Saint Severin of Cologne ( la, Severinus) was the third

Bishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Palati ...

, living in the later 4th century.

Life

Severin is said in 376 to have founded a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

in the then

Colonia Agrippina Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium was the Roman colony in the Rhineland from which the city of Cologne, now in Germany, developed. It was usually called ''Colonia'' (colony) and was the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and t ...

in honour of the martyrs Saints Cornelius and

Cyprian Cyprian (; la, Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus; 210 – 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Chri ...

, from which developed the later

Basilica of St. Severin The Basilica of St. Severin (german: Basilika St. Severin, , ) is an early Romanesque basilica church located in the Südstadt of Cologne (Köln). The former collegiate church is dedicated to St. Severin of Cologne. It is one of the twelve Romane ...

. Severin is notable as a prominent opponent of

Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...

. According to legend, Severinus was taking a walk in a field while still a priest when he heard a voice tell him he would one day be bishop of Cologne. When he asked when that would happen, he was told when his staff buds and flowers. Immediately, he stuck his staff into the ground, it budded and he was called to Cologne.

Alban Butler Alban Butler (13 October 171015 May 1773) was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiographer. Biography Alban Butler was born in 1710, at Appletree, Aston le Walls, Northamptonshire, the second son of Simon Butler, Esq. His father died when ...

; Kathleen Jones, ed, ''Butler's Lives of the Saints: New Full Edition (December)'' (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 2000), p. 156.

Veneration

Severin was highly venerated in Cologne early on. His bones are today preserved in a gold shrine in the choir of St Severin's Church in Cologne. That seen today is a reconstruction of 1819, as the medieval shrine was melted down for the gold in the period of French rule, c. 1795–98.Schäfer, Joachim. "Severin von Köln", Ökumenischen Heiligenlexikon, March 30, 2018
/ref> Its opening in 1999 corroborated the documented transfer of the bones of bishop Wigfried of Cologne (924–953), as it was possible to date the old inner wooden shrine by the latest

dendrochronological Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

techniques to the year 948. An ancient cloth, probably

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, was also discovered, with which the wooden box was lined. The saint's feast day is 23 October.

As a name

The Scandinavian name "

Søren Søren (, ) or Sören (, ) is a Scandinavian given name that is sometimes Anglicisation, Anglicized as Soren. The name is derived from that of the 4th-century Christian saint Severin of Cologne,Portal Rheinische Geschichte"Severin (circa 330-400), ...

" is derived from Saint Severin.

References

External links

The wooden shrine of Saint Severin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Severin Of Cologne 403 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Cologne 4th-century bishops in Germania Saints of Germania 4th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown

Life

Veneration

As a name

See also

References

External links