Saint. Forth century Bishop of Tongeren. It is believed that Servaas died in the city of Mastricht, Netherlands in 384 BC. He is venerated in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. His feast day is May 13. Saint Servaas, or also known as Sait Servatius, was the first Bishop of Tongres, a town in what is now Belgium. He was know for his strong defense of the Trinitarian theology and opposed to the Arian view of much of the eastern Church. The Arian view denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. He was an advocate of the Trinity at both the Council of Sardica (Sofia) and the Council of Cologne. The first records of St. Servass came soon after his death in the 5th century writing of Sulpicius Severus in his accounts of the Council of Sardica where Servass was vocal in his defence of the divinity of Jesus Christ. St. Servaas became a political emissary between competing Emperors. Though negotiations failed he was recognized as a strong diplomatic force. It was in returning to his home Episcopal center of Tongre that he became feverish in the town of Masstrich. He died and was as custom buried outside the city walls. Soon a wooden chapel was built over the burial spot but was replaced by a stone church in the 6th century. The best know references came from the writing of Gregorius of Tours in the 6th century. What is known is that in the 8th century a Church was begun over the supposed burial place. From early times after his death he was accorded many miracles.
St. Servaas is buried in the crypt of the Basilica which bears his name. It has been an object of veneration and pilgrimage from earliest ages. Visitors include Charlemagne and Pope John Paul II. In 1985 during the visit of Pope John Paul II the Church of Saint Servaas was declared a Basilica.