Saints Severinus of Sanseverino (or ''of Septempeda'') (d. 550 AD) and Victorinus of Camerino (d. 543 AD) were brothers who were both

bishops A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and

hermits A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

of the 6th century.

Biography

According to an unreliable legend, the brothers were noblemen who had given away their great wealth to the poor and had become hermits at Monte Nero near

Septempeda Septempeda was a Roman town in Picenum, now in the Italian region Marche. It became today's San Severino Marche after the fall of the Roman Empire. Geography The original Roman town Septempeda is located in the province of Macerata. The town was ...

. Victorinus then withdrew to a cave near Pioraco. Victorinus was prone to strong temptations, and he inflicted upon himself a difficult and painful

penance Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of Repentance (theology), repentance for Christian views on sin, sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic Church, Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox s ...

: he had himself tied to a tree, with his hands clasped between two branches. Victorinus’ particular method of self-mortification was depicted on a small panel in the church of San Venanzio, in Camerino, by the artist Niccolò da Foligno (called l'Alunno), who created the piece between 1478–80. However, in 540

Pope Vigilius Pope Vigilius (died 7 June 555) was the bishop of Rome from 29 March 537 to his death. He is considered the first pope of the Byzantine papacy. Born into Roman aristocracy, Vigilius served as a deacon and papal ''apocrisiarius'' in Constantino ...

appointed them each as bishops of two separate sees: Severinus became bishop of what was then called ''Septempeda'', later called

San Severino Marche San Severino Marche is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about southwest of Macerata. History From prehistory to Roman age The oldest remains of human pre ...

after him, in the

Marches of Ancona Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

; Victorinus became

bishop of Camerino The Italian Archdiocese of Camerino-San Severino Marche ( la, Archidioecesis Camerinensis-Sancti Severini in Piceno) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory, seated in Camerino, a city in the Province of Macerata, in the central Italian March ...

. Severinus died in 545. His remains were hidden in the Cathedral of St. Maria in Septempeda to protect them from looting; found in 590 during the restoration of the cathedral, they were brought to Monte Nero.

Veneration

There is a church dedicated to San Vittorino in Pioraco. Their joint

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is June 8.''Martyrology of the Order of Preachers'', (W. R. Bonniwell, O.P., trans.) Westminster, Maryland. The Newman Press, p. 121
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Notes

Italian saints Bishops in le Marche Italian hermits 543 deaths 550 deaths Sibling duos Saints duos 6th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown 6th-century Italian bishops {{Italy-saint-stub