Saint of the Day – 15 December – Saint Valerian of Abbenza (c377-c457) Confessor, the 2nd Bishop of Abbenza in North Africa. Born in c377 and died in c457 of exposure in the region of his Diocese. Additional Memorial – 28 November as one of the Martyrs of North Africa.
The Roman Martyrology this day states: “In Africa, the holy Bishop Valerian, who, being upwards of eighty years old, in the persecution of the Vandals, under the Arian King Genseric, was asked to deliver the Sacred vessels of the Church and, as he constantly refused, an order was issued to drive him, all alone, out of the City and all were forbidden to allow him to stay, either in their houses or on their land. For a long time, he remained lying on the public roads in the open air and thus, in the confession and defence of the Catholic verity, closed his blessed life.”
Valerian was a Roman Bishop of Abbenza, an ancient Episcopal Seat of the Roman Province of Proconsular Africa, identifiable today with the ruins of Bordj-Hamdouna, in the Archdiocese of Carthage, in northern Africa, who lived in the 5th Century.
In the list of Bishops of this Diocese, he is second on the list after Fortunatus.
He is remembered for having refused to obey Genseric, the King of the Vandals, who arrived with his troops in the City, to hand over all the Sacred vessels and furnishings of the Church to him.
Valerian protested against the violence of the soldiers and was driven out and exiled from his City together with eight other Bishops of North Africa – although they were not sent into exile together.
The order was given forbidding anyone to offer him hospitality of any kind. He had to live and sleep outdoors, on the public roads, until his death.
Valerian, remembered as a Confessor, remained faithful to his faith until his death. The name of Saint Valerian was included in the Roman Martyrology on his Feast Day, 15 December.
AnaStpaul 