanto gradisse questa forma di preghiera. Eugippio testimonia che, essendosi il popolo di Iuvao (oggi Salzburg), radunato in Chiesa per il vespro e mancando il fuoco per accendere i lumi, Severino si mise in orazione e, miracolosamente, il lume che teneva in mano si accese.
Il Santo volle avere delle chiese ampie in cui celebrare con solennità i divini misteri. Per poterle fare consacrare e renderle atte ad essere officiate dal clero, si procurò delle reliquie in modi che hanno del prodigioso. Un giorno egli comandò ad uno schiavo da lui liberato, di attraversare il Danubio per ricercare sui mercati dei barbari un uomo ignoto, che lui, illuminato da grazia profetica, gli descrisse minutamente. Il liberto andò, trovò quell'uomo, e si senti dire da lui: "Credi che sia possibile trovare un uomo che mi conduca dall'uomo di Dio? È già da molto tempo che supplichevole interpello questi santi martiri dei quali porto le reliquie, affinchè una buona volta io indegno sia esonerato da tale compito, che fino ad ora, non per temeraria presunzione, ma per religiosa necessità ho sostenuto". Ciò udito, il liberto fece la sua presentazione, e, ricevute le reliquie dei Santi Gervasio e Protasio, le portò a Severino. Costui le ricevette con grande onore e le depose, con l'ufficio dei sacerdoti, nella basilica che aveva ricostruito nel monastero.
Quando occorsero reliquie di martiri per la nuova basilica di Boiotro, i sacerdoti si offrirono per andarne in cerca. Severino predisse loro che non si doveva intraprendere nessuna fatica perché sarebbero state portate spontaneamente al monastero le reliquie di S. Giovanni Battista. Scrive Eugippio: "Mentre il Santo a Flavianis leggeva il Vangelo, terminata la preghiera, si alzò e comandò che gli venisse subito preparata una barca. Ai circostanti stupiti disse: "Sia benedetto il nome del Signore; noi dobbiamo andare incontro alle reliquie dei beati martiri". Senza indugio, traversato il Danubio, trovarono un uomo seduto sulla riva opposta del fiume, che, con molte preghiere, li richiese di condurlo dal servo di Dio, dal quale, per la fama che si era divulgata, da lungo tempo già desiderava venire. Gli fu subito indicato Severino, a lui egli offerse le reliquie di S. Giovanni Battista, che per molto tempo aveva conservato presso di sé".
Per trent'anni il Santo lavorò con i suoi discepoli all'evangelizzazione del Norico, alla conversione dei barbari e al miglioramento dei costumi dei cristiani. Per scoprire quali tra i cittadini di Cucullis (oggi Kuchel) avevano preso parte a nefandi sacrifici, il Santo esortò i sacerdoti e i diaconi ad unirsi a lui per chiedere a Dio che manifestasse i sacrileghi. Il Signore intervenne con un miracolo. Difatti, la maggior parte dei ceri portati dai fedeli si accese repentinamente; i ceri invece di coloro che avevano partecipato al predetto sacrilegio, e che tuttavia negavano di avere fatto ciò, rimasero spenti. Il prodigio indusse coloro che avevano peccato al ravvedimento.
I grandi mezzi di cui si servi l'apostolo Severino nella sua opera missionaria, oltre alla preghiera, furono il digiuno e l'elemosina. Egli scrisse a Paolino, vescovo di Tigurnia, (oggi Peter in Holz), pregandolo di indire un digiuno di tre giorni per ovviare alla rovina di una futura calamità. Paolino ubbidì. Terminato il digiuno, una grande moltitudine di Alemanni seminò distruzione e morte ovunque, ma i castelli che si erano armati con "lo scudo del perseverante digiuno" non incorsero in nessun pericolo. Prima di sanare un infermo Severino indiceva, secondo la consuetudine, un digiuno di alcuni giorni. Prima di ottenere la guarigione di un lebbroso lo affidò, dopo aver indetto il digiuno di alcuni giorni, ai suoi monaci. Quando il medesimo lebbroso chiese di rimanere presso di lui, il Santo ricorse ancora al digiuno per sapere che cosa doveva fare. Per riscattare tre monaci dal potere del demonio, egli ricorse a quaranta giorni di asperrime penitenze. Ad uno dei confratelli di nome Orso, un giorno raccomandò improvvisamente di sventare una calamità futura con l'astinenza dai cibi. Al quarantesimo giorno di penitenza apparve sul braccio del digiunatore una mortifera pustola. Orso si recò dal Santo abate a mostrargli il suo male, e questi lo sanò con un segno di croce. Non si può dire però che a tutti garbassero simili austerità.
Un sacerdote, ripieno di spirito diabolico, un giorno gli gridò dietro: "Vattene, te ne prego, o santo, vattene in fretta, affinchè con la tua partenza possiamo almeno riposarci alquanto dai digiuni e dalla veglie".
Per i poveri Severino ebbe un cuore di padre. Per soccorrerli raccomandava a tutti l'elemosina. Agli abitanti di Lauriaco (oggi Lorch), e agli sfollati quivi convenuti dai castelli circostanti, raccomandò di essere generosi con i bisognosi. Il popolo metteva in pratica i suoi insegnamenti. Dei cittadini di Cucullis è detto che "non cessavano di fare elemosine". Il Santo stesso un giorno, a tutti i poveri della regione accorsi in una basilica, distribuì dell'olio dopo averli fatti pregare e meditare la Sacra Scrittura. Un certo Massimo, noricense, nel cuore dell'inverno partì per recarsi, in compagnia di altri, da Severino, con sulle spalle fagotti d'indumenti, frutto di una colletta fatta per i poveri e i prigionieri. L'elemosina era organizzata dal Santo nelle decime di cui sollecitava la raccolta mediante l'invio di lettere. Tale uso veniva scrupolosamente osservato. Ad una madre Severino restituì sano il figlio Rufo, malato da dodici anni, perché si era dichiarata disposta a fare elemosine in proporzione delle sue sostanze.
La fama dei prodigi, della santità e delle profezie di Severino lo faceva ricercare non soltanto dai cristiani, ma anche dai barbari residenti oltre il Danubio. I loro principi, ariani o ancora pagani, non rifuggivano dall’andargli a chiedere consigli per il governo dei loro sudditi. All’occorrenza, il Santo non temeva neppure di affrontarli per indurii a mitigare la loro durezza verso le città sottomesse e ottenere che rimettessero in libertà i prigionieri. Lo stesso Odoacre (+493), re degli Eruli, andò a trovarlo. Non è improbabile che, quando s'impadronì di Roma (476) e mandò l'imperatore Romolo Augustolo a morire in esilio, egli abbia risparmiato le istituzioni romane ricordandosi di Severino che gli aveva predetto la vittoria e aveva benedetto la sua giovinezza.
Fu quindi provvidenziale la permanenza di lui alle frontiere dell'impero. Anche se non riuscì a stabilire nel Nerico in forma durevole la vita monastica, ne la religione cattolica, con le sue predicazioni e la sua opera di persuasione, egli riuscì a rallentare le invasioni dei barbari sul suolo romano e ad addolcirne i costumi. Dopo la caduta dall'impero occidentale molti italiani giunsero nel Norico, tra cui un sacerdote chiamato Primenio che fu ospite di Severino. Ci fu allora chi ricorse alla mediazione di costui per conoscere qualcosa della giovinezza del Santo. Severino, però, si limitò a rispondergli: "Sappi solamente che Colui che ti ha fatto la grazia di essere sacerdote, mi ha ordinato di venire in soccorso di questi sventurati".
Il sacerdote Lucillo il giorno dell'Epifania andò ad annunciare ai Santo che il giorno dopo avrebbe celebrato l'anniversario del suo antico vescovo, S. Valentino, che aveva esercitato il ministero episcopale nella Rezia, nella prima metà del secolo V. Allora Severino gli disse: ''Se il Santo abate e vescovo Valentino ti ha designato per questo anniversario, io ti delego a mia volta per rendermi gli ultimi doveri. Questo avverrà nello stesso tempo. A partire da quel momento il Santo non pensò ad altro che a prepararsi alla morte. Predisse ai suoi discepoli che un giorno avrebbero dovuto abbandonare la regione e comandò loro di portare con sé le sue ossa.
L'8-1-482 il Santo raccomandò ai discepoli, che lo attorniavano per l'ultima volta, la penitenza e la pietà, quindi li baciò ad uno ad uno e ricevette la comunione. Poiché tutti piangevano, egli li riprese, li benedisse e ordinò loro di salmeggiare. L'afflizione impediva ad essi di cantare, Allora il morente stesso intonò il salmo: Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius, e spirò all'ultimo versetto che dice; "che ogni anima lodi il Signore"
Per le incursioni dei barbari, quando nel 488 Odoacre trasferì i popoli del Norico in Italia, i monaci portarono con sé il corpo del loro padre e maestro con avevano trovato incorrotto come il giorno della sepoltura. Al suo passaggio le popolazioni accorsero a venerarlo, cantando salmi e portando i loro malati, diversi dei quali guarirono. Con il permesso del Papa S. Gelasio ( + 496) il corpo di Severino fu traslato da Monte Feltre al Castrum Lucullanum, presso Napoli, per intervento di una nobile Signora, dove fu costruito in suo onore un monastero di cui Eugippio fu secondo abate. Nel 909, per sottrarlo alle profanazioni dei Saraceni che assalivano le coste dell'Italia meridionale, fu trasferito a Napoli all'abbazia benedettina alla quale fu dato il nome di San Severino.
Autore: Guido Pettinati
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/36600
Vie de Saint Séverin du Norique : http://orthodoxievco.net/ecrits/vies/severin.pdf
