Serenicus and Serenus

The Holy Venerable Serenicus and Serenus were two brothers of a noble family of Spoleto in Umbria, monks and later hermits near the River Sarthe in France. Serenicus reposed around 669. They are commemorated together on 7 May, and locally Serenicus is also kept on 16 August.

Serenicus was born around 620. In 649, in the reign of the Merovingian king Clovis II, he came with his brother to the province of Maine to live a life of contemplation and penance. At first they lived as hermits near Saulges in the diocese of Le Mans. Serenicus then moved to a village in Orne on the Sarthe, accepted a few disciples and built a church dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours and a monastery; the church was completed by Bishop Milehard of Sées. Serenus remained a hermit to the end of his life, while Serenicus became abbot of a monastery of about one hundred and forty monks. The village later took the name Saint-⁠Céneri-⁠le-⁠Gérei.

It is told that after a long journey Serenicus prayed for water to quench his thirst, and a spring burst forth near the bank of the Sarthe; its water is believed to cure eye troubles. He is invoked against skin diseases, colic and infertility.