St. Cerneuf
Serenus the Gardener
Also known as Cerneuf, Sirenus of Billom
Feast day: February 23
Born in Greece
Died February 23, 303.
Serenus, the Gardener, also known as Cerneuf, according to his probably fictious legend, was born in Greece. He imigrated to Sirmium (Metrovica, Yugoslavia), and was known for his gardening. He went into hiding for a time to escape a persecution of Christians that had just begun, and on his return, rebuked a lady for walking in his garden at an unseemly time. She reported to her husband that he had insulted her, and the husband, a member of the imperial guards, reported the matter to Emperor Maximian. Upon orders from the Emperor the governor investigated the matter, found Serenus innocent of insulting the woman, but while examining him, found that he was a Christian. When Serenus refused to sacrifice to pagan gods, he was beheaded
The garden represents the continual progress of the Christian on the path of virtue. Plants reach upwards and continue growing until they reach the maturity that God has prescribed for them. All the nourishment they are given should be used to this end, any superfluous growth is a waste and a kind of disease.
So it is for Christians. Everything should carry us toward the perfection that God has ordained for us, the reason for which He made each individual. Every desire of our souls, every action should be a step toward God. When all our energies are directed toward God, we can make great progress.
The saints possessed heroic virtue because all their actions were regulated by the yearning for perfection: their meals, their studies, their conversations and visits, their business and toil. Every action had the love of God as the motive and the accomplishment of His will their only ambition. Our desire for God and tender affection for others in His name allow all our actions to be consecrated to God. A virtuous life is the sweetest, most beautiful flower we can offer to our Lord.
According to his probably fictitious legend, Saint Serenus left his home and friends in Greece to serve God in an ascetic life of celibacy, penance, and prayer. He went to Sirmium in Pannonia (Mitrovica, Yugoslavia), where he bought a garden to cultivate with his own hands. He lived on the fruits and herbs it produced.
When the persecution of Christians began in the area, Serenus hid himself for some months but later returned to his garden. One day a woman and her two daughters took a walk through his garden. When asked what she wanted, the lady replied that she particularly liked visiting it. Thinking that she was up to mischief because the Romans normally rested during this noon hour, he asked her to leave and return at a more proper time.
She took affront and wrote about it to her husband, a guard in the legion of Emperor Maximian. The husband went to the emperor to demand justice, saying, "While we are waiting on your majesty's person, our wives in distant countries are insulted." The emperor gave him a letter to take to the governor of Pannonia to enable him to obtain satisfaction and he set off for Sirmium.
Upon receiving it the governor had Serenus brought before him and questioned about the insult to the wife of an officer. Serenus could remember no insult, then he recalled the woman, "I remember that, some time ago, a lady came into my garden at an unseasonable hour, with a design, as she said, to take a walk: and I own I took the liberty to tell her it was against decency for one of her sex and quality to be abroad at such an hour."
This caused the officer to blush at his wife's action, which was too plain an indication of her wicked purpose, and he dropped his accusation against Serenus. But the governor, understanding by this answer that Serenus was a man of virtue, suspected that he might be a Christian and therefore continued to question him. Serenus admitted that he was a Christian.
"Where have you concealed yourself? And how have you avoided sacrificing to the gods?" Serenus replied, "It has pleased God to reserve me for this present time. It seemed awhile ago as if he rejected me as a stone unfit to enter his building, but he has the goodness to take me now to be placed in it; I am ready to suffer all things for his name, that I may have a part in his kingdom with his saints." For this, Serenus was sentenced to beheading.
Serenus the Gardener
Also known as Cerneuf, Sirenus of Billom
Feast day: February 23
Born in Greece
Died February 23, 303.
Serenus, the Gardener, also known as Cerneuf, according to his probably fictious legend, was born in Greece. He imigrated to Sirmium (Metrovica, Yugoslavia), and was known for his gardening. He went into hiding for a time to escape a persecution of Christians that had just begun, and on his return, rebuked a lady for walking in his garden at an unseemly time. She reported to her husband that he had insulted her, and the husband, a member of the imperial guards, reported the matter to Emperor Maximian. Upon orders from the Emperor the governor investigated the matter, found Serenus innocent of insulting the woman, but while examining him, found that he was a Christian. When Serenus refused to sacrifice to pagan gods, he was beheaded
The garden represents the continual progress of the Christian on the path of virtue. Plants reach upwards and continue growing until they reach the maturity that God has prescribed for them. All the nourishment they are given should be used to this end, any superfluous growth is a waste and a kind of disease.
So it is for Christians. Everything should carry us toward the perfection that God has ordained for us, the reason for which He made each individual. Every desire of our souls, every action should be a step toward God. When all our energies are directed toward God, we can make great progress.
The saints possessed heroic virtue because all their actions were regulated by the yearning for perfection: their meals, their studies, their conversations and visits, their business and toil. Every action had the love of God as the motive and the accomplishment of His will their only ambition. Our desire for God and tender affection for others in His name allow all our actions to be consecrated to God. A virtuous life is the sweetest, most beautiful flower we can offer to our Lord.
According to his probably fictitious legend, Saint Serenus left his home and friends in Greece to serve God in an ascetic life of celibacy, penance, and prayer. He went to Sirmium in Pannonia (Mitrovica, Yugoslavia), where he bought a garden to cultivate with his own hands. He lived on the fruits and herbs it produced.
When the persecution of Christians began in the area, Serenus hid himself for some months but later returned to his garden. One day a woman and her two daughters took a walk through his garden. When asked what she wanted, the lady replied that she particularly liked visiting it. Thinking that she was up to mischief because the Romans normally rested during this noon hour, he asked her to leave and return at a more proper time.
She took affront and wrote about it to her husband, a guard in the legion of Emperor Maximian. The husband went to the emperor to demand justice, saying, "While we are waiting on your majesty's person, our wives in distant countries are insulted." The emperor gave him a letter to take to the governor of Pannonia to enable him to obtain satisfaction and he set off for Sirmium.
Upon receiving it the governor had Serenus brought before him and questioned about the insult to the wife of an officer. Serenus could remember no insult, then he recalled the woman, "I remember that, some time ago, a lady came into my garden at an unseasonable hour, with a design, as she said, to take a walk: and I own I took the liberty to tell her it was against decency for one of her sex and quality to be abroad at such an hour."
This caused the officer to blush at his wife's action, which was too plain an indication of her wicked purpose, and he dropped his accusation against Serenus. But the governor, understanding by this answer that Serenus was a man of virtue, suspected that he might be a Christian and therefore continued to question him. Serenus admitted that he was a Christian.
"Where have you concealed yourself? And how have you avoided sacrificing to the gods?" Serenus replied, "It has pleased God to reserve me for this present time. It seemed awhile ago as if he rejected me as a stone unfit to enter his building, but he has the goodness to take me now to be placed in it; I am ready to suffer all things for his name, that I may have a part in his kingdom with his saints." For this, Serenus was sentenced to beheading.
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