Pope Hyginus
Encyclopedia
Pope Saint Hyginus was bishop of Rome from about 136 or 138 to about 140 or 142. Tradition holds that during his papacy he determined the various prerogatives of the clergy and defined the grades of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. However, modern scholars tend to doubt this claim and view the governance of the church of Rome during this period as still more or less collective.
According to the Liber Pontificalis
, Hyginus was a Greek born in Athens. The source further states that he previously was a philosopher, probably founded on the similarity of his name with that of two Latin authors.
Irenaeus
says that the Gnostic
Valentinus
came to Rome in Hyginus's time, remaining there until Anicetus became pontiff
(Against Heresies
, III, iii). Cerdo
, another Gnostic and predecessor of Marcion, also lived at Rome in the reign of Hyginus; by confessing his errors and recanting he succeeded in obtaining readmission into the bosom of the Church, but eventually he fell back into the heresies and was expelled from the Church. How many of these events took place during the time of Hyginus is not known.
The Liber Pontificalis also relates that this pope organized the hierarchy and established the order of ecclesiastical precedence (). This general observation recurs also in the biography of Pope Hormisdas
; it has no historical value, and according to Duchesne
, the writer probably referred to the lower orders of the clergy.
The ancient sources contain no information as to his having died a martyr
. At his death he was buried on the Vatican Hill
, near the tomb of St. Peter
. His feast
is celebrated on 11 January.
Three letters attributed to him have survived.
According to the Liber Pontificalis
Liber Pontificalis
The Liber Pontificalis is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the Liber Pontificalis stopped with Pope Adrian II or Pope Stephen V , but it was later supplemented in a different style until Pope Eugene IV and then Pope Pius II...
, Hyginus was a Greek born in Athens. The source further states that he previously was a philosopher, probably founded on the similarity of his name with that of two Latin authors.
Irenaeus
Irenaeus
Saint Irenaeus , was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire . He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology...
says that the Gnostic
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
Valentinus
Valentinus (Gnostic)
Valentinus was the best known and for a time most successful early Christian gnostic theologian. He founded his school in Rome...
came to Rome in Hyginus's time, remaining there until Anicetus became pontiff
Pontiff
A pontiff was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the principal college of priests . The term "pontiff" was later applied to any high or chief priest and, in ecclesiastical usage, to a bishop and more particularly to the Bishop of Rome, the Pope or "Roman Pontiff".-Etymology:The English term derives...
(Against Heresies
On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis
On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis, today also called On the Detection and Overthrow of Knowledge Falsely So Called , commonly called Against Heresies , is a five-volume work written by St. Irenaeus in the 2nd century...
, III, iii). Cerdo
Cerdo (gnostic)
Cerdo was a Syrian gnostic who was deemed a heretic by the Orthodox Church around the time of his teaching, circa 138 AD.Cerdo started out as a follower of Simon Magus. He taught at about the same time as Valentinus and preceded Marcion...
, another Gnostic and predecessor of Marcion, also lived at Rome in the reign of Hyginus; by confessing his errors and recanting he succeeded in obtaining readmission into the bosom of the Church, but eventually he fell back into the heresies and was expelled from the Church. How many of these events took place during the time of Hyginus is not known.
The Liber Pontificalis also relates that this pope organized the hierarchy and established the order of ecclesiastical precedence (). This general observation recurs also in the biography of Pope Hormisdas
Pope Hormisdas
Pope Saint Hormisdas was Pope from July 20, 514 to 523. His papacy was dominated by the Acacian schism, started in 484 by Acacius of Constantinople's efforts to placate the Monophysites...
; it has no historical value, and according to Duchesne
Louis Duchesne
Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions....
, the writer probably referred to the lower orders of the clergy.
The ancient sources contain no information as to his having died a martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
. At his death he was buried on the Vatican Hill
Vatican Hill
Vatican Hill is the name given, long before the founding of Christianity, to one of the hills on the side of the Tiber opposite the traditional seven hills of Rome...
, near the tomb of St. Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
. His feast
Calendar of saints
The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the feast day of said saint...
is celebrated on 11 January.
Three letters attributed to him have survived.
External links
- Catholic Encyclopedia, "Pope St. Hyginus" (1913).
- Opera Omnia