Pope Lucius I
| Saint Lucius I | |
|---|---|
| |
| Birth name | Lucius |
| Papacy began | June 25, 253 |
| Papacy ended | March 5, 254 |
| Predecessor | Cornelius |
| Successor | Stephen I |
| Born | ??? Rome, Italy |
| Died | March 5 254 Rome, Italy |
| Other popes named Lucius | |
| Styles of Pope Lucius I | |
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| |
| Reference style | His Holiness |
| Spoken style | Your Holiness |
| Religious style | Holy Father |
| Posthumous style | Saint |
Pope Saint Lucius I was Pope from June 25, 253 to March 5, 254.
St. Lucius was born in Rome at an unknown date, nothing is known about his family except his father's name, Porphyrianus. He was elected probably on June 25, 253, and died on March 5, 254. His election took place during the persecution which caused the banishment of his predecessor Pope Cornelius, and he also was banished soon after his consecration, but succeeded in gaining permission to return.
St. Lucius is referred to in several letters of St. Cyprian (see Epist. Ixviii. 5) as having been in agreement with his predecessor Pope St. Cornelius in preferring the milder view on allowing restoration of lapsed penitents.
Tradition claims that he was martyred in the persecution of Valerian, but as that is known to have started later than March, 254, this seems unlikely.
His tombstone is still extant in the cemetery of St. Callixtus. His relics were later brought to the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, along with the relics of St. Cecilia and others. His head is preserved in a reliquary in St. Ansgar Catholic Cathedral in Copenhagen, Denmark. This relic was brought to Roskilde around the year 1100, after St. Lucius had been declared patron of the Danish region Zealand. Pope St. Lucius' head is among the few relics to have survived the Reformation in Denmark.
St. Lucius' feast day is on March 4. He is commemorated as Pope and Martyr[1]
CE entry
eigned 253-254; died at Rome, 5 March, 254. After the death of St. Cornelius, who died in exile in the summer of 253, Lucius was chosen to fill his place, and consecrated Bishop of Rome. Nothing is known of the early life of this pope before his elevation. According to the "Liber Pontificalis", he was Roman born, and his father's name was Porphyrius. Where the author obtained this information is not known. The persecution of the Church under the Emperor Gallus, during which Cornelius had been banished, still went on.
Background
Cornelius had been elected pope during the Novatianist controversy. Novatian maintained that not even the bishops could grant remission for grave sins like murder, adultery, and apostasy, which could only be remitted at the Last Judgment. Especially contentious was the question of the status of clergy who had lapsed during persecution. Cornelius held the view that even the most serious sins could be forgiven by the bishops, who, with Saint Peter, had been given the power of "binding and loosing" without restriction. His election was supported by the future Saint Cyprian of Carthage, with Cyprian's moderating influence, Cornelius' party prevailed over that of Novatian.
Lucius' papacy
Lucius was elected bishop of Rome soon after Cornelius died in exile. Refusing to cooperate with the state's policy against the Christian religion, he earned the title of "confessor" when he, too, was forced into exile soon after his consecration. Cyprian, wrote a (lost) letter of congratulation to Lucius on his elevation to the Roman See and another upon on his banishment. In a short time, presumably when Valerian was made emperor, Lucius was able to return to his flock in Rome. The Liber Pontificalis, informs that his return was miraculous, but does not give details. A third letter, of Cyprian, sent to encourage Lucius and his companions upon their return to Rome, still exists. It begins: (ep. lxi, ed. Hartel, II, 695 sqq.).
Beloved Brother, only a short time ago we offered you our congratulations, when in exalting you to govern His Church, God graciously bestowed upon you the twofold glory of confessor and bishop. Again we congratulate you, your companions, and the whole congregation, in that, owing to the kind and mighty protection of our Lord, He has led you back with praise and glory to His own, so that the flock can again receive its shepherd, the ship her pilot, and the people a director to govern them and to show openly that it was God's disposition that He permitted your banishment, not that the bishop who had been expelled should be deprived of his church, but rather that he might return to his church with greater authority.
Cyprian continues, alluding to the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, arguing that Lucius' return from exile my no means lessened the glory of his status as a confessor. Moreover, in Cyprian's view, the persecution showed the identity of the true Church.
At this time the schism of Novatian, through which he was brought forward as anti-pope in opposition to Cornelius, still continued in Rome under Lucius. Cyprian asserts to Lucius that God, by means of persecution, sought "to bring the heretics to shame and to silence them," and thus to prove where the Church was. However, it is not entirely clear whether he refers here to the Novatianists as heretics, or to those who cooperated with the state, for the Novatianists were even more adamant confessors than the more moderate Christians such as Cornelius and Lucius. Cyprian specifically mention the issue of the "one bishop chosen by God's dispensation," and the true presbyters bound up with the bishop in the glory of the priesthood. He speaks also of the "real people of Christ," united to His flock by a special love. These he says, are those who have been oppressed by their enemies. In conclusion he describes the joy of Christian Rome on the return of its shepherd.
In the matter of confession and the restoration of the "lapsi" (fallen) Lucius himself seems to have adhered to the principles of Cornelius. According to the testimony of Cyprian, contained in a letter to Pope Stephen (ep. lxviii, 5, ed. Hartel, II, 748), Lucius had expressed his opinions in writing. Cyprian quotes Lucius as having said: "They (the confessors), filled with the spirit of the Lord and confirmed in glorious martyrdom, judged that pardon ought to be given to the lapsi, and signified in their letters that, when these had done penance, they were not to be denied the enjoyment of communion and reconciliation."
Death as a martyr?
Lucius died on either March 4 or March 5, 254. It is likely that he died on the former date and was buried on the latter.
According to the "Liber Pontificalis" Lucius died a martyr's death when he was beheaded in the time of Valerian. However this testimony is doubted even by Catholic sources. The church historian Eusebius maintains (Hist. Eccl., VII, 10) that Valerian was favorable to the Christians in the early part of his reign. The emperor's first persecution edict appeared only in 257, several years after Lucius' death. It is true that Cyprian in his letter to Stephen (ep. lxviii, 5) gives Lucius, as well as Cornelius, the honorary title of martyr: "for the glorious memory of our predecessors the blessed martyrs Cornelius and Lucius is to be preserved." However, it was sometimes that case that those who had died in exile, like Cornelius, or those who suffered for their faith but did not die, such as Lucius, were honored as martyrs by the Romans after their death. However, in the Roman calendar of feasts of the "Chronograph of 354" Lucius is mentioned in the "Depositio episcoporum" (list of bishops) and not under the heading of "Depositio martyrum" (list of martyrs). His memory was, nevertheless, particularly honored, as is clear from the appearance of his name in the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum".
Lucius was buried in a compartment of the papal vault in the catacombs of St. Callistus. The excavation of the vault discovered a large fragment of the original epitaph, which only gives the pope's name in Greek: LOUKIS. The slab is broken off just behind the word, so that in all probability there was nothing else on it except the title EPISKOPOS (bishop).
The relics of the saint were transferred by Pope Paul I (757-767) to the church of San Silvestro in Capite, or by Pope Paschal I (817-824) to the Basilica of St. Praxedes.
The author of the "Liber Pontificalis" ascribed to Lucius a decretal, according to which two priests and three deacons must always accompany the bishop to bear witness to his virtuous life. Such a measure might have been necessary under certain conditions at a later period. However, in Lucius's time it would have been an impractical use of the church's limited number of clergy.
The "Liber Pontificalis" that Lucius, as he was being led to death, gave the archdeacon Stephen power over the Church, is also probably a fabrication, since Lucius' martyrdom appears to be fictional. It is indeed a fact, however, that Stephen succeeded him as pope. The feast of St. Lucius is held on March 4.
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- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- This article includes content derived from the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1914, which is in the public domain.
External links
| Roman Catholic Popes | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Cornelius |
Bishop of Rome Pope June 25, 253– March 5, 254 |
Succeeded by: Stephen I |
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