Pope Lucius I
Encyclopedia
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.
He is praised in several letters of St. Cyprian
(see Epist. lxviii. 5) for condemning the Novationist
s for their refusal to readmit to communion Christians who repented for having lapsed under persecution.
His feast day is March 5, on which date he is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology
in the following terms: "In the cemetery of Callistus on the Via Appia, Rome, burial of Saint Lucius, Pope, successor of Saint Cornelius. For his faith in Christ he suffered exile and acted as an outstanding confessor of the faith, with moderation and prudence, in the difficult times that were his."
His feast did not appear in the Tridentine Calendar
of Pope Saint Pius V
. In 1602 it was inserted, under the date of March 4 into the calendar
of saints for use wherever the Roman Rite
is celebrated. With the insertion in 1621 on the same date of the feast of Saint Casimir
, the celebration of Pope Lucius was reduced to a commemoration with Saint Casimir's Mass
. It remained so until 1969, when Pope Lucius's feast was moved in the Roman Martyrology
to the day of his death and omitted from the General Calendar, partly because of the baselessness of the title of "martyr" with which he had previously been honoured.
In spite of what is mistakenly stated in the Liber Pontificalis
, he did not in fact suffer martyrdom. The persecution of Valerian
in which he was said to have been martyred is known to have started later than March 254, when Pope Lucius died.
. 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's 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. There had been demon
s at large at the Isefjord
at Roskilde city, and as they declared that they feared nothing but Lucius' skull, this had to be brought to Denmark, whereupon peace took reign of the fjord
again. After the Reformation
the skull was taken to the exhibition rooms of king Frederik III in Copenhagen
, where it was on exhibit along with the petrified embryo
a woman had carried inside her for 28 years, as well as other monstrosities the king had collected—until it was transferred to Copenhagen's National museum. Pope St. Lucius' head is among the few relics to have survived the Reformation in Denmark.
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
from June 25, 253 to March 5, 254.
St. Lucius was born in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
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
Pope Cornelius
Pope Saint Cornelius was pope from his election on 6 or 13 March 251 to his martyrdom in June 253.- Christian persecution :Emperor Decius, who ruled from 249 to 251 AD, persecuted Christians in the Roman Empire rather sporadically and locally, but starting January in the year 250, he ordered all...
, and he also was banished soon after his consecration, but succeeded in gaining permission to return.
He is praised in several letters of St. Cyprian
Cyprian
Cyprian was bishop of Carthage and an important Early Christian writer, many of whose Latin works are extant. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education...
(see Epist. lxviii. 5) for condemning the Novationist
Novatianism
The Novatianists were early Christians following Antipope Novatian, held a strict view that refused readmission to communion of Lapsi, those baptized Christians who had denied their faith or performed the formalities of a ritual sacrifice to the pagan gods, under the pressures of the persecution...
s for their refusal to readmit to communion Christians who repented for having lapsed under persecution.
His feast day is March 5, on which date he is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology
Roman Martyrology
The Roman Martyrology is the official martyrology of the Roman Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. It provides an extensive but not exhaustive list of the saints recognized by the Church.-History:...
in the following terms: "In the cemetery of Callistus on the Via Appia, Rome, burial of Saint Lucius, Pope, successor of Saint Cornelius. For his faith in Christ he suffered exile and acted as an outstanding confessor of the faith, with moderation and prudence, in the difficult times that were his."
His feast did not appear in the Tridentine Calendar
Tridentine Calendar
The Tridentine Calendar is the calendar of saints to be honoured in the course of the liturgical year in the official liturgy of the Roman Rite as reformed by Pope Pius V, implementing a decision of the Council of Trent, which entrusted the task to the Pope....
of Pope Saint Pius V
Pope Pius V
Pope Saint Pius V , born Antonio Ghislieri , was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman liturgy within the Latin Church...
. In 1602 it was inserted, under the date of March 4 into the calendar
Roman Catholic calendar of saints
The General Roman Calendar indicates the days of the year to which are assigned the liturgical celebrations of saints and of the mysteries of the Lord that are to be observed wherever the Roman Rite is used...
of saints for use wherever the Roman Rite
Roman Rite
The Roman Rite is the liturgical rite used in the Diocese of Rome in the Catholic Church. It is by far the most widespread of the Latin liturgical rites used within the Western or Latin autonomous particular Church, the particular Church that itself is also called the Latin Rite, and that is one of...
is celebrated. With the insertion in 1621 on the same date of the feast of Saint Casimir
Saint Casimir
Saint Casimir Jagiellon was a royal prince of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who became a patron saint of Lithuania, Poland, and the young.-Biography:...
, the celebration of Pope Lucius was reduced to a commemoration with Saint Casimir's Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
. It remained so until 1969, when Pope Lucius's feast was moved in the Roman Martyrology
Roman Martyrology
The Roman Martyrology is the official martyrology of the Roman Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. It provides an extensive but not exhaustive list of the saints recognized by the Church.-History:...
to the day of his death and omitted from the General Calendar, partly because of the baselessness of the title of "martyr" with which he had previously been honoured.
In spite of what is mistakenly stated in 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...
, he did not in fact suffer martyrdom. The persecution of Valerian
Valerian (emperor)
Valerian , also known as Valerian the Elder, was Roman Emperor from 253 to 260. He was taken captive by Persian king Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the only Roman Emperor who was captured as a prisoner of war, resulting in wide-ranging instability across the Empire.-Origins and rise...
in which he was said to have been martyred is known to have started later than March 254, when Pope Lucius died.
Tomb
His tombstone is still extant in the catacomb of CallixtusCatacomb of Callixtus
The Catacomb of Callixtus was one of the Catacombs of Rome on the Appian Way, most notable for containing the Crypt of the Popes , which contained the tombs of several popes from the 2nd to 4th centuries...
. His relics were later brought to the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is a 5th century church in Rome, Italy, devoted to Saint Cecilia, in the Trastevere rione.-History:The first church on this site was founded probably in the 3rd century, by Pope Urban I; it was devoted to the Roman martyr Cecilia, martyred it is said under Marcus...
, along with the relics of St. Cecilia and others. His head is preserved in a reliquary
Reliquary
A reliquary is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures...
in St. Ansgar's Cathedral
St. Ansgar's Cathedral
Saint Ansgar's Cathedral in Copenhagen, Denmark is the principal church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Copenhagen, which encompasses all of Denmark, including the Faroe Islands and Greenland.-History:...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. This relic was brought to Roskilde
Roskilde
Roskilde is the main city in Roskilde Municipality, Denmark on the island of Zealand. It is an ancient city, dating from the Viking Age and is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network....
around the year 1100, after St. Lucius had been declared patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
of the Danish region Zealand. There had been demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
s at large at the Isefjord
Isefjord
The Isefjord, Danish Isefjorden, is a deeply branched arm of the sea into the Danish island Zealand.From its relatively narrow entrance from the Kattegat at Hundested and Rørvig, branches of the Isefjord stretch 35 km inland and divide the northern part of Zealand into the peninsulas of...
at Roskilde city, and as they declared that they feared nothing but Lucius' skull, this had to be brought to Denmark, whereupon peace took reign of the fjord
Fjord
Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
again. After the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
the skull was taken to the exhibition rooms of king Frederik III in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, where it was on exhibit along with the petrified embryo
Embryo
An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
a woman had carried inside her for 28 years, as well as other monstrosities the king had collected—until it was transferred to Copenhagen's National museum. Pope St. Lucius' head is among the few relics to have survived the Reformation in Denmark.