Celat
(Vallada Agordina, Veneto), chiesa di San Rocco - Affreschi della sagrestia -
San Sisto
Celat (Vallada Agordina, Veneto, Italy), Saint Roch church - Frescos of the sacristy - Saint Sixtus
Saint Sixte Ier
Pape (7 ème) de 115 à
125 (+ 125)
On ne sait presque rien
de lui, sinon qu'il est le sixième successeur de saint Pierre et qu'il mourut
martyr après dix années d'épiscopat romain.
À Rome, en 128, saint
Sixte Ier, pape, qui, au temps de l’empereur Adrien, gouverna l’Église de Rome,
le sixième après saint Pierre.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/6417/Saint-Sixte-Ier.html
Saint Sixte Ier, pape
Pape de 117 à 127, Sixte
Ier était romain. Il mourut martyr lors de la persécution de l'empereur
Hadrien. Son nom figure au Canon romain de la messe.
Saint Sixte I (115-125)
Né à Rome. Il chercha,
pendant son pontificat à réorganiser l’Église.
Il introduisit, dans la
messe, le triple chant du « Sanctus ».
SOURCE : http://eglise.de.dieu.free.fr/liste_des_papes_01.htm
Saint Sixte Ier
Pape et Martyr sous
Antonin le Pieux
Fête le 6 avril
Rome – † id. 125
Autres graphies :
[Sixtus] Sixte ou Xyste Ier
Autre mention : 3
avril
Pape de 115 à 125, il
succéda à saint Alexandre Ier sur le trône papal. On l’honore comme un martyr.
Romain d’origine, il devint pape vers la fin du règne de l’empereur romain
Trajan (98-117). Après dix ans de pontificat, il fut arrêté et martyrisé sur l’ordre
de l’empereur Hadrien (117-138). Saint Sixte Ier repose dans le Duomo d’Alatri,
dans la province de Frosinone (Latium).
SOURCE : http://www.martyretsaint.com/sixte-ier/
Baie
10 de la chapelle Notre-Dame de Kergoat en Quéménéven (29).
3 avril. Saint Sixte Ier, pape. 117, 127.
Papes : Saint Alexandre Ier (prédécesseur, +117) ; saint
Télesphore (successeur, +136).
Empereurs : Adrien ; Antonin le Pieux.
" Après beaucoup de
lecture et de connaissance, il en faut toujours revenir à un seul principe.
C'est moi qui donne la science aux hommes, et j'accorde aux petits une
intelligence plus claire que les hommes n'en peuvent communiquer."
Imitation, liv. III, chap. XLIII.
Saint Sixte succéda, en
l'an 117, à saint Alexandre Ier, dont un glorieux martyre avait couronné la
glorieuse vie.
Le nouveau Pontife était
en Orient lorsque les suffrages du clergé et du peuple l'élevèrent sur la
chaire de saint Pierre il ne vint que trente-cinq jours après prendre
possession d'une dignité qui le désignait d'avance au martyre.
Saint Sixte était Romain
d'origine. Il eut pour père Pastor, qui habitait le quartier de la rue Large,
le septième de la Rome d'Auguste. La Rome chrétienne en a consacré le souvenir
par le titre cardinalice de Sainte-Marie-in-Via-Lata.
Sous son pontificat, les
Gnostiques firent de grands maux à l'Eglise et lui en préparèrent de plus
grands encore. Ces hérétiques, dont l'origine remontait à celle du
christianisme, à Simon le Magicien lui-même, prétendaient avoir seuls
l'intelligence, la connaissance parfaite des saintes Ecritures. A les entendre,
la révélation contenue dans la Bible était d'ailleurs inexacte et insuffisante.
Selon la morale de ces sectaires, le principe même de la Rédemption consistait
dans l'affranchissement, par la satiété de toutes les passions.
" En conséquence dit
Tertullien, leurs désordres ne se bornaient pas à des crimes vulgaires il leur
fallait des crimes monstrueux. En haine de la chair, ils immolaient des enfants
nouveau-nés, dont ils pilaient les membres mêlés à des aromates et en
composaient un mets épouvantable. Dans le but de discréditer les chrétiens, ils
se faisaient passer, aux yeux des païens, pour les disciples de Notre Seigneur
Jésus-Christ de là vient que les païens confondaient gnostiques et chrétiens
dans la même haine."
Cet état des choses, au
IIe siècle de l'Eglise, nous explique un des motifs, le plus puissant sans
doute, pour lequel saint Sixte renouvela l'obligation des lettres formelles, ou
lettres de recommandation, dont les fidèles, et à plus forte raison les
évêques, devaient se munir lorsqu'ils passaient d'une église à une autre, d'un
pays à un autre, afin qu'il fût possible aux pasteurs des peuples de distinguer
les loups des brebis, et de ne pas introduire dans la bergerie les gnostiques,
dont la présence seule dans l'Eglise eût été un sujet d'opprobre.
On doit encore à saint
Sixte plusieurs autres règlements de discipline ecclésiastique :
- il défendit que
nul ne touchât aux vases sacrés s'il n'était ministre des autels ;
- le corporal ne
devait pas être d'une autre matière que de lin ;
- enfin le peuple devait
continuer le chant du Trisagion commencé par le prêtre.
Si les païens ont rappelé
avec honneur les noms de ceux qui avaient augmenté la pompe de leur culte
absurde. Nous devons, Chrétiens, contempler avec respect les saints Pontifes
qui ont successivement, selon l'esprit de la piété chrétienne, rendu plus
vénérable le plus auguste de nos mystères.
Sous le pontificat de
saint Sixte, la persécution se ralentit. Un proconsul, encore plus courageux
que Pline, représentait à l'empereur Adrien combien il était injuste d'exercer
des cruautés sans examen et sans procès, et par pure prévention, contre une
classe dont toute la faute, aux yeux des Romains raisonnables, se trouvait
uniquement dans le nom de chrétien car ces chrétiens respectaient les lois du
pays, et obéissaient à l'empereur en tout ce qui n'était pas du tribunal de la
conscience.
Ce proconsul fut Serenius
Granianus. On doit inscrire dans l'histoire, en lettres d'or, le nom d'un ministre
qui osa s'exposer à la haine du prince pour protéger deux pauvres infortunées,
la vérité et la justice. L'empereur fut ému ; les lumineuses apologies que lui
présentèrent saint Quadrat et saint Aristide achevèrent de l'apaiser. Adrien
écrivit une lettre mémorable en faveur des chrétiens, défendit sévèrement de
les dénoncer, voulut que les méchants, convaincus de calomnie à cet égard,
fussent punis, et montra que, s'il n'était pas arrivé au point d'adorer Jésus,
il était alors prêt a le vénérer. Cependant la persécution ne tarda pas à
recommencer sous ce prince inconséquent. Sixte en fut la victime, mais la seule
; preuve nouvelle que ce prince opérait le bien par légèreté, et le mal par
disposition naturelle de son caractère. Sur la fin de sa vie, il ordonna
lui-même les plus lâches insultes contre le culte des chrétiens.
Saint Sixte fut enterré
au Vatican, non loin de Saint-Pierre. En 1132, ses reliques furent portées dans
l'église cathédrale d'Alatri où elles reposent encore. Cette ville le reconnaît,
après saint Paul, pour son patron secondaire.
En trois ordinations
faites au mois de décembre, selon l'usage, il avait créé quatre éveques pour
divers lieux, onze prêtres et trois diacres. C'était un homme d'une rare
sainteté, d'une grande pureté de mœurs, d'une extrême libéralité envers les
pauvres. De nombreux miracles ont recommandé sa mémoire.
SOURCE : http://hodiemecum.hautetfort.com/archive/2009/04/06/6-avril-saint-sixte-ier-pape-117-127.html
Portrait
of en:Pope Sixtus I in the en:Basilica of Saint Paul
Outside the Walls, Rome
Ritratto
di it:Papa Sesto I nella it:Basilica di San Paolo fuori
la Mura, Roma
Medaillon,
um 1848, in der Basilika San
Paolo fuori le Mura in Rom
Also
known as
Sisto I
Xystus I
6 April on
some calendars
Profile
Little known about his
life before he was chosen seventh pope in 116.
He concerned himself with the liturgy, and
instituted elements still in use today. He decreed that only priests may
touch the sacred vessels, that bishops returning
from the Apostolic See to their dioceses must
present Apostolic letters, and that the priest shall
recite the Sanctus with
the people during the Mass. Reigned
during the persecutions of
the Roman emperor Trajan. Martyr.
Born
Papal Ascension
Alife-Caiazzo, Italy, diocese of
Anagni-Alatri, Italy, diocese of
—
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
and Times of the Popes, by Alexis-François Artaud de Montor
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
images
video
webseiten
auf deutsch
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
fonti
in italiano
notitia
in latin
MLA
Citation
“Pope Saint Sixtus
I“. CatholicSaints.Info. 2 April 2024. Web. 25 March 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-sixtus-i/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-sixtus-i/
Reliquaire
du pape Sixtus I, 1596, exposé à la The Permanent Ecclesiastical Art Exhibition
"The Gold and Silver of Zadar" à l’église Sainte Marie, Zadar,
Croatie
Bust
(or head) reliquary of the pope Sixtus I(full face view), made in 1596, exhibited
at The Permanent Ecclesiastical Art Exhibition "The Gold and Silver of
Zadar" in the St. Mary's Church, Zadar, Croatia
Bista-relikvijar
pape Siksta I. (pogled sprijeda), izrađen 1596, izložen na Stalnoj izložbi
crkvene umjetnosti "Zlato i srebro Zadra" u crkvi sv. Marije u Zadru,
Hrvatska
Book of Saints –
Xystus – 6 April
Article
(Sixtus) I (Saint) Pope, Martyr (April
6) (2nd
century) A Roman who ruled the Church in the times of the Emperors Hadrian
and Antoninus Pius. A.D. 142 is
given as the date of his martyrdom;
but modern research has led to the anticipating of this date by many to
A.D. 127.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Xystus”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
4 April 2017. Web. 25 March 2026. <https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-xystus-6-april/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-xystus-6-april/
New
Catholic Dictionary – Pope Saint Sixtus I
Derivation
Latin: semtus, the
sixth
Article
Also written as Xystus.
Reigned from 116 to 125.
Born in Rome, Italy; died there.
Although various dates are given for his pontificate, it is certain that he
reigned about ten years. As pope he passed three ordinances
only priests may touch
the sacred vessels
bishops returning from
the Apostolic See to their dioceses must present Apostolic letters
the priest shall recite
the Sanctus with the people during the Mass
Feast,
Roman Calendar, 6
April.
MLA
Citation
“Pope Saint Sixtus
I”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. 6
April 2012.
Web. 25 March 2026. <http://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-sixtus-i-ncd/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-pope-saint-sixtus-i/
St. Sixtus I
Feastday: April 6
A Roman whose name
suggests he was of Greek descent, Pope/St. Sixtus led the Roman see during the
reign of Hadrian. The probable dates of Sixtus' papacy are c. 115-c. 125;
ancient sources agree that he ruled ten years, but few agree about which ten.
Legends say he was a martyr, but modern scholars think martyrdom during a time when persecution had
ceased unlikely.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=917
Francesco Fanelli (fl. 1608–1665). Illustration
from Atene Attica Descritta da suoi Principii sino all’acquisto fatto
dall’Armi Venete nel 1687…, Venice, Antonio Bortoli, 1695 edition
SIXTUS I, POPE, ST.
Pontificate: 117 or 119
to 126 or 128. Sixtus (Xystus) was the sixth successor to Peter (see clement
i). The Liberian catalogue dates his reign 117 to 126. Virtually all lists and
Eusebius (Histoire ecclesiastique 4.4, 5; 5.6, 24) indicate a ten-year
episcopate. The Liber pontificalis says that he was a Roman, son of a
certain Pastor but the name Xystus is Greek. It also attributes to him a
garbled disciplinary decree that is intelligible only in early sixth-century
terms, a decree that sacred vessels should not be touched except by the
ministering clergy, and a decree that the people should chant the Sanctus with
the priest. He probably was not a martyr. His reputed burial near the body of
Peter in the Vatican has not been substantiated by modern excavations.
Feast: April 6.
Bibliography: Liber
pontificalis, ed. L. Duchesne (Paris 1886–92) 1:ccviii, 54–57, 128. É. Amann, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, ed. A. Vacant et al., (Paris
1903–50) 14.2:193–94. J. N. D. Kelly, Oxford Dictionary of Popes (New
York 1986) 9. E. Ferguson, Encyclopedia of Early Christianity (New
York 1997) 2:1065. E. Kettenhoffen, Biographisch–Bibliographisches
Kirshcenlexikon, 10 (Herzburg 1995).
[E. G. Weltin]
New Catholic Encyclopedia
SOURCE : https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sixtus-i-pope-st
Giovanni Battista de'Cavalieri (1525–1601),
Calcografia in Giovanni Battista Cavalieri, Pontificum Romanorum effigies,
Roma, Basa Domenico\Zanetti Francesco, 1580. Municipal
Library of Trento
Sixtus I, Pope M (RM)
(also known as Xystus)
Born at Rome; died 127.
After the death of Pope Alexander I, when the emperor Trajan ruled the Roman
Empire, it was virtually certain that anyone who succeeded the pope would
suffer martyrdom, for this was an age when Christians were savagely persecuted.
Sixtus I took the office c. 117 knowing this, and survived as pope for about 10
years before being killed by the Roman authorities.
As well as displaying
great bravery, Sixtus I must have been much concerned with the liturgy of the
church as the Liber Pontificalis details three ordinances. It anachronistically
says that at the Eucharist when the priests came to the words 'Holy, holy, holy
Lord, God of power and might; heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna
in the highest,' Sixtus decreed that all the people in the church should join
in as well. (Unfortunately, this cannot be true because the Sanctus was not
added to the liturgy until a much later date: it was not included in the Mass
of Hippolytus. Therefore, it is unclear how accurate the balance of the entry
is.) It relates that he issued a decree that only the clergy should touch the
sacred vessels and that bishops called to Rome should not be received back by
their diocese unless they present Apostolic papers.
The Roman Martyrology
says that Sixtus I was killed by the pagan Romans in the year 127 under
Antonius the Pious, but there are no acta (Attwater2, Benedictines, Bentley,
Delaney, Encyclopedia).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0403.shtml
Raffaello Sanzio (1483–1520), Pala
d'altare con Madonna con Gesù
Bambino tra papa Sisto I e santa
Barbara detta Madonna Sistina, olio su tela, 1512-1514 (Alto Rinascimento), 269,5 x 201, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen
Dresden, Dresda
Pope St. Sixtus I
Pope St. Sixtus I (in the
oldest documents, Xystus is the spelling used for the first
three popes of
that name), succeeded St.
Alexander and was followed by St.
Telesphorus. According to the "Liberian Catalogue" of popes,
he ruled the Church during
the reign of Adrian "a conulatu Nigri et Aproniani usque Vero III et
Ambibulo", that is, from 117 to 126. Eusebius,
who in his "Chronicon" made
use of a catalogue of popes different
from the one he used in his "Historia ecclesiastica", states in
his "Chronicon" that
Sixtus I was pope from
114 to 124, while in his "History" he makes him rule from 114 to 128.
All authorities agree that he reigned about ten years. He was a Roman by birth,
and his father's name
was Pastor. According to the "Liber
Pontificalis" (ed. Duchesne, I, 128), he passed the following
three ordinances: (1) that none but sacred ministers are
allowed to touch the sacred
vessels; (2) that bishops who
have been summoned to the Holy
See shall, upon their return, not be received by their diocese except
on presenting Apostolic
letters; (3) that after the Preface in the Mass the priest shall
recite the Sanctus with the people. The "Felician Catalogue" of popes and
the various martyrologies give
him the title of martyr.
His feast is
celebrated on 6 April. He was buried in
the Vatican, beside the tomb of
St. Peter. His relics are
said to have been transferred to Alatri in 1132, though O Jozzi ("Il corpo
di S. Sisto I., papa e martire rivendicato alla basilica Vaticana", Rome,
1900) contends that they are still in the Vatican
Basilica. Butler (Lives of the Saints, 6 April) states that Clement
X gave some of his relics to
Cardinal de Retz, who placed them in the Abbey of St. Michael in Lorraine.
The Xystus who is commemorated in the Canon of the Mass is Xystus II, not
Xystus I.
Sources
Acta SS., April, I,
531-4; Liber Pontificatis, ed. DUCHESNE, I (Paris, 1886), 128;
MARINI, Cenni storici popolari sopra S. Sisto I, papa e martire, e suo
culto in Aletri (Foligno, 1884); DE PERSIIS, Del pontificato di S.
Sisto I, papa e martire, della translazione delle sue reliquie da Roma ecc.,
memorie (Alatri, 1884); BARMBY in Dict. Christ. Biog., s.v. Sixtus (2)
I.
Ott, Michael. "Pope
St. Sixtus I." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert
Appleton Company, 1912. 2 Apr. 2015
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14031b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Scott Anthony Hibbs.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14031b.htm
Cromolitografia
in L. Tripepi, Ritratti e biografie dei romani pontefici: da S. Pietro a Leone
13, Roma, Vaglimigli Davide, 1879. Municipal
Library of Trento
St.
Sixtus, or Xistus I., Pope and Martyr
See Eus. b. 4. c. 4, 5.
Tillemont, t. 2. p. 262.
Second Age
THIS holy pope succeeded
St. Alexander about the end of the reign of Trajan, and governed the church ten
years, at a time when that dignity was the common step to martyrdom; and in all
martyrologies he is honoured with the title of martyr. But it seems to be
Sixtus II. who is mentioned in the canon of the mass, whose martyrdom was more
famous in the church. A portion of the relics of St. Sixtus I. given by Pope
Clement X. to Cardinal de Retz, was by him placed with great solemnity in the
abbey of St. Michael in Lorrain. 1
Those primitive pastors,
who were chosen by God to be his great instruments in propagating his holy
faith, were men eminently endued with the spirit of the most heroic Christian
charity, so that we wonder not so much that their words and example were so
powerful in converting the world, as that any could be so obstinate as to
resist the spirit with which they delivered the divine oracles, and the
miracles and sanctity of their lives, with which they confirmed their mission.
What veneration must not the morality of the gospel command, when set off with
all its lustre in the lives and spirit of those who profess it, seeing its bare
precepts are allowed by Deists and Infidels themselves to be most admirable,
and evidently divine! Only the maxims of the gospel teach true and pure virtue,
and are such as extort applause from its enemies. The religion of a God
crucified is the triumph over self-love: it commands us to tame our rebellious
flesh, and subject it to the spirit; to divest ourselves of the old man, and to
clothe ourselves with the new; to forget injuries and to pardon enemies. In
these virtues, in this sublime disposition of soul, consist true greatness; not
in vain titles and empty names. Religion, barely for the maxims which, it lays
down, and in which it is founded, claims the highest respect. The morality of
the wisest Pagan philosophers was mingled with several shocking errors and
extravagances, and their virtues were generally defective in their motives.
Worldly heroism is founded in vice or human weaknesses. It is at the bottom no
better than a base ambition, avarice, or revenge, which makes many despise
death, though they gild over their courage with the glorious name of zeal for
their prince or country. Worldly actions spring not from those noble motives
which appear, but from some base disorder of the soul or secret passion. Among
the heathen philosophers, the Stoic led an austere life; but for the sake of a
vain reputation. Thus he only sacrificed one passion to another; and whilst he
insulted the Epicurean for his voluptuousness, was himself the dupe of his own
illusion.
Note
1. Baron, ad an. 154.
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume IV: April. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/4/061.html
Pope Sixtus I
Pope Sixtus I was born in
Rome, Italy. His father was a Roman pastor and therefore he was brought up in a
Christian family. Pope Sixtus I was the pope of the Roman Catholic Church
between c.115 and c.124. His predecessor was Pope Alexander I and his successor
was Pope Telesphorus. According to the chronicles of the Roman Catholic Church,
Pope Sixtus I was the sixth pope after St. Peter. On the other hand, the oldest
documents of the Catholic Church state that the name Xystus was used for the
first three popes. This has also raised some dispute about the use of the name
Sixtus. In Greek, the name Xystus means “shaved” and some sources that Pope
Sixtus I was also called Xystus as a reference to his unusual style of shaving
his head or face. The name originated in Rome during the reign of Emperor
Hadrian who brought back the fashion of full beards.
During his reign as the
Roman Catholic Pope, Pope Sixtus I contributed greatly to the administrative
aspect of the church. According to the “Liber Pontificalis”, Pope Sixtus
I passed the following three ordinances: The first ordinance was that none but
sacred ministers are allowed to touch the sacred vessels; The second was that
bishops who have been summoned to the Holy See shall, upon their return, not be
received by their diocese except on presenting Apostolic letters. The third
ordinance stated that after the Preface in the Mass the priest shall recite the
Sanctus with the people.
Not much is known
about Pope Sixtus I especially because during his reign, there was
documentation about the matters of the Catholic Church was scarce. However, it
is agreed that he was among the first Roman popes who did not have any clashes
with the leaders of Italy or other churches. In fact during his papacy, he made
great contributions in the day to day running of the administrative matters of
the church; some of these are still in use until today.
Nevertheless, some
historians have argued that some of the contributions attributed to Pope Sixtus
I were not really his and that they were only attributed him to complete the
history of the Roman Catholic Church. They claim that the attributes were used
a way of showing the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church in the ancient days
and that the information concerning Pope Sixtus I is not real or accurate.
The feast of Pope Sixtus
I is celebrated on the 6th of April. He died in c.124 and was buried
in the Vatican, next to the tomb of St. Peter. His relics are said to have been
transferred to Alatri in 1132 although there have been claims that the relics
are still in the Vatican Basilica. On the other hand, Butler states that
Clement X gave some of Pope Sixtus I’s relics to Cardinal de Retz, who put them
in the Abbey of St. Michael in Lorraine.
SOURCE : http://vatican.com/articles/popes/pope_sixtus_i-a4144
This
illustration is from The Lives and Times of the Popes by Chevalier
Artaud de Montor (1772-1849), New York: The Catholic Publication Society of
America, 1911. It was originally published in 1842.
The
Lives and Times of the Popes – Saint Sixtus I – A.D. 119
Article
Born of the senatorial
family of the Colonnas, Sixtus was created pontiff on the 29th of May, 119. He
was the first to direct that the chalice and the paten should be touched only
by the sacred ministers. Caesarotti remarks that if the pagan philosophers held
in honor the names of the Eumolpuses, the Orpheuses, and the Numas, because
they originated or added to the pomp of the worship of their fantastic deities,
into which those pagans introduced superstitions and absurd ceremonies, we
ought to contemplate with respect the pontiffs who, like Saint Alexander and
Saint Sixtus, successively, and in accordance with the Christian spirit,
labored to render more venerable the most august of all our mysteries.
Under the reign of Saint
Sixtus there was less persecution. A proconsul still more courageous than Pliny
represented to the Emperor Adrian how unjust it was to inflict cruel tortures,
without examination and trial, from mere prejudice against a class whose only
fault, in the estimation of all reasonable Romans, consisted in the name of
Christian. That proconsul was Serenius Granianus. History should display in
letters of gold the name of that minister who ventured to expose himself to the
hatred of the prince in defence of truth and justice. The emperor was moved,
and the apologies which were presented to him by Quadratus and Aristides
completely appeased him. Adrian wrote a memorable letter in favor of the
Christians, strictly forbade denunciations of them, and ordered that those who
offended in that wise should be punished. This showed that if he had not
already learned to worship Jesus, he had at least learned to venerate him. Ere
long, however, the inconsistent prince suffered persecution to begin again.
Sixtus was its victim.
Full of generous and
considerate ideas, Sixtus had ordered that no bishop having been summoned to
Rome, and subsequently returning to his bishopric, should be received there,
except on his presenting to his people apostolic letters called formatae.
These recommended the unity of the faith, and a mutual love between the head of
Catholicity and the children of Jesus Christ. Besides the letters called formatae (the formatae –
formed – were so named on account of the seal or of the especial form used in
writing them) there were others termed canonicals, which were delivered to
the bishops when they were about to return to their dioceses. Still more
explicit than the formatae, they tended to strengthen and render
unalterable the unity of the faith, obedience to the Holy See, the charity of
the pope, and that of the members of the Church. The word canonicals well
explains the sense of those letters. To prevent all system of fraud, those
letters were sanctioned by the first Council of Nice, which prescribed their
tenor, and in some sort even the cipher in which they should be written; for
their language was not intelligible to all. There were letters called pacifics,
or communicatives. These letters were given to pilgrims, and testified to
their Catholic faith and to their communion with the church in which they
lived. Letters commendatory served pilgrims in their travelling
expenses.
There were already
letters dimissory, by which a cleric could prove that he was absent from
his diocese by permission of his bishop. There were also memoriales, or
letters commonitory; they contained instructions to the legates for the fulfilment
of the commissions with which they were entrusted. And there were synodals,
which were issued on various occasions. They were called encyclicals or circulars,
and catholicals, when they were addressed to all the churches. They were
called decretals when the Roman pontiffs issued them in response to
various questions, or to prescribe the performance or the omission of some
act. Pastoral letters were those of the bishops to their flocks.
Letters confessory were those given to the Christians who, in times
of persecution, were imprisoned for the sake of Jesus. They recommended to the
bishops those weak-minded men who in their terror of torture had denied the
faith; and served afterwards to admit these uncourageous Christians to
penitence and rehabilitation. Apostolic letters were those which
emanated from the Roman pontiffs, in virtue of the apostolic authority. These
were of various kinds. Some were called briefs, by which name the ancients
understood the documents which described the ecclesiastical property, or what
we should now call inventories. The name of brief has become a generic
term, and is applied to all the missive letters of the Roman pontiffs. There
were, still further, letters that were called clericals, which were issued
by the clergy during the vacancy of sees. Saint Augustine speaks of letters
termed trattatory, by which princes invited the bishops to attend
councils. The same name was given to those letters by which bishops
communicated to other bishops what had taken place with respect to any business
or question of importance. Letters not noted by a title or other public sign
were termed private.
It has been maintained
that Saint Sixtus styled himself bishop of bishops. But this assertion rests
only on an apocryphal letter, as Marca and Baluze observe. Tertullian, who
flourished at the commencement of the third century, adopts that style and
title in speaking of the Roman pontiffs. Saint Sixtus created four bishops,
nine priests, and three deacons, and governed the Holy See during nearly nine
years.
MLA
Citation
Alexis-François Artaud de
Montor. “Saint Sixtus I – A.D. 119”. The
Lives and Times of the Popes, 1911. CatholicSaints.Info.
28 July 2022. Web. 25 March 2026. <https://catholicsaints.info/the-lives-and-times-of-the-popes-saint-sixtus-i-a-d-119/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/the-lives-and-times-of-the-popes-saint-sixtus-i-a-d-119/
San Sisto I Papa
Festa: 3 aprile
† 125
(Papa dal 115 al 125).
Prete romano, fu eletto con i voti di tutto il clero. Fu il sesto Papa dopo Pietro. Sisto vive a Roma in un’epoca di semi-tolleranza nei confronti dei cristiani, ai tempi dell’imperatore Traiano prima e di Adriano poi. Alla sua morte, dopo dieci anni di Pontificato, viene seppellito in Vaticano vicino a San Pietro. Fu lui a disporre che i calici e gli arredi sacri dell'altare potessero essere toccati solo dai sacerdoti.
Etimologia: Sisto =
variante di Sesto
Martirologio
Romano: A Roma, san Sisto I, papa, che, al tempo dell’imperatore Adriano,
resse la Chiesa di Roma, sesto dopo il beato Pietro.
Verso la fine del suo regno anche l'imperatore Traiano ritenne di dover mitigare la propria politica persecutoria nei confronti dei cristiani, anche perchè l' "infamia" di essere cristiano serviva più spesso a risolvere faide politiche e famigliari che non a dirimere questioni religiose.
Questo clima di pseudo tolleranza, che non cambiò comunque i metodi e le
persecuzioni, proseguì anche sotto l'imperatore Adriano il quale scrisse al
proconsole d'Asia: "Se uno fa le sue accuse e dimostra che i cristiani
operano contro le leggi, allora la colpa deve essere punita secondo la sua
gravità. Ma se qualcuno si avvale di questo pretesto per calunniare allora ?
quest'ultimo che deve essere punito".
In questa realtà nacque Sisto I, figlio di pastori romani, si presume sia
assurto al soglio intorno al 115.
A Sisto primo si deve l'introduzione di molte norme di culto, tra le quali il
divieto ai laici di toccare il sacro calice e la patena (n.d.a : piattino di
metallo dorato, argentato o di metallo nobile usato per la deposizione
dell'Ostia consacrata) lasciando agli uomini di culto il privilegio di questi
atti.
A Sisto I venne fatta risalire anche l'introduzione del triplice cantico
"Sanctus" durante la celebrazione della messa (nda: tratto dal tardo
latino mittere, mandare, inviare ... e soprattutto dalla formula finale del
rito cristiano fondamentale della celebrazione eucaristica: ite missa est
"andate, sei inviato!"), ma questo è dubbio, come è dubbia l'
attribuzione, a Sisto, l'introduzione dell'acqua nella celebrazione del rito
eucaristico e dell'acqua santa per le abluzioni ( n.d.a: queste ultime
attribuite al suo predecessore, Alessandro I).
Viene celebrato come santo, ma dal Calendario Universale della Chiesa è stato
depennato, perchè probabilmente non subì alcun martirio. La tradizione lo
considera sepolto accanto al corpo di Pietro, come per altro tutti i
predecessori ma, l'unica cattedrale dove ancora viene celebrato come santo è
quella di Alatri (nda: cittadina in provincia di Frosinone). E' protettore
anche di Alife (CE) che lo festeggia l'11 agosto.
Autore: Franco Prevato
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/48250
Segonzone
(Campodenno, Trentino), chiesa dei Santi Filippo e Giacomo - Affreschi della
navata - San Sisto I e santa Caterina
Segonzone
(Campodenno, Trentino, Italy), Saints Philip and James church - Frescos of the
nave - Saints Sixtus I and Catherine
SISTO I, santo
di Francesco Scorza
Barcellona
Enciclopedia dei Papi
(2000)
Eusebio di Cesarea assegna al suo episcopato la durata di dieci anni, dal 119 fino al 128 (Historia ecclesiastica IV, 4; 5, 5; Chronicon, ad aa. 119, 128). Lo stesso Eusebio riporta la testimonianza di Ireneo di Lione in una lettera a papa Vittore sulla questione della Pasqua (Historia ecclesiastica V, 24, 14), secondo cui S. (ΞύστοϚ, Xystus, Sixtus, Syxtus) era tra i predecessori di Vittore che, pur non celebrando la Pasqua cristiana secondo il calendario giudaico alla data del 14 del mese di nis¯an, non avrebbe imposto l'uso della Chiesa romana a quanti si comportavano secondo quella tradizione, mantenendo con essi la pace. Il Catalogo Liberiano attribuisce a S. un episcopato di dieci anni, tre mesi e ventun giorni, dal 117 al 126. Il Liber pontificalis, nr. 8, che omette il riferimento alla data di inizio dell'episcopato di S., riporta la stessa data per l'anno finale, parlando di un episcopato di dieci anni, due mesi e un giorno. Come questi ultimi dati, non sono accertabili nemmeno gli altri riferiti dal Liber pontificalis, secondo il quale S. sarebbe stato romano, figlio di Pastore, della regio della via Lata, sarebbe morto martire, avrebbe consacrato in tre ordinazioni undici presbiteri, quattro diaconi e quattro vescovi, sarebbe stato sepolto nel cimitero vaticano presso s. Pietro il 3 aprile, e la sua morte sarebbe stata seguita da due mesi di sede vacante. Lo stesso vale per alcune disposizioni di carattere liturgico e disciplinare che il Liber pontificalis attribuisce a Sisto. La prima riguarda l'uso dei vasi sacri (ministeria sacrata), riservato ai soli ministri del culto. La seconda prescrive che ogni vescovo convocato a Roma di ritorno alla propria sede non possa essere accolto se privo di una lettera di saluto della Sede apostolica, secondo il modello della formata. Le formatae erano lettere con cui un superiore ecclesiastico raccomandava un membro del clero ad altre autorità ecclesiastiche che non lo conoscevano, particolarmente in uso in occasione dell'ordinazione di nuovi vescovi: circostanza che non si addice a un vescovo già insediato per essere convocato dalla Sede apostolica. La disposizione attribuita a S. è desunta dal canone III di quelli della raccolta di un ipotetico concilio di papa Silvestro e di duecentosettantacinque vescovi, contenuti in uno degli apocrifi stesi nel corso della controversia laurenziana, all'epoca di papa Simmaco, e che oggi si ritiene una falsificazione di parte laurenziana: il canone in questione era inteso a garantire, con questo provvedimento, la comunione di ogni vescovo con la Sede romana. La terza disposizione attribuita a S. è quella relativa alla introduzione del canto del Sanctus da parte del popolo durante la liturgia della messa dopo l'intonazione del celebrante: non è accertato che l'introduzione del Sanctus nella messa romana, come in quella di altre liturgie, possa risalire già all'epoca di S., ma è probabile che la disposizione liturgica, pur di dubbia storicità, si intenda riferita alla sola partecipazione del popolo al canto dell'inno. È verosimile che sia S. il vescovo proveniente dall'Oriente cui nel finale della Passio di Alessandro, Evenzio e Teodolo si rivolge Severina, moglie di Aureliano, perché assegni un vescovo per la celebrazione della messa presso il sepolcro dei tre martiri: in tal caso la provenienza orientale di S. contraddice la notizia del Liber pontificalis sulla sua origine romana. Secondo un racconto di traslazione risalente forse alla metà del sec. XIV, l'antipapa Anacleto II avrebbe concesso il corpo di S. a Rainolfo, conte di Alife, che lo avrebbe fatto trasportare ad Alatri l'11 gennaio 1132. L'evento verrebbe confermato in documenti reperiti durante una ricognizione delle reliquie fatta nella cattedrale di Alatri nel 1584, attestanti la presenza del corpo di S. in un altare a lui dedicato alla data dell'11 maggio 1156. Il culto di S. ad Alatri continua in epoca contemporanea, nella ricorrenza della traslazione e il mercoledì dopo Pasqua. Il nome di S. è compreso nella lista di vescovi di Roma alla data del 23 dicembre nel Martyrologium Hieronymianum, ma la sua commemorazione vi compare alla data del 6 aprile, salvo che nel ms. Bernensis 289 (fine del sec. VIII), dove è registrata alla data del 3 aprile, corrispondente a quella della depositio nel Liber pontificalis. La data del 6 aprile è ripresa nei martirologi storici medievali a partire da quello dell'Anonimo lionese, degli inizi del sec. IX, e quindi nel Martyrologium Romanum. In questo però, nell'edizione del 1922, è stata ripristinata la data del 3 aprile. Due decretali pseudoisidoriane figurano sotto il nome di Sisto.
Fonti e Bibl.: Eusebio di Cesarea, Historia ecclesiastica IV, 4; 5, 5; V, 24, 14, a cura di E. Schwartz, Leipzig 1903 (Die Griechischen Christli-chen Schriftsteller. Eusebius Werke, II, 1), pp. 304, 306, 494-95; Id., Chronicon, ad aa. 119, 128, a cura di R. Helm, Berlin 1956 (Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller. Eusebius Werke, VII), pp. 198-99; Le Liber pontificalis, a cura di L. Duchesne, I, Paris 1886, pp. 54-5, 56-7, 128; Catalogo Liberiano, ibid., pp. 2-3; Passio sancti Alexandri 4, 20, in Acta Sanctorum [...], Maii, I, Antverpiae 1680, p. 375; H. Delehaye, Commentarius perpetuus in Martyrologium Hieronymianum [...], in Acta Sanctorum Novembris [...], II, pars posterior, Bruxellis 1931, pp. 172-73 (3 aprile), 176-77 (6 aprile), 662-63 (23 dicembre); Martyrologium Romanum [...] scholiis historicis instructum, in Propylaeum ad Acta Sanctorum Decembris, ivi 1940, p. 127; Édition pratique des Martyrologes de Bède, de l'Anonyme Lyonnais et de Florus, a cura di J. Dubois-G. Renaud, Paris 1976, p. 59.
Fonti agiografiche: Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina [...],
I-II, Bruxellis 1898-1901: II, nr. 7800; ibid., Novum Supplementum, a cura di
H. Fros, ivi 1986, p. 794. Il racconto della traslazione (Bibliotheca
Hagiographica Latina [...], II, nr. 7800) è pubblicato in Acta Sanctorum [...],
Aprilis, I, Antverpiae 1675, pp. 906-08; cfr. ibid., pp. 534-35; Acta Sanctorum
[...], Maii, VII, Antverpiae 1688, pp. 36-7 (in appendice). Decretali
attribuite a S. in P. Hinschius, Decretales pseudo-Isidorianae et Capitula
Angilramni […], Lipsiae 1863, pp. 105-9. Studi: Ecclesiastica Historia [...]
per aliquot studiosos et pios viros in urbe Magdeburgica, Centuria II, Caput X,
Basileae 1562, coll. 211-12; C. Baronio, Annales ecclesiastici, II, Romae 1590,
pp. 79, 95-8; Acta Sanctorum [...], Aprilis, I, Antverpiae 1675, pp. 533-35;
[L.-S.] Lenain de Tillemont, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique
des six premiers siècles, t. II, Venise 1732, pp. 240-41, 593-95; L. De Persis,
Del pontificato di S. Sisto I papa e martire, della traslazione delle sue
reliquie da Roma ad Alatri e del culto che vi ricevettero dal secolo XII a'
giorni nostri, Alatri 1884; A. Marini, Cenni storici popolari sopra s. Sisto I
papa e martire, ed il suo culto in Alatri, Foligno 1884; O. Iozzi, Il corpo di
S. Sisto I papa e martire, rivendicato alla Basilica vaticana, Roma 1900; I. da
Alatri, Alatri e il suo celeste patrono S. Sisto I papa e martire, Veroli 1932;
M. d'Alatri, Il papa San Sisto I tra storia e leggenda, Alatri 1976; G. Capone,
Il settimo papa: S. Sisto I nella storia del suo tempo, ivi 1984; E.
Wirbelauer, Zwei Päpste in Rom. Der Konflikt zwischen Laurentius und Symmachus
(498-514), München 1993, pp. 96-9, 324-26. A Dictionary of Christian Biography,
IV, London 1887, s.v., pp. 705-06; Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, XIV,
2, Paris 1941, s.v., coll. 2193-94; Vies des Saints et des Bienheureux, IV, ivi
1946, s.v., pp. 63-4; E.C., XI, s.v., coll. 777-78; Lexikon für Theologie und
Kirche, IX, Freiburg 1964², s.v., col. 378; New Catholic Encyclopaedia, XIII,
Washington 1967, s.v., p. 271; M. d'Alatri, Sisto I, in B.S., XI, coll.
1254-56; Lexikon der christlichen Ikonographie, VIII, Rom 1976, s.v., col. 378;
Biographisch-bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, X, Herzberg 1995, s.v., coll.
575-77; Il grande libro dei Santi. Dizionario enciclopedico, I, Cinisello
Balsamo 1998, s.v., pp. 1810-11.
© Istituto della
Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani - Riproduzione riservata
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/santo-sisto-i_(Enciclopedia-dei-Papi)/
G.
Bozzano, Sixtus' Martyrium, Deckenfresko, 19. Jahrhundert, in der Kathedrale in
Savona
Sixtus I.
auch: Xystus
Gedenktag katholisch: 3. April
Messe an einigen Orten: 6. April
Übertragung von Reliquien in die Jesuitenkirche São Roque nach Lissabon: 25.
Januar
Gedenktag orthodox: 3.
April
Gedenktag
syrisch-orthodox: 1. August, 19. Dezember
Name bedeutet: S: der Sechste (latein.)
X: der Geglättete (griech.)
römischer Gemeindevorsteher, Märtyrer (?)
* in Rom
† 125 (?) daselbst
Sixtus wurde wohl 115/116
römischer Gemeindevorsteher.
Nach der Liste des Irenäus
von Lyon war Sixtus der sechste Nachfolger von Petrus, nach
dem Papstbuch stammte er aus Rom.
Er wurde später als Märtyrer verehrt, ohne dass es dafür weitere Hinweise gibt.
Reliquien von
Sixtus werden auch in der Kathedrale in
Savona verehrt.
Briefe
von Sixtus gibt es online zu lesen in den Documenta Catholica Omnia.
Seite
zum Ausdruck optimiertUnser Reise-Blog:
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Autor: Joachim
Schäfer - zuletzt aktualisiert am 07.10.2022
Quellen:
• Vera Schauber, Hanns Michael Schindler: Heilige und Patrone im Jahreslauf. Pattloch, München 2001
• Karl Heussi: Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte. J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), Tübingen 1976
• Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, begr. von Michael Buchberger. Hrsg. von
Walter Kasper, 3., völlig neu bearb. Aufl., Bd. 9. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau
2000
korrekt zitieren: Joachim Schäfer: Artikel Sixtus I., aus dem Ökumenischen Heiligenlexikon - https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienS/Sixtus_I_Xystus.htm, abgerufen am 25. 3. 2026
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet das Ökumenische
Heiligenlexikon in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte
bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über https://d-nb.info/1175439177 und https://d-nb.info/969828497 abrufbar.
SOURCE : https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienS/Sixtus_I_Xystus.htm
Beinreliquie und
Reliquien anderer Märtyrer des 1./2. Jahrhunderts, im Museum der Kirche San
Paolo fuori le Mura in Rom
San Sixto I, papa,
aproximadamente, del año 115 al año 125. Tenemos muy pocos datos seguros sobre
su vida y actividad. Gobernó la Iglesia en tiempo del emperador Adriano. Se le
atribuyen varias normas relativas al culto litúrgico.
SOURCE : https://www.franciscanos.org/agnofranciscano/m04/dia0403.html
San Sixto I. Papa (c.115 - c.125). M. c. 125.
Estado divino. El sexto. Liso, pulido.
Martirologio Romano: En Roma, san Sixto I, papa, que en tiempo del
emperador Adriano rigió la Iglesia Romana, como sexto pontífice tras el
bienaventurado Pedro.
Nació en Roma. Sucedió a
san Alejandro I y parece que gobernó con excelencia la Iglesia en tiempos del
emperador Adriano y que ni él ni sus obispos celebraron la Pascua como lo
hacían los de Asia pero que conservó la unidad, admitiendo que en Roma se
celebrase en la fecha del 14 de Nisán como hacían los orientales.
Los martirologios
posteriores le hacen mártir en tiempos del emperador Antonino Pío; pero no hay
actas que narren su muerte; en la lista de san Ireneo de Lyon no aparece como
mártir. Se le atribuyen cambios litúrgicos que no tienen visos de
verosimilitud. Murió en Roma y sus reliquias fueron trasladadas a Alatri.
SOURCE : https://hagiopedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/otros-santos-del-dia_3.html
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