Saint Severian or Severianus (died in late 452 or early 453; officially on 21 February 453) was bishop of
Scythopolis in
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
.
He was martyred and is considered a saint.
His feast day is 21 February.
Life
Scythopolis was made the capital of the new province of ''
Palaestina Secunda
Palaestina Secunda or Palaestina II was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 390, until its conquest by the Muslim armies in 634–636. Palaestina Secunda, a part of the Diocese of the East, roughly comprised inland Galilee, the Jezreel Valley ...
'' around 400 by the emperor
Theodosius II
Theodosius II ( ; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450), called "the Calligraphy, Calligrapher", was Roman emperor from 402 to 450. He was proclaimed ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' as an infant and ruled as the Eastern Empire's sole emperor after the ...
.
The relationship between the bishop of Scythopolis and the
metropolitan of Caesarea was not well defined.
Severianus was appointed bishop of Scythopolis, metropolitan of the province of
Palestine II.
His name is among the signatories to the
Definition of Faith of the
Council of Chalcedon
The Council of Chalcedon (; ) was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bithynia (modern-day Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey) from 8 Oct ...
(451), but he probably was not present at the council.
Severianus was killed because he had implemented the Chalcedonian faith among the Christians of Palestine.
He was murdered during the unrest caused by the Definition, which stated that the divinity and humanity of Christ were
two distinct but inseparable natures, contradicting the
archimandrite
The title archimandrite (; ), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', , present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots and monaste ...
Eutyches
Eutyches (; c. 375–454) or Eutyches of Constantinople .
Butler's account
The hagiographer
Alban Butler
Alban Butler (13 October 171015 May 1773) was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiography, hagiographer. Born in Northamptonshire, he studied at the English College, in Douai, Douay, France where he later taught philosophy and theology. He s ...
wrote in the ''Lives of the fathers, martyrs, and other principal saints'' (1821),
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Severianus
5th-century Byzantine bishops
453 deaths
5th-century Christian martyrs
Palestinian bishops
Bishops of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem
Ancient Roman murder victims
Ancient Christians involved in controversies