Saint Severinus of Noricum

Nothing certain is known of Severinus's birth; he never spoke of it, though his Latin suggested a Roman of good family. Around 454, after the death of Attila, he appeared in Noricum, a Roman province along the Danube in present-day Austria, at a time when the region was overrun by Germanic tribes and imperial rule was falling apart.

He lived as a poor monk, fasting and praying, yet he organized relief for starving towns, ransomed captives, gave wise counsel to Roman citizens and barbarian kings alike, and founded monasteries, the chief one at Favianis (today Mautern). He died there on January 8, 482. His disciple Eugippius wrote his Life, one of the best sources for the end of Roman rule in central Europe.

He is honored as the apostle of Austria and a patron of Bavaria, and churches dedicated to him stand along the Danube. His relics were later taken to Naples, where a church and a famous monastery bore his name. The Roman Martyrology commemorates him on January 8; this is not a memorial in the US calendar.