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 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
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 ».
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).
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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).
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.
