View source for Nabor and Felix

{{Infobox saint
|name=Saints Nabor and Felix 
|birth_date=3rd century
|death_date=c. 303
|feast_day=July 12 
|venerated_in=[[Roman Catholic Church]]<br>[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
|image=OrazioSamacchini-1.jpg 
|imagesize=250px
|caption=''Saints Nabor and Felix'' (foreground), with the [[Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)|Virgin Mary]], [[Francis of Assisi|Saint Francis]], [[Claire of Assisi|Saint Claire]], [[John the Baptist|Saint John the Baptist]], [[Mary Magdalene|Saint Mary Magdalene]], and [[Catherine of Alexandria|Saint Catherine]]. <small>[[Orazio Samacchini]], ca. 1570.</small> 
|birth_place=[[Mauretania Caesariensis]] (modern-day [[Algeria]]) 
|death_place=[[Laus Pompeia]], [[Italy]]
|titles=Martyrs 
|beatified_date=  
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=two young men in military attire; [[Palm tree|palm]]s 
|patronage=
|major_shrine=[[Milan]], [[Italy]] 
|suppressed_date= 
|issues= 
}}

'''Nabor''' and '''Felix''' ({{abbr|d.|died}} {{circa|lk=no|AD&nbsp;303}}) were [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Christian martyrdom|martyr]]s thought to have been killed during the [[Great Persecution]] under the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[list of Roman emperors|emperor]] [[Diocletian]]. A tomb in [[Milan]] is believed to contain their [[relics]].

==Legend==
In the [[apocrypha]]l ''"Acts of Saints Nabor and Felix"'' (which are imitated from the Acts of other martyrs (such as those of [[Saint Firmus and Saint Rusticus]]), the two are said to have been [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[soldiers]] from [[Mauretania Caesariensis]] serving under [[Maximian]]. They were condemned in [[Milan]] and executed by [[decapitation]] in [[Laus Pompeia]] (Lodi Vecchio).

A pair of saints "Nabor and Felix" were also said to have been martyred at [[Nicopolis (Armenia)|Nicopolis]] in [[Lesser Armenia]] in AD&nbsp;320 alongside SS&nbsp;"Januarius and Marinus". They may be distinct or may have been a merging of the story of the Italian saints with the local couple [[Januarius and Pelagia]].{{sfnp|Bunson & al.|2003|loc="[https://books.google.com/books?id=l-pwoTFp31kC&pg=PA425 Januarius, Marinus, Nabor, and Felix]"}}{{refn|group=n|Marinus being the male form of the Greek name Pelagios and gender bending being a common theme among the many saints conflated with [[St Pelagia the Harlot]].}} The feast day of Januarius and Pelagia was observed on July 11{{sfnp|Bunson & al.|2003|loc="[https://books.google.com/books?id=l-pwoTFp31kC&pg=PA425 Januarius and Pelagia]"}} and that of the quartet on July 10.{{sfnp|Bunson & al.|2003|loc="[https://books.google.com/books?id=l-pwoTFp31kC&pg=PA425 Januarius, Marinus, Nabor, and Felix]"}}

==Veneration==
In early 4th-century, their relics were [[translation (relics)|translated]], probably by the Bishop of Milan [[Maternus (bishop of Milan)|Maternus]] from their place of interment to a place outside the walls of Milan, placed a few hundred meters north of the present [[Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio]]. A church (Basilica Naboriana) was built over their new tomb, as recorded by Paulinus of Milan in his life of Saint Ambrose. Tradition states that [[Savina of Milan]] died while praying at the tomb of Nabor and Felix. [[Saint Ambrose]] wrote a hymn about them.

When Emperor [[Frederick Barbarossa]] captured [[Milan]] in 1158, he gave some of the relics of Saints Felix and Nabor to [[Rainald of Dassel]], [[archbishop of Cologne]], who brought them to his [[episcopal see]].<ref>The relics of [[Gregory of Spoleto|Saint Gregory of Spoleto]] were also brought there at the same time.</ref> The relics associated with Felix and Nabor are situated in a chapel in [[Cologne Cathedral]].<ref>[http://www.catholicculture.org/lit/calendar/day.cfm?date=2006-07-12 Catholic Culture : Missing Page Redirect<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061015040747/http://www.catholicculture.org/lit/calendar/day.cfm?date=2006-07-12 |date=2006-10-15 }}</ref> Nabor and Felix are depicted on the 1181 ''"[[Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne Cathedral|Shrine of the Three Kings]]"'' by [[Nicholas of Verdun]] in Cologne Cathedral.<ref>Rosa Giorgi, "Saints: A Year in Faith and Art" (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2006).</ref>

In 1258 their relics were moved to the church of Saint Francis of Assisi that was erected in place of the Basilica Naboriana. On 14-16 April 1798, shortly before the demolition of the church of Saint Francis of Assisi, their relics were translated in the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio. Their relics are placed today in an ancient [[sarcophagus]] in the right nave of [[Sant'Ambrogio (Milan)|Sant'Ambrogio Basilica]] along with the relics of Saint [[Maternus (bishop of Milan)|Maternus]] and of [[Valeria of Milan|Saint Valeria]].<ref name="DCA">{{cite encyclopedia| encyclopedia =Dizionario della Chiesa Ambrosiana| volume=4|last = Pasini| first = Cesare| title = Materno di Milano, santo (sec. IV) | publisher = NED | location = Milano | year = 1990 | isbn = 88-7023-102-X |page=2112&ndash;2114}}{{in lang|it}}</ref>

===Feast day===
The [[Roman Catholic Church]] recognizes Nabor and Felix as [[Christian martyrs|martyr]] [[saint]]s, inserting them, under the date of 12 July, in the [[Roman Martyrology]], its official list of saints.<ref>"Martyrologium Romanum" (Libreria Vaticana 2001 {{ISBN|88-209-7210-7}})</ref> They were also included in the [[General Roman Calendar]] from before the 12th century.<ref>"Calendarium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 129</ref> with a feast day that was reduced to a [[Commemoration (liturgy)|commemoration]] when Saint [[John Gualbert]] was added to the calendar in 1595. The [[Mysterii Paschalis|1969 revision]] removed mention of Nabor and Felix from the General Roman Calendar, but the rules in the [[Roman Missal]] published in the same year authorizes celebration of their Mass on their [[Feast Day|feast day]] everywhere, unless in some locality an obligatory celebration is assigned to that day.<ref>[http://www.acbc.catholic.org.au/documents/200707031933.pdf General Instruction of the Roman Missal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720091216/http://www.acbc.catholic.org.au/documents/200707031933.pdf |date=2008-07-20 }}, 355 c</ref>

===Desventuradas Islands===
The [[Desventuradas Islands]], San Félix and San Ambrosio, were sighted by [[Juan Fernández (explorer)|Juan Fernández]] in 1574. [[Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa]] wrote in 1579 that "they are now called after St Felix and St Ambor (i.e. [[Felix and Nabor]])." Due to linguistic corruption, the name Ambor (Nabor) became confused with that of the more famous [[Bishop of Milan]] [[Saint Ambrose]] (San Ambrosio).<ref>B. Glanvill Corney, "The Isles of San Felix and San Nabor," The Geographical Journal, Vol. 56, No. 3 (September 1920), pp. 196-200</ref>

==See also==
* [[St Felix (disambiguation)|Other saints Felix]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=n}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}
===Bibliography===
*{{Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=Sts. Nabor and Felix|volume=10}}
* {{citation |title=Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints, ''Rev. ed.'' |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l-pwoTFp31kC |isbn=1-931709-75-0 |date=2003 |publisher=Our Sunday Visitor |location=[[Huntington, Indiana|Huntington]] |last=Bunson |first=Matthew |author2-last=Bunson |author2-first=Margaret |author3-last=Bunson |author3-first=Stephen |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Bunson & al.|2003}} |page=425 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001033216/https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=l-pwoTFp31kC |archivedate=2015-10-01 }}.

==External links==
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10666b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: ''Sts. Felix and Nabor'']
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061015040747/http://www.catholicculture.org/lit/calendar/day.cfm?date=2006-07-12 Catholic Culture: ''Felix and Nabor'']
*[http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0712.shtml#nabo Saint of the Day, July 12: Felix and Nabor] at ''SaintPatrickDC.org''
*[http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/62000 ''San Nabore''] {{in lang|it}}

[[Category:3rd-century births|Felix and Nabor]]
[[Category:303 deaths|Felix and Nabor]]
[[Category:Saints duos|Felix and Nabor]]
[[Category:4th-century Christian martyrs]]
[[Category:4th-century Romans]]
[[Category:Legendary Romans]]
[[Category:Saints from Mauretania Caesariensis]]
[[Category:Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian]]
[[Category:Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era]]