Abdon (Abdo, or Abdus) and Sennen (Sennes, or Sennis)
Abdon (Abdo, Or Abdus) And Sennen (Sennes, Or Sennis)
are said to have suffered martyrdom under Decius. They were Persian princes who, because they had buried the bodies of martyrs, were brought in chains to Rome, and beheaded with some other martyrs, July 30, 250. Their bodies, having been concealed in the house of a subdeacon named Avirinus, were, the time of Constantine the Great, discovered, and were interred in the Pontian Cemetery, on the Porto road, ad Ursum Pileatum, which has since been called by their name. At a very early time a basilica was dedicated in their honor at which was renovated by pope Adrian I towards the end of the 8th century. The greater part of their relics is still at Rome, another part was brought to the monastery of the Benedictines at. Arles-sur-Tech, in the diocese of Perpignan, whose patrons the two martyrs were. The Roman Church commemorates them on the day of their martyrdom. According to some, their remains are said to have been transported to the Abbey of St. Medard at Soissons in 828, where they remained until it was destroyed by the Huguenots. St. Sennen in Cornwall is dedicated to their honor. See Baillet, Vies des Saints, 2, 46; Baitolini, Actes du Martyr de S. Agnes et abdon et Sennen (Paris, 1864). Chapeau, Vie des. BB. Martyrs A bd et Senn. (Perpignan, 1848 ); Tolrade Bordas, Histoire. du Martyre des. St. Abdone et Sennen (ibid. 1869); Wetzer u. Welte, Kirchen Lexikon (2d ed. Freiburg, 1880), s.v. (B. P.)
