Catholic - Universal Church ST. SEVERIAN - 22FEB (5th century - c.452) Bishop and martyr.

The bishop of Scythopolis in Galilee. He attended the Council of Chalcedon (451) and took part in the complete triumph of the orthodox Christian cause against the heretics of the era. On his return home he was assassinated by a group of heretics at the command of Emperor Theodosius II. During the reign of Marcian and Saint Pulcheria in the Eastern Empire, the ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, which condemned the Eutychian heresy of oriental origin, was approved by Saint Euthymius, an abbot of great authority in Palestine, and by mostof the monks of that country. But an ignorant Eutychian monk by the name of Theodosius, a man oftyrannical temper, unjustly usurped the see of Jerusalem, forcing its bishop to withdraw. Hewas acting under the protection of the Empress Eudoxia, widow ofTheodosius the Younger, who was living in that city. He perverted many of the monks, andin a cruel persecution which he raised, filled Jerusalem with blood;then, at the head of a band of soldiers, he wrought havoc all over the land. Many Christians, however, had the courage to stand their ground against his persecution. No one resisted him with greater zeal and resolution than Saint Severianus, the courageous bishop of Scythopolis, and his reward was the crown of martyrdom, for the furious soldiers seized him, dragged him out of the city and massacred him,towards the end of the year 452 or in the beginning of the year 453. SOURCE: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2517 http://www.magnificat.ca/cal/engl/02-21.htm—