Saint Serenus

This woman, stung by the Saint's remonstrances, withdrew covered in confusion and firmly resolved to take revenge; she therefore wrote to her husband, who was in the guar ds of Emperor Maxim ian, to complain to him of an alleged violence that Serenus had committed against her. The husband, having received this letter, went to find the emperor and asked him for justice for his outraged honor. 'Lord,' he said to him, 'while our lives are consumed in your service, our wives, separated from us, find themselves exposed to the insolence of a corrupter.' The prince gave him a rescript addressed to the governor of the province, who was enjoined to have all kinds of satisfaction given to this insulted husband. The husband left for Sirmium, presented the rescript to the governor, and begged him to avenge the outrage he had received in the person of his wife. 'Eh! Who is the insolent man,' said the governor, 'who dared to attempt the honor of a woman whose husband approaches the person of the emperor so closely?' — 'It is,' replied the officer, 'a miserable gardener named Serenus.' The governor sent for him immediately; and when he had arrived, he began by asking his name. 'My name is Serenus,' he replied. — THE GOVERNOR. 'What is your profession?' — SERENUS. 'I am a gardener.' — THE GOVERNOR. 'How did you have the audacity to insult the wife of an officer of such distinction?' — SERENUS. 'It has never happened to me to insult any woman.' — THE GOVERNOR. 'Let him be put to the question to make him confess the crime he committed in his garden.' — SERENUS. 'I remember that a lady came, some time ago, into my garden at an undue hour, with the intention, she said, of walking there. It is true that I took the liberty of pointing out to her that it was not decent for a person of her sex and quality to leave her home at such an hour.' This speech opened the husband's eyes to his wife's conduct; he left covered in confusion, without further pressing the governor to avenge him against a man whose innocence he saw.

However, the governor, struck by Serenus's response, saw that he was a good man; and considering, moreover, that far from being guilty, he had rebuked this woman with generous freedom, he suspected him of being a Christian. He therefore continued to question him to clarify this point. "Who are you," he said to him, "and what is your religion?" — "I am a Christian," replied Serenus without hesitating for a moment. — THE GOVERNOR. "Where have you been hiding, and how have you been able to exempt yourself from sacrificing to the gods?" — SERENUS. "It pleased the Lord to reserve me for this time. He seemed to have rejected me as a stone not very suitable for entering his edifice; but he has the kindness to take me back today to place me there. Furthermore, I am ready to suffer everything for his name, so that he may receive me into his kingdom with his Saints." — "Well then," the governor said to him in anger, "since you have wanted to elude the edicts of the emperors by flight and have hidden yourself so as not to sacrifice to the gods, as reparation for these crimes, you shall have your head cut off." Scarcely had this sentence been pronounced than the Saint was taken away and led to the place of execution, where he had his head cut off on February 23, 307.

The relics of Saint Serenus were some time later brought to Billom by Juvenal, Bishop of Auvergne. The place where they were first deposited was called Jardin-Saint-Cerneuf . Later , they were placed in the church of Notre-Dame: they perished due to the misfortunes of time. Nevertheless, the memory of Saint Serenus or Cerneuf, as they say in Auvergne, has remained famous in Billom. There was formerly, in this town, a collegiate church by the name of Saint-Cerneuf: it i s today the parish church.

Saint Serenus is invoked for fair weather. Is this a play on words, or is it in memory of his profession as a gardener for which he needed favorable weather? We prefer the latter explanation.

The ancient Martyrology attributed to Saint Jerome, an d published in Lucca by Florentinius, joins our Saint to sixty-two other Christians who suffered at Sirmium at different times; but the other Martyrologies, and especially the Roman one, count only fifty-two.

Taken from his sincere Acts, published by D. Ruinart .