death_date feast_day imagesize venerated_in major_shrine article_title name
4th century february 23 250px roman catholic church , eastern orthodox church billom , france serenus the gardener
 saint serenus the gardener
serenus the gardener

saint serenus the gardener -lrb- also known as `` serenus of billom '' , `` sirenatus '' -rrb- -lrb- -rrb- was a 4th-century martyr venerated by the roman catholic and eastern orthodox churches .
according to legend , he was born in greece , emigrated to sirmium in present-day sremska mitrovica , and was known for his skill at gardening .
he rebuked the wife of an imperial guard for walking in his garden and she told her husband , who reported him to the emperor maximian .
the governor found serenus innocent of insulting the guard 's wife , but had him beheaded anyway when he refused to sacrifice to the roman gods .
parts of his story are probably fictitious .
however , paul burns writes that `` there may possibly be some historical basis to the ... story ... ''
