Dec. 5 Friday of the First Week of Advent, Weekday
Today the Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Sabbas (439-532), an anchorite who dedicated his life to prayer and manual labor. He is pictured as an abbot with an apple, as he was once tempted to eat an apple outside of the prescribed mealtime, whereupon he vowed never to eat apples again. In Jerusalem he built a famous laura (as oriental monasteries are called), which bears his name. When the Arabs later conquered the Holy City, the monks fled to Rome, where they built a monastery and introduced the veneration of their saint. In the Eastern Church St. Sabbas ranks high in popular devotion; he is distinguished by the titles "God-bearer, the Saint, Citizen of the Holy City, Star of the Desert, Patriarch of Monks."
