Saint of the Day – 5 February – Saint Genuinus of Sabion (Died c605) Bishop

Saint of the Day – 5 February – Saint Genuinus of Sabion (Died c605) Bishop , Miracle-worker. Born in the 6th Century probably in Rome and died in c605 in Sabiona, Italy of natural causes. Patronages – of the Mines and of Miners, the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone, Italy, the City and Diocese of Brixen, Italy. Also known as – Genuino, Ingenium, Ingenuin, Ingenuino, Ingenuinus, Ingwin, Jenewein. Additional Memorial – 13 May (translation of Relics).

Genuinus was the Bishop of Sabion in South Tyrol, a small Town which has since disappeared, the area being incorporated into a larger City – Brixen. It was located at Klausen near present-day Bressanone (then Brixen)in northern Italy. At the time, the Diocese belonged to the Archdiocese of Aquileia and only in 798 was it transferred to Salzburg.

Genuinus attended the synod of Marano in 588.

Genuinus died around 605. At the beginning of the 6th Century, South Tyrol suffered greatly from attacks by Lombards and Bajuvars and, therefore, some assume that he died as a Martyr, while others seem to think that he died in exile.

In 1141, the blessed Bishop Hartmann of Brixen (1090-1164) transferred his Relics to the High Altar of the Cathedral of Brixen together with the Relics of one of his successors, Saint Albinus (Died 1005), who was Bishop of Brixen. They are both remembered today, 5 February. A translation festival is also celebrated in Brixen on 13 May. St Genuinus is portrayed as a Bishop, most often together with his successor, St Albinus. Even the Roman Martyrology links them in one sentence: “At Brixen, the Bishops Genuinus and Albinus, whose lives were illustrious for holiness and miracles.”