Sabas the Younger, St.
SABAS THE YOUNGER, ST.
Ascetic; b. Collesano, Sicily; d. Monastery of San Cesario, Rome, Feb. 6, 990. He entered monastic life at the Monastery of St. Philip of Agira, where he had been preceded by his father, Christopher. His mother Callí founded a monastery for women. The continuing advance of the Arabs into eastern Sicily and the famine of 940–941 obliged him to seek refuge in Calabria. At first, he stayed with relatives in Caronia; later, accompanied by his brother, Macarius the Younger, also a famous ascetic, he visited northern Calabria and Lucania. He traveled through the areas near the monastic eparchies of Mercurion and Latinianon, and near Lagonegro and Salerno, erecting small churches and monasteries. After a pilgrimage to Rome, he lived for a short while as a hermit in a cave near Amalfi. Sabas the Younger intervened to free the son of John, prince of Salerno, and the son of Mansone III, duke of Amalfi, who were being held as hostages at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor otto ii.
Feast: Feb. 5.
Bibliography: g. cozza-luzi, Historia et laudes SS. Sabae et Macarii (Rome 1893). j. gay, L'Italie méridionale et l'Empire byzantin depuis l'avènement de Basile Ie … (867–1071 ) (Paris 1904) 262, 264–266, 378–380. g. da costa-louillet, "Saints de Sicile et d'Italie méridionale aux VIIIe, IXe, et Xe siècles," Byzantion 29–30 (1959–60) 130–139.
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