Sabinus was a friend of
Saint Benedict, whom he visited at
Montecassino and to whom, as recorded by
Gregory the Great, he once expressed his preoccupations on the incursions of the
Ostrogoth King
Totila into the Italian peninsula. According to the hagiographic legend, he succeeded in saving
Canosa di Puglia from the threat of the latter. There is a story that in 548 Totila wanted to test the prophetic gifts of Sabinus, who was by then old and blind. The king, pretending to be a servant, offered him a goblet of wine, but Sabinus was not deceived and thanked him by name, which impressed Totila so much that he renounced his pillaging. Another legend of Sabinus relates that a jealous
archdeacon tried to poison him. Sabinus drank the poison but did not die; but the archdeacon did. For this reason he appeared in the liturgy as a protector against poisons. His relics were translated to the present
Canosa Cathedral on 1 August in an unknown year of the 8th century by bishop Pietro. After the destruction of the town by the Saracens, the relics were rescued from the ruins by
Saint Angelarius in 844 and taken to
Bari Cathedral. Saint Sabinus is venerated in
Canosa and
Bari, in both of which places the cathedrals are dedicated to him, in
Torremaggiore and
Furci. The only church in the
United Kingdom dedicated to him is the
Church of St Sabinus in
Woolacombe in
Devon.
Feast days •
Canosa di Puglia, 9 February: death of Saint Sabinus •
Torremaggiore, the first Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in June:
Festa Patronale • Canosa di Puglia, 31 July to 2 August: Festa Patronale ==References==