St. Lupus from Novae (Sfântul Lup in Romanian) is a Dacian or Roman saint who was for a while the servant of St. Demetrius from

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. He is celebrated on August 23. Lupus lived in

Novae A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

, a Roman fortress in the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

valley, today the Bulgarian town

Svishtov Svishtov ( bg, Свищов ) is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svishtov Municipalit ...

. He was contemporary with Roman Christian martyrs Montanus and Anastasia from Sirmium

Life

St. Lupus lived at the end of the 3rd century and beginning of the 4th century, and was a faithful servant of the holy Great Martyr

Demetrius of Thessaloniki Saint Demetrius (or Demetrios) of Thessalonica ( el, Ἅγιος Δημήτριος τῆς Θεσσαλονίκης, (); bg, Димитър Солунски (); mk, Свети Димитрија Солунски (); ro, Sfântul Dumitru; sr ...

(October 26). Lupus was present at the death of his master, and he soaked his own clothing with his blood and took a ring from his hand. With these objects St Lupus worked many miracles at Thessaloniki. He attacked pagan idols, for which he was subjected to persecution by the pagans, but he was preserved unharmed by the power of God. St Lupus voluntarily delivered himself into the hands of the torturers, and by order of the Emperor

Galerius Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus (; 258 – May 311) was Roman emperor from 305 to 311. During his reign he campaigned, aided by Diocletian, against the Sasanian Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 299. He also campaigned across the D ...

, he was beheaded by the sword on August 23, shortly after St. Demetrius death (probably in 307).

Novae

The old legion fortress of Novae turned into a Roman-Byzantine town in the 5th – 6th century . The ruins of the Bishop's complex date back to those times. The ruins consist of a large basilica, residential houses with impressive baths, and a large building, which was designated for receiving the pilgrims to the local martyr St. Lupus. A baptistery impressive with its architecture was found west from the basilica entrance. It was an extension to the church in which Christianization was performed. Peter, the brother of the Emperor

Mauricius Maurice is a traditionally masculine given name, also used as a surname. It originates as a French name derived from the Latin Mauritius or Mauricius and was subsequently used in other languages. Its popularity is due to Mauritius, a saint of the ...

(582-602) passed with his army through Novae at the end of the 6th century during his campaign in Dacian territories. A chronicle described the visit of Peter and the celebrations of St. Lupus day in Novae.Teofilact Simocatta, în Historiae, VII, 2, 17, ed. Boor, Leipzig, 1887, p. 249.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lupus of Novae 4th-century Christian martyrs People executed by decapitation