Sansala

The holy Sansala the Confessor was a priest from the Buzău valley in Romania and the spiritual father of the Great-martyr Sava the Goth. He and Sava carried out missionary work in the area around Buzău, converting many pagan Dacians and Goths to Christianity.

In 372, Sansala and Sava were captured by the soldiers of King Athanaric of the Goths who had begun a great persecution of Christians. Both of the saints were ordered to sacrifice to idols and tortured upon their refusal to do so. St. Sansala courageously endured these tortures and was eventually released, but his chanter St. Sava was condemned to death and drowned in the River Buzău.

Sansala took the relics of the martyr and hid them until they could be taken out of the Gothic kingdom to the safety of the Roman Empire. The saint bravely remained in Dacia and continued his missionary activities which continued to meet with great success. He eventually died towards the end of the 4th century.