Sabbas the Goth

Holy Martyr Sabbas the Goth, drowned in the river Buzau in Wallachia.

Sabbas was a Goth living in the lands north of the Danube who served as a reader in the Christian community there. When the Gothic chieftain Athanaric persecuted the Christians, Sabbas openly refused to eat food offered to idols and was arrested.

He was drowned in the river Buzau in 372, and the account of his martyrdom, written by the local Church, is one of the earliest records of Christianity in Romania.

Feast day

On the New Calendar, Sabbas the Goth is commemorated on April 12. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on April 25 of the civil calendar.

Also commemorated on April 12

• 

  Basil of Parion

  Hierarch, Βασίλειος

  Bishop Basil of Parion.

  Name days: Vasilis, Basil

• Anthusa of Constantinople

  Holy Woman, Ανθούσα

  Venerable Anthusa, daughter of the iconoclast emperor Constantine Copronymus, who became a nun.

  Name days: Anthousa, Anthusa, Anthoula

• Artemon of Laodicea

  Hierarch, Αρτέμων ο Ιερομάρτυς

  Hieromartyr Artemon, presbyter of Laodicea, who suffered under Diocletian.

  Name days: Artemon

• Akakios of Kavsokalyvia

  Venerable, Ακάκιος ο Καυσοκαλυβίτης

  Venerable Akakios the Younger of Kavsokalyvia on Mount Athos, guide of new martyrs.

• Menas, David and John

  Martyr, Μηνάς, Δαβίδ και Ιωάννης

  Holy Monk-Martyrs Menas, David and John of Palestine, slain by arrows.

• Neophytos the Recluse

  Venerable, Νεόφυτος ο Έγκλειστος

  Venerable Neophytos the Recluse of Cyprus, hermit and spiritual writer of the Enkleistra near Paphos.