Serenus of Marseilles

Saint Serenus was bishop of Marseilles from about 595 to 601, to whom Pope Gregory I sent four letters. He died in 601 at Biandrate. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and commemorated on 2 August.

No reports of his life have survived, but the four letters sent to him by Pope Gregory I remain. From the letters it appears that Serenus saw in the cathedral of Marseilles people giving worship to the images of the church and broke them. Serenus was also troubled by the large number of merchants from the East, who often visited the port of Marseilles.

In his letters, Saint Gregory reminded Serenus that images cannot always be regarded as objects of adoration: looking at them, a person gives honor to the one whose likeness is painted. Icons are also a means of instruction for unlearned people. Repenting, Serenus set out on a journey to Rome and, reconciled with Pope Gregory, on the way back to Marseilles died at Biandrate, where his body was found in the early Middle Ages.

Saint Serenus was also venerated by Eugène de Mazenod, bishop of Marseilles, who in 1839 came to Biandrate to venerate the remains of his predecessor and to urge the archbishop of Vercelli, Alexander d'Angennes, to give a part of the relics.