Savinianus of Troyes

Saint Savinianus was a martyr of Troyes, in Gaul, in the third century. Born a pagan and brought to the Christian faith, he was beheaded around the year 275, in the time of the emperor Aurelian, at Rilly-⁠Sainte-⁠Syre near Troyes. The Catholic Church commemorates him on 29 January.

According to the Greek sources, Savinianus was born on the island of Samos. Disgusted by the corruption of the pagan world, he travelled far, as far as Gaul. There he met Saint Patroclus of Troyes, who baptized him. According to tradition, when Patroclus died, around the year 259, Savinianus took his place in the work of teaching and baptizing in the region of the upper Seine. For this reason he is regarded as an apostle and enlightener of Troyes.

The persecution under Aurelian reached him too. He was beheaded at Rilly, near Troyes. In Western art he is shown with a sword pierced through his neck.

The legend tells that Saint Fiacre's sister Syra, who came to join him in France and became a nun, was blind. Through the prayers of her brother she was shown the place where the body of Savinianus lay. She threw herself down there, prayed with tears and would not rise from the ground until her petition was heard, and her sight was miraculously restored.