Saint Lucius I
Pape (22 ème) de 253 à 254 (✝ 254)
Il fut le
successeur du pape saint
Corneille. Exilé pour sa foi au Christ durant la persécution de
l'empereur Valérien (253-260), il revint à Rome où les fidèles l'accueillirent
avec enthousiasme selon ce qu'en écrit saint
Cyprien. Il est inhumé au cimetière romain de saint-Calixte.
À Rome, au cimetière de Calliste sur la voie Appienne, en 254, la mise au tombeau de saint Lucius, pape. Successeur de saint Corneille, il fut presque aussitôt envoyé en exil, sous l’empereur Gallus, mais ensuite, par une disposition divine, il revint indemne dans son Église, confesseur invincible de la foi. Saint Cyprien l’a célébré par de grandes louanges.
Martyrologe
romain
Saint Lucius Ier, pape et martyr
Mort en 254, fête en 1602.
Bhx Cardinal Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
La fête annuelle de cet illustre Pontife (+ 254) célébré par saint Cyprien pour sa douceur et son esprit de concorde, est notée dans le Catalogue Philocalien des Depositiones Episcoporum de 336. Aujourd’hui encore, dans la crypte papale de la nécropole romaine de Calixte, l’on voit son épigraphe sépulcrale primitive.
Cependant, après l’abandon des cimetières vers le VIIIe siècle, sa commémoration disparut complètement des Sacramentaires et des calendriers romains, et ce fut seulement sous Clément VIII qu’elle fut rétablie dans le Bréviaire. Saint Lucius ne mourut pas, à vrai dire, de mort violente, aussi anciennement son nom ne se trouvait pas dans les Natalitia Martyrum, mais seulement dans les Depositiones Episcoporum. En effet, il fut exilé de Rome presque aussitôt son ordination ; il revint ensuite à son Siège, mais mourut peu de semaines après. Saint Cyprien. qui loue grandement saint Lucius, mentionne une ou plusieurs de ses lettres sur la manière de traiter les lapsi [1]. On vénère son corps dans la basilique transtévérine de Sainte-Cécile.
La messe (avant 1942) est celle du Commun des Martyrs Pontifes, Sacerdótes Dei, puisque l’usage liturgique de ces derniers siècles est de considérer comme une peine équivalente au martyre les tribulations de l’exil et les afflictions que, en temps de terrible persécution, durent supporter ces antiques héros de la foi, même si le glaive du bourreau ne trancha pas leur tête. Le voisinage des tombes de sainte Cécile et du pape Lucius est digne de remarque. Ce Pontife fut d’abord enseveli dans la crypte papale de la voie Appienne, tout à côté par conséquent de l’hypogée des Cœcilii chrétiens, où, jusqu’au temps de Paschal Ier, avait reposé l’illustre vierge Cécile. Quand celle-ci fut transférée dans le Titre élevé sur l’emplacement de son habitation, on y porta aussi les corps des papes Urbain et Lucius, qui attendent dans son voisinage la résurrection finale. La Secrète et la Postcommunion sont empruntées à la messe Statuit.
[1] Ep., LXVIII, 5.
Dom Pius Parsch, le Guide dans l’année liturgique
Saint Lucius. — Le martyrologe : « A Rome, sur la voie Appienne, la naissance au ciel de saint Lucius, pape et martyr ; tout d’abord, durant la persécution de Valérien, il fut envoyé en exil pour la foi du Christ ; ensuite, par un effet de la volonté divine, il put revenir dans son Église ; après avoir vaillamment lutté contre les Novatiens, il fut décapité. (Des recherches récentes ont démontré qu’il mourut de mort naturelle). Saint Cyprien lui a décerné de magnifiques louanges » (à cause de sa douceur et de son esprit de conciliation). Il régna de 253 à 254. Son antique épitaphe est encore conservée. Ses reliques sont honorées dans l’église de Sainte-Cécile au-delà du Tibre.
Pope St. Lucius I
Reigned
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. Lucius also was sent into exile soon
after his consecration, but in a short time, presumably
when Valerian was made emperor, he was allowed to return to his flock. The Felician Catalogue, whose information is found
in the "Liber Pontificalis", informs us of the
banishment and the miraculous return of Lucius: "Hic exul fuit et postea nutu Dei
incolumis ad ecclesiam reversus est." St. Cyprian, who wrote a (lost) letter of
congratulation to Lucius on his elevation to the Roman Seeand on his banishment, sent a second letter of
congratulation to him and his companions in exile, as well as to the whole Roman Church (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.
The
letter begins:
Cyprian continues, alluding to
the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, that
the return from exile did not lessen the glory of the confession, and that the persecution, which was directed only against the confessors of the true Church, proved which was the Church of Christ. In conclusion he describes the joy of Christian Rome on the return of its
shepherd. When Cyprian asserts that the Lord by means of persecution sought "to bring
theheretics to shame and to silence them," and thus to prove where the Church was, who was her one bishopchosen by God's dispensation, who were her presbyters bound up with the bishop in the glory of the priesthood, who were the real people of Christ, united to His flock by a peculiar love, who were those who were oppressed by their enemies,
and at the same time who those were whom the Devil protects as his own, he
obviously means the Novatians. The schism of Novatian, through which he was brought forward as antipope, in opposition toCornelius, still continued in Rome under Lucius.
In
the matter of confession and the restoration of the "Lapsi" (fallen) Lucius adhered
to the principles ofCornelius and Cyprian. According to the testimony of the latter, contained in a letter to Pope Stephen (ep. lxviii, 5, ed.
Hartel, II, 748), Lucius, like Cornelius, had expressed his opinions in
writing: "Illi enim pleni spiritu Domini et in glorioso martyrio
constituti dandam esse lapsis pacem censuerunt et poenitentia acta fructum
communicationis et pacis negandum non esse litteris suis signaverunt."
(For they, filled with the spirit of the Lordand 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.) Lucius died in
the beginning of March, 254. In the "Depositio episcoporum" the
"Chronograph of 354" gives the date of his death as 5 March,
the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum" as 4 March. The first date is
probably right. Perhaps Lucius
died on 4 March and was buried 5 March. According to the "Liber Pontificalis" thispope was beheaded in the time
of Valerian, but this testimony cannot be admitted. It is true that Cyprian in the letter to Stephen above mentioned (ep.
lxviii, 5) gives him, as well as Cornelius, the honorary title of martyr: "servandus est enim antecessorum nostrorum beatorum martyrum
Cornelii et Lucii honor gloriosus" (for theglorious memory of our predecessors the blessed martyrs Cornelius and Lucius is to be preserved); but probably this was on account of Lucius's short banishment. Cornelius, who died in exile, was honoured as a martyr by theRomans after his death; but not Lucius. In
the Roman calendar of feasts of the "Chronograph of 354"
he is mentioned in the "Depositio episcoporum", and not under the
head of "Depositio martyrum". His memory was, nevertheless, particularly honoured, as is clear from the appearance of his name in the "Martyrologium
Hieronymianum". Eusebius, it is true, maintains (Church History VII.10) that Valerian was favourable to theChristians in the early part of his reign. The
emperor's first persecution edict appeared only in 257.
Lucius
was buried in a compartment of the papal vault in the catacombs of St. Callistus. On the excavation of
the vault, de Rossi found 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 ofSan Silvestro in Capite, or by Pope Paschal I (817-824) to the Basilica of St.
Praxedes [Marucchi,
"Basiliques et eglisesde Rome", Rome, 1902, 399 (inscription in San Silvestro), 325 (inscription in S.
Praxedes)]. The author of the "Liber Pontificalis" has unauthorizedly ascribed to St.
Lucius a decretal, according to which two priests and three deacons must always accompany
the bishop to bear witness to his virtuous life: "Hic praecepit, ut duo
presbyteri et tres diaconi in omni loco episcopum non desererent propter
testimonium ecclesiasticum." Such a measure might have been necessary under certain conditions at a later period; but in Lucius's time it
was incredible. This alleged decree induced a later forger to invent another apocryphal decretal, and attribute it to Lucius. The
story in the "Liber Pontificalis" that Lucius, as he was being led to death, gave the archdeaconStephen power
over the Church, is also a fabrication. The feast of St.
Lucius is held on 4 March.
Sources
Liber Pontificalis, ed. DUCHESNE, I, XCVII, 153; ALLARD, Histoire des persecutions, III (Paris, 1887), 27 sq.; DE ROSSI, Roma sotterranea, II (Rome, 1867), 62-70; JAFFE, Regesta Rom. Pont., 2nd ed., I, 19-20; WILPERT, Die Papstgraber und die Caciliengruft (Freiburg im Br., 1909), 19.
Kirsch, Johann Peter. "Pope St. Lucius I." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 4 Mar. 2017 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09411a.htm>.
Kirsch, Johann Peter. "Pope St. Lucius I." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 4 Mar. 2017 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09411a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New
Advent by Herman F. Holbrook. "Prayer
was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for Peter."
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil
Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09411a.htm
Pope Saint Lucius I
Romano. Non appena eletto venne arrestato e mandato in esilio, dal quale, "per volere di Dio, restò incolume", come si legge nei documenti ufficiali.
Non è dato sapere come ma nonostante il suo brevissimo pontificato riuscì ad emanare il decreto per il quale: "... ogni presbitero doveva essere accompagnato da due preti e tre diaconi... a testimonianza del comportamento di tutti".
Il suo papato, dopo la morte dell'imperatore Treboniano Gallo e l'evento di Valeriano, fu da considerarsi abbastanza tranquillo sul fronte delle persecuzioni.
Dopo un breve esilio a Lucio fu concesso di ritornare a Roma. Morì di morte naturale e fu sepolto nella cripta di san Callisto o forse di santa Cecilia.Dapprima dichiarato santo per il suo martirio, Lucio fu successivamente cancellato dal Calendario Universale della Chiesa.
Autore: Franco Prevato
March
4
St. Lucius, Pope
and Martyr
From Ens. l. 7. c. 2. and
St. Cyprian’s letters. See Tillem. t. 4. p. 118. Pagi, Ceillier, t. 3. p. 118.
and Pearson, Annal. Cyprian, p. 31. 33.
A.D. 253
ST. LUCIUS was a Roman by
birth, and one of the clergy of that church under SS. Fabian and Cornelius.
This latter being crowned with martyrdom, in 252, St. Lucius succeeded him in
the pontificate. The emperor Gallus having renewed the persecution of his
predecessor Decius, at least in Rome, this holy pope was no sooner placed in
the chair of St. Peter, but was banished with several others, though to what
place is uncertain. “Thus,” says St. Dionysius of Alexandria, “did Gallus
deprive himself of the succour of heaven, by expelling those who every day
prayed to God for his peace and prosperity.” St. Cyprian wrote to St. Lucius to
congratulate him both on his promotion, and for the grace of suffering
banishment for Christ. Our saint had been but a short time in exile, when he
was recalled with his companions to the incredible joy of the people, who went
out of Rome in crowds to meet him. St. Cyprian wrote to him a second letter of
congratulation on this occasion. 1 He says, “He had not lost the dignity of martyrdom
because he had the will, as the three children in the furnace, though preserved
by God from death: this glory added a new dignity to his priesthood, that a
bishop assisted at God’s altar, who exhorted his flock to martyrdom by his own
example as well as by his words. By giving such graces to his pastors, God
showed where his true church was: for he denied the like glory of suffering to
the Novatian heretics. The enemy of Christ only attacks the soldiers of Christ:
heretics he knows to be already his own, and passes them by. He seeks to throw
down those who stand against him.” He adds in his own name and that of his
colleagues: “We do not cease in our sacrifices and prayers (in sacrificiis et orationibus
nostris) to God the Father, and to Christ his son, our Lord, giving thanks and
praying together, that he who perfects all may consummate in you the glorious
crown of your confession, who perhaps has only recalled you that your glory
might not be hidden; for the victim, which owes his brethren an example of
virtue and faith, ought to be sacrificed in their presence.” 2
St. Cyprian, in his letter
to Pope Stephen, avails himself of the authority of St. Lucius against the
Novatian heretics, as having decreed against them, that those who were fallen
were not to be denied reconciliation and communion, but to be absolved when
they had done penance for their sin. Eusebius says, he did not sit in the
pontifical chair above eight months; and he seems, from the chronology of St.
Cyprian’s letters, to have sat only five or six, and to have died on the 4th of
March, in 253, under Gallus, though we know not in what manner. The most ancient
calendars mention him on the 5th of March, others, with the Roman, on the 4th,
which seems to have been the day of his death, as the 5th that of his burial.
His body was found in the Catacombs, and laid in the church of St. Cecily in
Rome, where it is now exposed to public veneration by the order of Clement
VIII.
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume
III: March. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
Pope Saint Lucius I
Also known as
- Loukis
Profile
Chosen 22nd pope.
Noted for his ascetic
lifestyle, even while on the throne. Forbade men and women
not related by blood to live together. Decreed that clergy
should not live with deaconesses
even if given lodging for reasons of charity.
Exiled briefly during the persecution
of Emperor Gallus. Condemned the Novatian
heresy.
Born
Papal
Ascension
- 5
March 254 at Rome, Italy of natural causes
- buried at Saint Callistus catacomb
- relics
transferred to the church of Saint Cecilia in Trastevere, Rome in 821
- some relics
transferred to Roskilde, Denmark c.1100
- his head placed in a reliquary
bust in the Saint Ansgar cathedral
at Roskilde in 1910
San Lucio I Papa
m. 254
(Papa dal
25/06/253 al 05/03/254)
Romano. Non appena eletto venne arrestato e mandato in esilio, dal quale, "per volere di Dio, restò incolume", come si legge nei documenti ufficiali.
Etimologia:
Lucio = luminoso, splendente, dal latino
Martirologio
Romano: A Roma sulla via Appia nel cimitero di Callisto, deposizione di san
Lucio, papa, che, successore di san Cornelio, subì l’esilio per la fede in
Cristo e, insigne testimone della fede, affrontò le difficoltà del suo tempo
con moderazione e prudenza.
Assurse
al soglio pontificale il 25 giugno del 253, pochi giorni dopo la morte del suo
predecessore Cornelio.
Non è dato sapere come ma nonostante il suo brevissimo pontificato riuscì ad emanare il decreto per il quale: "... ogni presbitero doveva essere accompagnato da due preti e tre diaconi... a testimonianza del comportamento di tutti".
Il suo papato, dopo la morte dell'imperatore Treboniano Gallo e l'evento di Valeriano, fu da considerarsi abbastanza tranquillo sul fronte delle persecuzioni.
Dopo un breve esilio a Lucio fu concesso di ritornare a Roma. Morì di morte naturale e fu sepolto nella cripta di san Callisto o forse di santa Cecilia.Dapprima dichiarato santo per il suo martirio, Lucio fu successivamente cancellato dal Calendario Universale della Chiesa.
Autore: Franco Prevato
