Saint Sabina

Who was Saint Sabina?

Saint Sabina, matron and martyr from Rome. The widow of Senator Valentinus and daughter of Herod Metallarius. After her female slave Saint Serapia was denounced as a witch and beheaded, Sabina rescued her slave's remains and had them interred in the family mausoleum where she also expected to be buried. Denounced as a criminal, Sabina was condemned for her act of charity to her slave. She was accused of being a Christian by Elpidio the Perfect. She was thereupon martyred in the year 125 AD in the city of Vindena in the state of Umbria, Italy.

Sabina was later canonized as a saint, her feast day being celebrated on August 29. In 430 her relics were brought to the Aventine Hill, to a specially built basilica—the Santa Sabina—on the site of her house, originally situated near a temple of Juno. This house may also have formed an early Christian titular church. The church was initially dedicated to both Sabina and Serapia, though the dedication was later limited to Sabina.