Administrator of Hermopolis in Egypt who hid during the Diocletian persecution but was betrayed, confessed Christ, and was drowned in the Nile (c. 287).
Feast Day
March 16
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Sabinas (also rendered Sabinus or Sabinos, and recorded under the alternate names Abibus and Phanas) was a Christian of Hermopolis in Egypt who was martyred during the persecution under the emperor Diocletian (reigned 284-305). The Orthodox synaxarion describes him as administrator of the city, while other accounts present him as a nobleman of a wealthy aristocratic family known for taking in Christians and assisting the poor.
Esteemed among the Christians of the region for his faith and charity, Sabinas withdrew into hiding with a group of companions when the persecution intensified. He was betrayed, arrested, brought before the authorities, tortured for refusing to renounce Christ, and drowned in the Nile around the year 287. He is commemorated on March 16.
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Betrayal and Martyrdom
According to the synaxarion, the governor Arrianos sought Sabinas's arrest because he was held in high honor by the Christians of the area and surpassed others in his zeal. To escape the persecution, Sabinas and a number of like-minded companions concealed themselves away from the city. His hiding place was disclosed by a beggar whom he had regularly fed and supported with money; the man betrayed him for two pieces of gold. Some accounts describe the informant as a beggar, others as a physician.
Sabinas was seized together with six other Christians and brought before the governor at Antinoopolis. There he confessed his faith in Christ and was condemned to torture. The tradition relates that he endured severe torments before being drowned in the Nile, dying in the year 287.
Veneration
Sabinas is commemorated in the Greek Orthodox Church on March 16, where he is given a full office. Because he belongs to the undivided Church of the third century, his memory is also kept in other traditions: he is observed by the Roman Catholic Church on March 13 and, under his Egyptian veneration, by the Coptic Church on February 20.
