Portrait
of en:Pope
Caius un the en:Basilica of Saint Paul
Outside the Walls, Rome
Ritratto di it:Papa Caio nella it:Basilica di San Paolo fuori la Mura, Roma
Saint Caïus
Pape (28e) de 283 à
296 (+ 296)
Eusèbe de Césarée lui
attribue quinze années de pontificat, durant une période de paix. A
ce moment, avant le déclenchement de la grande persécution de Dioclétien, la
tolérance à l'égard des chrétiens était grande et plusieurs d'entre eux ont pu
même atteindre des rangs élevés dans l'administration régionale, voire
impériale.
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1017/Saint-Caius.html
Saint Caius (283-296)
Né en Dalmatie, il était le neveu de l’empereur Dioclétien.
Il fut martyrisé sous l’ordre de l’empereur Maximien.
SOURCE : http://eglise.de.dieu.free.fr/liste_des_papes_02.htm
SAINT SOTER et SAINT
CAÏUS
Papes et Martyrs
Saint Soter fut le
successeur du Pape Anicet. Il naquit à Fundi, ville de l'Italie méridionale. On
sait peu de chose sur sa vie.
Il déploya une ardente
charité pour les Églises qui souffraient de la persécution. Il subvenait, par
des aumônes, aux nécessités des chrétiens exilés pour la foi et n'oubliait pas
les indigents des provinces. Il accueillait, avec la tendresse d'un père, les
étrangers qui venaient à Rome, et leur prodiguait toutes les consolations qui
étaient en son pouvoir.
Il se montra intrépide
défenseur de la foi contre les hérésies, en particulier contre celle des
Montanistes, qui se répandait alors partout. Il écrivit aux évêques d'Italie
une lettre où il traite de la foi en Jésus-Christ. Il ordonna aussi que, le
Jeudi Saint, tous les fidèles recevraient le corps du Christ, hors ceux qui en
seraient empêchés par quelque grave péché, et déclara que les serments faits
contre la justice ne devaient pas être gardés.
Il siégea sur la chaire
pontificale trois ans, onze mois et dix-huit jours. Il fut enveloppé dans la
cruelle persécution qui s'éleva sous Marc-Aurèle et reçut la couronne du
martyre (177). Il fut enseveli dans le cimetière appelé plus tard de Calliste.
Il avait, selon la coutume de ses prédécesseurs, ordonné, au mois de décembre,
dix-huit prêtres, neuf diacres et onze évêques pour les divers lieux.
L'histoire nous a
transmis peu de chose sur la vie du Pape Caïus. Il était né en Dalmatie et
appartenait à la famille de Dioclétien. Ce fut un Pontife d'une rare prudence
et d'une vertu courageuse.
La persécution contre les
chrétiens sévissait alors dans toute sa fureur: les fidèles, pour s'y
soustraire, étaient obligés de se tenir cachés dans les cavernes et les tombeaux.
Saint Caïus mit tout son zèle à confirmer dans la foi les serviteurs de
Jésus-Christ. Il conseilla au patricien Chromatius de recevoir dans sa villa
les fidèles qui voudraient échapper aux bourreaux et alla les y visiter afin de
soutenir leur courage. Ce fut alors qu'il fit diacres Marc et Marcellin, qu'il
éleva leur père Tranquillin à la prêtrise et établit Sébastien défenseur de
l'Église.
Il ordonna que, dans
l'Église, avant de monter à l'épiscopat, on passerait par les degrés des ordres
et rangs de portier, de lecteur, d'exorciste, d'acolyte, de sous-diacre, de
diacre et de prêtre.
Afin d'éviter lui-même
les cruautés de Dioclétien, il se tint caché quelques temps dans une caverne;
mais, huit ans plus tard, il remporta la couronne du martyre avec son frère
Gabinus, après avoir siégé douze ans, quatre mois et cinq jours. Il avait
ordonné vingt-cinq prêtres, huit diacres et cinq évêques. Il fut enseveli au
cimetière de Calliste.
D'après le P.
Giry, Vie des Saints, Victor Palme, 1875, p. 203-205.
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_soter_et_saint_caius.html
Giovanni Battista de'Cavalieri (1525–1601), Caius I Papa Dalmata, Calcografia in Giovanni Battista Cavalieri, Pontificum Romanorum effigies, Roma, Basa Domenico\Zanet ti Francesco, 1580. 11,4 x 8, Municipal Library of Trento
Sts Soter et Caius, papes et martyrs
Selon le Liber Pontificalis, Soter mourut le 22 avril mais sans avoir subi le
martyr. Tous les martyrologes maintiennent cette date, et à partir de celui de
Sergius II (844-847), lui donne le titre de martyr.
L’Épitaphe du Pape Gaius indique sa déposition le 22 avril. Il est au
martyrologe hiéronymien à cette date.
Leur fête n’apparaît qu’au XIIe siècle dans le calendrier.
Leçons des Matines avant 1960
Quatrième leçon. Soter, né à Fondi en Campanie, décréta que les vierges
consacrées ne toucheraient pas les vases sacrés ni les pales, et qu’elles
n’encenseraient pas dans l’Église. Il statua aussi qu’en la Cène du Seigneur,
tous les fidèles recevraient le corps du Christ, excepté ceux qui en seraient
empêchés pour une faute grave. Soter siégea sur la chaire "pontificale
trois ans onze mois et dix-huit jours. Il reçut la couronne du martyre sous
l’empereur Marc-Aurèle, et fut enseveli dans le cimetière appelé cimetière de
Calixte, après avoir, selon la coutume de ses prédécesseurs, ordonné au mois de
décembre dix-huit prêtres et neuf Diacres, et sacré onze Évêques pour divers
lieux.
Cinquième leçon. Caïus était dalmate, et de la famille de l’empereur
Diode-tien. Il ordonna que, dans l’Église, avant d’être élevé à l’épiscopat, on
passerait par divers degrés d’ordre et d’honneur : ceux de Portier, de Lecteur,
d’Exorciste, d’Acolyte, de Sous-Diacre, de Diacre et de Prêtre. Fuyant la
cruauté dont Dioclétien usait envers les chrétiens, il se tint caché quelque
temps dans une caverne ; mais huit ans plus tard, il parvint à la couronne du
martyre avec son frère Gabinus, après avoir siégé douze ans quatre mois et cinq
jours, et après avoir ordonné au mois de décembre, vingt-cinq Prêtres, huit
Diacres et sacré cinq Évêques. Caïus fut enseveli dans le cimetière de-
Calixte, le dix des calendes de mai. Urbain Villa fait revivre sa mémoire dans
Rome, et réparer son église qui tombait en ruines, honorant cette église d’un
Titre et d’une Station, et l’enrichissant des reliques du saint Pape.
Dom Guéranger, l’Année Liturgique
Deux Papes martyrs croisent aujourd’hui leurs palmes sur le Cycle. Soter
souffrit pour le Christ au deuxième siècle, et Caïus au troisième ; cent années
les séparent, et l’énergie de la foi, la fidélité au divin dépôt ; se
retrouvent les mêmes. Quelle société humaine a jamais produit des siècles
entiers de héros ? La nôtre est fondée sur ce dévouement traditionnel qui se
prouve par le sang. Nos chefs n’ont pas voulu laisser aux soldats le monopole
du sacrifice ; les trente premiers successeurs de Pierre ont payé de leur vie
l’honneur du pontificat. Quel trône que celui de notre divin Ressuscité entouré
de tous ces rois revêtus de la pourpre triomphale ! Soter fut le successeur
immédiat d’Anicet, dont nous avons honoré la mémoire il y a peu de jours. Le
temps nous a dérobé la connaissance de ses actions. Un trait seulement est
arrivé jusqu’à nous. Eusèbe nous a conservé un fragment d’une lettre de saint
Denys, évêque de Corinthe, dans laquelle il remercie notre saint pontife des
largesses qu’il a envoyées aux fidèles de cette Église qui souffraient d’une
famine. Une lettre apostolique accompagnait ces aumônes, et saint Denys atteste
qu’on la lisait dans l’assemblée des fidèles, avec celle que saint Clément
avait adressée à la môme Église au siècle précédent. La charité des pontifes
romains s’est toujours unie à leur fidélité à conserver le dépôt de la foi.
Quant à Caius. il fut enlevé dans la terrible tempête suscitée par Dioclétien
contre l’Église, et ses gestes occupent à peine quelques lignes dans les
annales de Rome chrétienne. Nous ne serons donc pas étonnés de trouver tant de
concision dans le récit liturgique que l’Église consacre à ces deux Papes
martyrs.
Saints Pontifes, vous êtes du nombre de ceux qui ont traversé la grande
tribulation, et qui ont passé par l’eau et par le feu pour aborder au rivage de
l’éternité. La pensée de Jésus vainqueur de la mort soutenait votre courage ;
vous saviez que les gloires delà Résurrection ont succédé aux angoisses de la
Passion. Immolés comme Jésus pour votre troupeau, vous nous avez appris par
votre exemple que la vie et les intérêts de ce monde ne doivent compter pour
rien, quand il s’agit de confesser la foi. Armez-nous de ce courage. Le Baptême
nous a enrôlés dans la milice du Christ ; la Confirmation nous a donné l’Esprit
de force : nous devons donc être prêts pour les combats. Saints Pontifes, nous
ignorons si nos temps sont appelés à voir l’Église exposée à la persécution
sanglante ; quoi qu’il advienne, nous avons à lutter avec nous-mêmes, avec
l’esprit du monde, avec les démons ; soutenez-nous par vos prières. Vous avez
été les pères de la chrétienté ; la charité pastorale qui vous anima ici-bas
vit toujours dans vos cœurs. Protégez-nous, et rendez-nous fidèles à tous les
devoirs qui nous lient au souverain Maître dont vous avez soutenu la cause.
Bhx Cardinal Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
Station du « titulus Gaii »
Ces deux Papes furent inscrits fort tardivement dans le Calendrier romain.
Cependant la mention du nom de saint Caïus (+ 22 avril 296) dans les
Depositiones Episcoporum de Philocalus où il est inscrit à cette date, témoigne
de la dévotion qu’avaient pour lui les fidèles.
Sous son vocable s’élevait autrefois un titulus fort célèbre, près de l’église
de Sainte-Susanne et des Thermes de Dioclétien. Urbain VIII voulut en faire
revivre le souvenir par la construction d’une autre petite église, détruite
elle aussi aujourd’hui.
Une antique tradition à laquelle fait écho la Passion de sainte Susanne, veut
que cette martyre ait été la nièce du pape Caïus et la fille du prêtre Gabin,
frère du Pontife. Ce texte ajoute : Caii episcopi domus beati Gabini domui
iuncta erat, atque ex illo tempore Christianorum statio deputata est in duabus
aedibus, usque in hodiernum. Factum est hoc Romae, in regione sexta, apud Vicum
Mamurri, ante Sallustii forum. Ainsi parlent les Actes, qui sont généralement
exacts quant aux données topographiques.
Le pape Caïus ne mourut pas de mort violente — « confessor » dit la première
rédaction du Liber Pontificalis — et il fut enseveli dans la nécropole de
Callixte, en une crypte grandiose ornée de colonnes de marbre. De Rossi a
retrouvé des fragments de son épitaphe :
Eusèbe mentionne une lettre écrite vers 170 par le pape Soter (166-175 ?) à
Denis, évêque de Corinthe, et à laquelle celui-ci répondit par une missive où
on lisait ces paroles mémorables : « Aujourd’hui nous avons célébré le saint
jour du Seigneur, et nous y avons lu votre lettre que désormais nous lirons
toujours pour notre édification, comme celle qui nous fut écrite précédemment
par Clément [1]. »
Harnack a cru pouvoir reconnaître cette lettre du pape Soter dans ce qu’on
appelle la deuxième épître aux Corinthiens, jadis attribuée à Clément, mais
cette hypothèse n’a pas été admise.
Selon une notice de l’auteur du Praedestinatus (Ve siècle), le pape Soter
aurait écrit aussi un ouvrage contre les Montanistes, mais ce témoignage est
accueilli avec réserve. Le pape Soter fut enseveli au Vatican, selon l’usage de
ses prédécesseurs.
La messe [2] est du Commun des Martyrs : Sancti tui, sauf la première lecture
tirée de l’Apocalypse (XIX, 1-9), qui, avec ses Alléluia, s’adapte si bien au
cycle pascal. Au ciel, les martyrs jouissent déjà des prémices du nouveau
royaume messianique et, associés au Christ dans les triomphes, comme ils le
furent dans les tourments, ils célèbrent la fête nuptiale de l’Agneau avec
l’Église. Sans cesse ils répètent le cantique sacré : « Amen. Alléluia. » Amen
se rapporte à la vision béatifique qui couronne leur foi ; Alléluia est l’hymne
de leur cœur reconnaissant.
La collecte est celle du Commun de plusieurs Martyrs Pontifes : « Que les
mérites de vos bienheureux martyrs et pontifes Soter et Caïus nous protègent,
Seigneur, et que leur intercession accompagne nos humbles prières. »
Voilà ce qui se fait au ciel et ce que nous ferons nous aussi pendant toute l’éternité.
Nous contemplerons ce que sur la terre nous avons cru, et par notre « Amen »
dans la lumière de la gloire, nous scellerons la profession de foi que nous
avons émise dans le temps. De cela nous exulterons et nous rendrons d’ardentes
actions de grâces au Seigneur : Alléluia. Mais ce sera un remerciement éternel,
comme éternelle sera également notre communion. Saint Jean compare cette vraie
« Eucharistie » d’alléluia aux vapeurs d’un encens parfumé qui remplissent
toute l’éternité : Et fumus eius ascendit in omnia saecula saeculorum, puisque
dans le ciel la possession de Dieu ne nous manquera jamais, comme jamais ne
cessera sa louange.
[1] Eus., Hist. Eccl., IV, 23, P. G., xx, col. 390.
[2] Avant 1942.
Dom Pius Parsch, le Guide dans l’année liturgique
Je suis la véritable vigne, vous êtes les sarments.
Saint Soter. -Il fut pape de 166-175. Il succéda à saint Anicet. Il mourut
martyr. Il fut célèbre par sa bonté pour les confesseurs de la foi condamnés
aux mines. Quand il fut monté sur la chaire de Saint-Pierre, il défendit aux
vierges consacrées à Dieu de toucher aux vases sacrés et aux pales ; il leur
défendit de porter les encensoirs dans l’église. C’est lui, aussi, qui
prescrivit aux fidèles de recevoir le corps du Seigneur le Jeudi-Saint, à l’exception
de ceux qui devaient s’abstenir de la communion à cause de péchés graves.
Saint Caius. — Il fut pape de 283-296. Il était proche parent de Dioclétien.
Pour se conserver aux fidèles, il demeura longtemps caché, sans quitter Rome.
D’ordinaire, il se cachait dans les catacombes où il célébrait les saints
mystères et convertit beaucoup de païens. Il établit qu’on devait suivre les
degrés suivants jusqu’à l’Ordre de l’épiscopat : l’Ordre des portiers, des
lecteurs, des exorcistes, des acolytes, des sous-diacres, des diacres, des
prêtres. Il ne mourut pas de mort violente. Il fut enterré dans la catacombe de
saint Callixte, le 23 avril. Sainte Suzanne était sa nièce. Le pape Urbain VIII
fit revivre son souvenir à Rome ; il restaura son église détruite, l’éleva à la
dignité de station et l’enrichit de ses reliques.
La messe (Si diligis). — Nos deux papes ont vécu à l’ère des grandes
persécutions. C’est en prévision de ces luttes et de celles qui devaient suivre
jusqu’à la fin des temps que Jésus a promis à Pierre l’indéfectibilité de
l’Église. Si le juste vit de la foi, les puissances de l’enfer chercheront, à
toutes les époques, à ébranler cette foi. Il pourra y avoir des défections
individuelles dans le troupeau, mais son pasteur et l’ensemble des brebis
demeureront fidèles grâce à une assistance spéciale : le pasteur est assuré de
l’infaillibilité dans la transmission de la doctrine ; quant aux brebis, elles
ne pourront prétendre appartenir à l’Église que si elles adhèrent à son
enseignement ; l’autorité du chef rejettera celles qui auront failli, de façon
à maintenir toujours le corps sain. Merveilleuse disposition de la sagesse
divine, dont notre messe répète comme à plaisir la formule : « Tu es Pierre et
sur cette pierre je bâtirai mon Église et les puissances de l’enfer ne
prévaudront pas contre elle ». En français, la correspondance des termes est
moins nette qu’en araméen, où il est dit : « Tu es Képha et sur ce képha... ».
A l’époque des persécutions, la tactique des Césars païens consistait à tenter
d’obtenir un reniement de la foi. Nos deux papes ont « confessé » cette foi au
prix de leur sang et ont ainsi contribué à confirmer leurs frères, selon la
consigne du Sauveur à Pierre. Leur exemple continue à produire ses effets et
maintenant encore il y a des chrétiens qui savent donner leur sang pour le
Christ-Roi, comme on le voyait naguère au Mexique. Si nous ne sommes pas
menacés par les pouvoirs publics, nous pouvons l’être par les puissances
occultes de l’erreur dans l’intime de notre conscience. L’Église sollicite
l’intercession de nos deux papes pour nous aider à demeurer fidèlement attachés
à Pierre.
http://www.introibo.fr/22-04-Sts-Soter-et-Caius-papes-et#nh1
Lorenzo Monaco, San
Caio papa (1400 ca.),
tavola; Firenze, Galleria dell'Accademia
Also
known as
Caius the Dalmatian
Cayo
Gaius
22 April (Roman
calendar)
11 August (Eastern
calendar)
Profile
Some unreliable early
documents indicate he was from Spalato in Dalmatia, may have been a relative of
Emperor Diocletian,
and the uncle of Saint Susanna.
However, nothing reliable is known of his early life.
Pope in
a time of peace before the last great persecution of
Rome, and little concerning his papacy has
survived. Decreed that before a man could be bishop,
he must first be porter, reader, exorcist, acolyte,
sub-deacon, deacon,
and priest.
Divided the districts of Rome among deacons.
Originally listed as
a martyr based
on the tales of his suffering during the Diocletian persecutions,
these did not begin until years after his death,
and there is no evidence of his suffering or martyrdom.
This lack of verifiable information led to his name being dropped from the
Martyrology.
Papal Ascension
22 April 296 of
natural causes
buried in
the chamber next to the papal crypt in
the Catacombs of Saint Callistus
on the Appian Way
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
and Times of the Popes, by Alexis-François Artaud de Montor
Lives
of Illustrious Men, by Saint Jerome
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
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in italiano
MLA
Citation
“Pope Saint Caius
I“. CatholicSaints.Info. 29 September 2022. Web. 22 April 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-caius-i/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-caius-i/
Lives of Illustrious
Men – Gaius
Article
Gaius, bishop of Rome, in
the time of Zephyrinus, that is, in the reign of Antoninus, the son of Severus,
delivered a very notable disputation Against Proculus, the follower of
Montanus, convicting him of temerity in his defence of the new prophecy, and in
the same volume also enumerating only thirteen epistles of Paul, says that the
fourteenth, which is now called, To the Hebrews, is not by him, and is not
considered among the Romans to the present day as being by the apostle Paul.
MLA
Citation
Saint Jerome.
“Gaius”. Lives of Illustrious Men,
translated by Ernest Cushing Richardson. CatholicSaints.Info. 11 August
2018. Web. 22 April 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/lives-of-illustrious-men-gaius/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/lives-of-illustrious-men-gaius/
We have little definite information about Pope
St. Caius. Iit was said that he was a relative of the Emperor
Diocletian and was also an uncle of an unidentified holy Susanna. He also made
up the final structure of the lower orders. The information is not verifiable,
but seems to preclude his martyrdom, because – on the threshold of Peter from
283 to 296 – he died before the Diocletian persecution was unleashed.
Legend has it that Caius
was born in the Dalmatian city of Salona (nda: Solin is about 5 km NE of
Split), to a noble family related to the Roman emperor Diocletian.
Pope Caius was
consecrated on December 17, 283. However, during his pontificate, the
anti-repression was much attenuated. There were concessions for the
construction of new churches and the expansion of cemeteries.
At the same time, on the
home front, heresies multiplied. The last in chronological order was that of
“Mitra” (nda: manicheistic type of heresy, of Asian origin, for which God
assumed the heavenly contrast of light and of darkness).
His remains were first
placed in the cemetery of San Callisto, in 1631, in what was his house in Rome,
which then became a church. In 1880, when the church was demolished to build
the Ministry of War, in via XX settembre, his relics were transferred to the
chapel of the Barberini family.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/pope-st-caius/
Caius, Pope M (RM)
Died c. 296. All that is known about Saint Caius has come to us through
unreliable tradition. It is said that Pope Caius was a Dalmatian and a relative
of Emperor Diocletian. December 17, 283, he became pope. During the tranquil
initial years of his pontificate, Caius decreed that bishops must be priests
before consecration to the episcopacy. He is honored as a martyr because of his
sufferings: During Diocletian's persecution of Christians, he fled and was
forced to live for eight years in concealment in a cave or the catacombs. The
degree of unreliability of this tradition is demonstrated by the fact that the
Diocletian persecution did not begin until six or seven years after his death
(Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
Saint Caius is portrayed in art wearing the papal tiara with Saint Nereus. He
is venerated in Dalmatia and Venice (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0422.shtml
April
22
St. Caius, Pope and Martyr
HE succeeded St. Eutychian in the apostolic see, in 283. The church then
enjoyed a calm, but was soon afterwards disturbed by a tumultuous persecution
for two years, on the death of Carinus. St. Caius encouraged St. Sebastian and
the other martyrs and confessors. However, to preserve himself for his flock,
he withdrew for a time to avoid the fury of the storm. The ancient pontificals
say he was of Dalmatia, and related to the emperor Dioclesian. Having sat
twelve years, four months, and seven days, he died on the 21st of April, 296,
and was interred on the 22nd, on which day his name is honoured in the Liberian
Calendar. His sufferings obtained him the title of martyr, as Orsi takes
notice. 1
What had not these primitive saints to suffer not only from the persecutions of
infidel princes and magistrates, but also from the ignorance, stupidity,
jealousy, and malice of many whom they laboured daily to gain to Christ, and
from the manifold trials and dangers of so many souls in their dear flock whom
they bore in their hearts, and whose sufferings they felt much more severely
than their own! We are not to be surprised.—These were so many special effects
of a most tender love and mercy in Him by whose providence these trials were
sent them; they were the steps by which their souls were raised to the summit
of perfect virtue. We perhaps daily meet with domestic persecutions and
contradictions, and look upon them as obstacles to our progress in the way of
perfection, as thorns in our road. They may, indeed, be called thorns, but they
produce and guard the sweetest and most beautiful flowers of virtue. It is
owing to our sloth, cowardice, and impatience; it is our fault if they are
hindrances of what they are designed by God to advance and perfect in our
souls. Virtues exercised in prosperity, which are fair to the eye, and
applauded by men, are usually false or superficial. A perpetual spring would
produce only leaves and flowers, and bring no fruit to maturity. To understand
the incomparable value and merit of the little crosses of which we are so apt
to complain, we must not lose sight of the saints. Those Christian heroes, of
whom the world was not worthy, all suffered, and were persecuted many ways.
These crosses both purchased and ensured to them their greatest crowns.
Note 1. T. 3, l. 8, n. 46, p. 500. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume IV: April. The Lives
of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/4/222.html
Caius, pope
Caius (3). Pope from Dec. 17 (16?) A.D. 283 (9 or 10 days after the death of
his predecessor Eutychianus), to Apr. 22, A.D. 296, i.e. for 12 years 4 months
1 week (Pontifical, Bucher, p. 272), but only for 11 years according to
Anastasius (c. 24) and to most Latins, and for 15 years according to Eusebius,
who speaks of him as a contemporary (H. E. vii. 32; Chron. 284). He is probably
the same as Caius the deacon, imprisoned with pope Stephen, A.D. 257 (Anastas.
c. 24). Just as he was raised to the chair, the stern old Roman Carus died
mysteriously in a thunderstorm in the East, and his profligate son Carinus
succeeded to the empire at Rome. These events would seem to make a persecution,
such as is assigned to this period by various martyr Acts, not in itself
improbable, and though the Acts in question are untrustworthy (see Tillemont,
iv. 565), we are hardly justified in taking Eusebius for a witness to the
contrary, as far as concerns the West. The probability is confirmed by the
delay of the funeral of Eutychianus till July 25, 284 (v. Rossi, ii. 378). The
persecution is not represented as general, but as aimed at a few obnoxious
devotees, and Caius does not appear as leading, accompanying, or inciting them,
but only as exercising a fatherly supervision. Probably the persecution
continued for some time under Diocletian. The early Pontifical, as well as
Anastasius, makes Caius of Dalmatian origin and cousin to this emperor. The
Acts of St. Susanna confirm this, but are untrustworthy (Till. iv. 760). Caius
is said in the early Pontifical to have avoided persecution by hiding in the
crypts. During his latter years the Church must have enjoyed peace. He is said
by Anastasius to have established the 6 orders of usher, reader, exorcist,
subdeacon, deacon, and presbyter, as preliminary stages necessary before
attaining the episcopate, and also to have divided Rome into regions assigned
to the deacons. He is said to have sent Protus and Januarius on a mission to
Sardinia (Mart. Rom. Baron. Oct. 25). He died in peace according to the
6th-cent. Pontifical, and is not called a martyr by any one earlier than Bede
and Anastasius. He was succeeded by Marcellinus. A decretal is ascribed to him.
From a confusion between the calends of March and of May in the Mart. Hieron.,
Rabanus assigns his death, and Notker his burial, to Feb. 20 (Rossi, ii. 104).
His commemoration on July 1 in the Mart. Hieron. is unexplained (ib. p. 105).
He was the last of the 12 popes buried in the crypt of Sixtus, in the cemetery
of Callistus (ib. p. 105). He is therefore mentioned again, Aug. 9, at which
date a copy of the inscription set up by Sixtus III. was placed in the margin
of the ancient martyrology (ib. pp. 33–46).
[E.B.B.]
SOURCE`: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict.html?term=Caius,%20pope
ST. CAIUS
283 - 296 AD
If an account of the martyrdom of St. Susanna were correct, there would be a
very interesting fact about Pope St. Caius--that he was a relative of the
terrible persecutor, Diocletian. But scholars give small credit to the account
of the martyrdom of St. Susanna. It is true that the "Liber
Pontificalis" confirms this relationship of Caius with Diocletian, but the
"Liber Pontificalis" pretty clearly leaned on the unhistorical
account of St. Susanna for its information.
There is little information available on Pope St. Caius except that given by
the "Liber Pontificalis." The accounts of popes and acts of the
martyrs were quite probably destroyed when Diocletian made a determined effort
to do away with all Christian writings.
St. Caius was a Dalmatian, the son of Caius. He decreed that before a man could
be bishop, he must first be porter, reader, exorcist, acolyte, subdeacon,
deacon, and priest. He also divided the districts of Rome among the deacons.
When the persecution of Diocletian began to rage, so we are told, St. Caius
took refuge in the catacombs and died there a confessor. But actually the
persecution of Diocletian did not even begin until six or seven years after the
death of St. Caius. It is true that during the pontificate of Caius, Diocletian
ascended the imperial throne, but at first the great organizer was anything but
hostile to the Christians.
At this period, however, work on the catacombs was pushed vigorously. New
galleries were excavated and small churches built over them.
St. Caius died in 296 and was buried in the Cemetery of Calixtus. His tombstone
has been pieced together. The feast of St. Caius together with that of Pope St.
Soter is celebrated on April 22.
SOURCE : http://www.cfpeople.org/Books/Pope/popep28.htm
Article
CAIUS (Saint) Pope,
Martyr (April 22) (3rd century) The successor (A.D. 283) of Pope Saint
Eutychian. He is said to have been by birth a Dalmatian, and related to the
Emperor Diocletian. Though he was not put to death for the Faith, his many
sufferings in the cause of religion have earned for him the title of Martyr. He
died A.D. 296. The formal recognition of the six Orders, Ostiarius, Lector,
Exorcist, Acolyte, Subdeacon and Deacon, as preliminary to the Priesthood, is
attributed to him.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Caius”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 19
September 2012.
Web. 22 April 2023. <http://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-caius/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-caius/
The
Lives and Times of the Popes – Saint Caius – A.D. 283
Article
Saint Caius, a priest of
Spulatro, in Dalmatia, son of Saint Caius, priest, brother of Saint Gabinus,
uncle of Saint Susanna, virgin and martyr, and nephew of the Emperor
Diocletian, was created pontiff on the 16th of December, 283.
He confirmed the custom
which required clerics to pass through the seven inferior orders of the Church
during a fitting period before they could be created bishops. In five
ordinations he created, in December, five bishops, twenty-five priests, and
eight deacons, and he governed the Church twelve years, four months, and
seventeen days. He died on the 22d of April, A.D. 296. He was a man of rare
prudence and virtue. He was interred in the cemetery of Calixtus. The Holy See
was vacant ten days.
Under this pontificate
reigned the Emperor Maximianus. Desiring to pass into Gaul, he brought from the
East a legion named the Theban, which was composed of Christians; and he wished
to make them, like other soldiers, instruments in the persecution of the
Christians. The regiment refused to obey. The emperor, to rest from the
fatigues of the journey, stopped upon the Alps, in a place called Octodurum,
now Martinach in the Valais. The Theban legion was then near there, at a place
called Agaunus, at the foot of the mountain now known as the Great Saint
Bernard. The emperor, irritated by the disobedience of the Theban legion,
ordered it to be decimated, and then repeated his orders that the rest should
persecute the Christians. Decimation was a military punishment of offending
soldiery. The Theban legion, on receiving this second order, began to exclaim
throughout the camp that they would rather suffer the utmost extremities than
do anything against the Christian religion. The emperor ordered them to be
again decimated, and the survivors to be reduced to obedience. Every tenth man
was again put to death, and the survivors encouraged each other to persevere.
They were principally
encouraged by three of their officers, Mauritius, Exuperus, and Candidus, who
exhorted them to follow the example of their comrades. Under the advice of their
officers, the soldiers sent a remonstrance to the emperor. “We are your
soldiers, lord,” said the remonstrance, “but servants of God, we confess it
freely. To you we owe the service of war, to him the service of innocence; from
you we receive pay, from him we receive life. We cannot obey you in renouncing
God, our Creator and Master, and yours also. If nothing be demanded from us
that is offensive to him, we will obey you, as hitherto we always have done;
otherwise we shall obey him rather than you. We offer you our hands against all
enemies, be they whom they may; but we do not deem ourselves permitted to
imbrue those hands in the blood of the innocent. We made an oath to God before
we did so to you: you could not believe the latter oath would be kept, should
we break the former one. You command us to search for Christians, that they may
be punished: you have only to search after others; for ourselves, we confess
God the Maker of all things, and Jesus Christ his Son. We have seen our
companions slain, without pitying them; we even rejoiced that they had the
honor to suffer for their God. Neither their death nor despair has led us to
revolt; we are armed, yet we shall not resist, because we prefer to die
innocent rather than live guilty.”
Maximianus, despairing of
being able to conquer such constancy, ordered that all the survivors of the
legion should be put to death, and the other soldiers surrounded them to cut
them to pieces. They made no resistance, but grounded their arms and presented
their throats to their destroyers, and the ground was soon covered with their
bodies. It is supposed that about six thousand men were thus destroyed, that
being the usual number of the legions.
A veteran soldier, named
Victor, who did not belong to that legion, and was out of the service, found
himself, while on the road, in the company of those who had slain the martyrs,
and who were feasting and rejoicing over their plunder. They invited the
veteran to eat with them, and told him exultingly all that had passed. Detesting
alike their banquet and themselves, he turned to depart, from them, when they
asked him if he was not a Christian. He answered that he was and always would
be. They instantly threw themselves upon him and put him to death.
MLA
Citation
Alexis-François Artaud de
Montor. “Saint Caius – A.D. 283”. The
Lives and Times of the Popes, 1911. CatholicSaints.Info.
2 August 2022. Web. 22 April 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/the-lives-and-times-of-the-popes-saint-caius-a-d-283/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/the-lives-and-times-of-the-popes-saint-caius-a-d-283/
Pope St. Caius
Pope from December 17, 283 - April 22, 296 A.D.
Died: April 22, 296 A.D.
aka Pope St. Gaius
Pronounced KYE-uss or GYE-uss
Give me the scoop on Caius.
Pope St. Caius reigned as pope for 12 years, four months, and seven days,
having been elected on December 17, 283 and dying April 22, 296. Unverifiable
tradition holds that St. Caius was born near modern-day Croatia, belonged to a
noble family, and was a relative of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. It’s fairly
certain that Caius was not a martyr, though according to his entry in the Roman
Martyrology he died while fleeing Roman persecution.
What was he known for?
If St. Eutychian was known for not being known for anything, it’s all the more
true for St. Caius. In the “calm before the storm,” St. Caius presumably went
about his business of keeping the ball rolling, building more churches and
expanding cemeteries in the face of the impending Roman persecution.
Fun fact: St. Caius shares a feast day (April 22) with St. Soter, a fellow
pope who reigned from 166-174 A.D.
What else was going on in the world at the time?
The oldest known Mayan stele, a stone or wooden monument, was erected in the Mayan
capital of Tikal (modern-day Guatemala).
Coming tomorrow....Pope St. Marcellinus
SOURCES (and further
reading)
John, E. (1964). The Popes: A concise biographical history. New York: Hawthorn Books.
Caius and Soter, Saints and Popes - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03144c.htm
Pope Caius - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Caius
290s - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/290s
SOURCE : https://projects.flocknote.com/note/2873399
Pope Saint Caius
(17 December 283 - 22 April 296)
Original owner of the
site of the Church of Santa Susanna. He was from Dalmatia (along the coast of
Bosnia), Caius is attributed to be a relative of the emperor Diocletian. Caius
was the uncle of Saint Susanna and the church stands over the site of the two
houses built by Caius and his brother Gabinus about the year 285. Here Caius,
Gabinus and Susanna lived. Here the Christian community gathered to celebrate
the eucharist, as the church could not own property.
Caius is attributed to
have encouraged both his niece Susanna and the captain of the Praetorian Guard
under Diocletian, Saint Sebastian to witness to their faith even under the
threat of martyrdom. While Susanna, Gabinus and Sebastian were all martyred
under Diocletian, it appears that Caius died a natural death. He is buried in
the chamber next to the papal crypt in the catacombs of San Callistus.
When the first church was
constructed over the site of Caius' house about 330, the church was originally
called San Caio. The growing devotion to Saint Susanna, who was buried in the
church, led Pope St. Gregory the Great to rename the church Santa Susanna in
590. Pope St. Caius' feast day is April 22.
_Liber_Chronicarum_(serietitel)%2C_RP-P-2016-49-56-8.jpg)
Paus Cajus Caius (titel op object) Liber Chronicarum (serietitel), prentmaker: Michel Wolgemut (atelier van)prentmaker: Wilhelm Pleydenwurff (atelier van), 1493. De houtsnede wordt herhaaldelijk gebruikt als boekillustratie in de Liber Chronicarum (of Neurenbergkroniek) van Hartmann Schedel, verschenen in het Latijn en Duits in 1493. Zie de Latijnse uitgave, folio 122v.
283 - 296 AD
If an account of the
martyrdom of St. Susanna were correct, there would be a very interesting fact
about Pope St. Caius--that he was a relative of the terrible persecutor,
Diocletian. But scholars give small credit to the account of the martyrdom of
St. Susanna. It is true that the "Liber Pontificalis" confirms this
relationship of Caius with Diocletian, but the "Liber Pontificalis"
pretty clearly leaned on the unhistorical account of St. Susanna for its information.
There is little
information available on Pope St. Caius except that given by the "Liber
Pontificalis." The accounts of popes and acts of the martyrs were quite
probably destroyed when Diocletian made a determined effort to do away with all
Christian writings.
St. Caius was a
Dalmatian, the son of Caius. He decreed that before a man could be bishop, he
must first be porter, reader, exorcist, acolyte, subdeacon, deacon, and priest.
He also divided the districts of Rome among the deacons.
When the persecution of
Diocletian began to rage, so we are told, St. Caius took refuge in the
catacombs and died there a confessor. But actually the persecution of
Diocletian did not even begin until six or seven years after the death of St.
Caius. It is true that during the pontificate of Caius, Diocletian ascended the
imperial throne, but at first the great organizer was anything but hostile to
the Christians.
At this period, however,
work on the catacombs was pushed vigorously. New galleries were excavated and
small churches built over them.
St. Caius died in 296 and
was buried in the Cemetery of Calixtus. His tombstone has been pieced together.
The feast of St. Caius together with that of Pope St. Soter is celebrated on
April 22.
SOURCE : https://web.archive.org/web/20071101034234/http://www.cfpeople.org/books/pope/POPEp28.htm
Golden Legend –
Life of Saint Gaius
Here followeth the life
of Saint Gaius.
That time when Diocletian
and Maximian reigned emperors, Gaius, that was pope of Rome, called and made to
assemble all the christian people together, and said to them: Our Lord hath
ordained two degrees or states to them that believe on him, that is to wit,
confessors and martyrs. And therefore if some of you be fearful and in doubt
that they shall not mowe suffer martyrdom, let them ever have true and very
confession and be steadfast in the faith, and go must they with Cromatius and
Tiburtius for to save themselves. And they that are willing for to abide with
me within this city, in the name of God let them abide, for the separation of
the persons in far countries may not separate that the divine charity hath
assembled. Then escried to him Tiburtius saying: Holy father, I beseech thee
that thou leave me not to turn my back, fearing the persecutors. For to me it
shall be great joy and comfort to suffer bodily death, for to get and enjoy
life eternal. When Saint Gaius saw the faith of Tiburtius and his constant
courage he began to weep for joy. There abode with him Marcellius, Mark their
father, Tranquilinus, Sebastian, Tiburtius and Saint Nicostratus, with him his
brother Castor and his wife Zoe, also Claudian and Victorian hii brother, with
them his son Symphorian. The bishop ordained unto deacons Saint Mark and
Marcellius and made priest Tranquilinus.
He did ordain Saint Sebastian defensor of the Church, and the others he
ordained and made subdeacons. Night and day they were continually in great
devotion, fasting, weeping and saying their prayers and orisons, and devoutly
prayed our Lord that of his benign grace he would make them able and worthy to
be accompanied with the martyrs by very patience, and there by their prayers
many one were healed of their sickness. Many a blind person was restored of
sight, and many enemies or devils were put out from many a creature.
So as Tiburtius went
through the town he saw a man that was fallen from high unto low, insomuch that
he was all to-burst and broken of all his members, and men would have made his
grave for to bury him. Soon Tiburtius approached and began to say Pater noster
over him, fair and soft, and incontinent after, he was whole, and rendered him
in to good health to his parents. And soon after, he had him aside from the
people and converted and baptized him. So as Zoe was devoutly in orison and at
her prayers she was taken and led by the paynims unto a statue of Mars, for to
have constrained her to sacrifice to the idols. She then answered: Ye will
constrain a woman for to sacrifice unto the statue of Mars for to show that
your Mars delighteth and taketh his pleasure in women, and howbeit that he may
do his will of the shameful Venus, neverthelatter he shall not have the victory
of me, for I bear the victory of me at my forehead. Then she was taken and led
into a prison right dark and much obscure; and there she was five days without
sight of any light, without drink, and without meat, and without the sight and
hearing of any body, but only of him that had closed or shut her therein, who
often said to her: By famine, or by fault and lack of meat, thou shalt die here
in tenebres or darkness if thou sacrifice not unto our mighty gods. The sixth
day she was had out of prison, and hanged she was by her hairs to a high tree,
and under her they made a smoke of dung and of ordure or filth, which rendered
a horrible stench. And by this torment of martyrdom she expired and rendered
her soul unto our Lord, confessing ever his right holy name.
After, the tyrants took
the holy corpse and at the neck of it they hung a great stone, and cast it
within the river of Tiber, to the end that the christians should not take it to
make of it a goddess. And after that she thus had received her martyrdom, she
appeared before Saint Sebastian and recounted to him how she had suffered
martyrdom for the love of our Lord. The which thing, as Saint Sebastian rehearsed
it to his fellows, Tranquilinus escried and said: The women precede us to the
crown of glory, why live we so long?
On the seventh day after
this, Tranquilinus alone, high and public, began to denounce the name of God,
and anon he was taken and cast with stones, and when he had rendered his soul
to God he was cast into the water of Tiber. And as Nicostratus and Claudian,
with them Castor, Victorian and Symphorian were about to have out of the river
of Tiber the bodies of the martyrs, they were taken and led unto the prefect or
judge Fabian, which invited them to sacrifice unto the idols by the space of
ten days, one time by menaces, that other time by fair words, weening to have
brought them to this idolatry. But ever they were steadfast and constant in the
faith, which Fabian, when he saw them so constant, he went and told it to the
emperor, and the emperor commanded that they should be forthwith tormented by
divers torments. But when he saw their steadfast belief, he commanded that
without delay they should be cast into the midst of the sea. Anon Fabian, for
to accomplish the commandment of the emperor, made to be hanged at the neck of
each one of them a great stone, and thrown they were unto the bottom of the
sea. Thus were consumed or ended their martyrdoms, flourishing as lilies before
God, in sempiterna secula, where we all may have part. Amen.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/golden-legend-life-of-saint-gaius/
Caius and Soter, Saints and Popes
They
have their feast together on 22 April, on which day they appear in
most of the martyrologies,
though Notker and
a few others give Soter on the 21st and Caius on the 19th or 21st.
Soter was pope for
eight years, c. 167 to 175 (Harnack prefers 166-174). We possess a fragment of
an interesting letter addressed to him by St. Dionysius of Corinth,
who writes: "From the beginning it has been your custom to
do good to all the brethren in many ways, and to send alms to
many churches in
every city, refreshing the poverty of those who sent requests, or giving
aid to the brethren in the mines, by the almswhich
you have had the habit of giving from old, Romans keeping
up the traditional custom of the Romans; which your blessed Bishop Soter has
not only preserved, but has even increased, by providing the abundance which he
has sent to the saints,
and by further consoling with blessed words with brethren who came to
him, as a loving father his children." "Today, therefore,
we have kept the holy Lord's day, on which we have read your
letter, which we shall always have to read and be admonished, even as the
former letter which was written to us by
the ministry of Clement." (Eusebius, Church
History IV.24) The letter which Soter had written in the
name of his church is lost, though Harnack and others have attempted
to identify it with the so-called"Second
Epistle of Clement" (see CLEMENT
OF ROME). The reverence for the pope's paternal
letter is to be noticed. The traditional generosity of the Roman
Church is again referred to by St.
Dionysius of Alexandria toPope Dionysius in the middle of the
third century, and Eusebius says
it still continued in his time. Nothing further is known of
this pope.
Caius was pope for
twelve years, four months, and seven days, from 17 December, 283, to 22 April,
296, according to the Liberian catalogue (Harnack, Chronol., I,
155, after Lipsius and Lightfoot); Eusebius is
wrong in giving him fifteen years. He is mentioned in the fourth-century
"Depositio Episcoporum" (therefore not as amartyr): X kl maii
Caii in Callisti. He was buried in
the chapel of
the popes in
that cemetary. Nothing whatever is known of his life. He lived in the time
of peace before the last great persecution.
Sources
Soter is said by the
fifth-century writer known as PRÆDESTINATUS (c. xxvi) to have written a book
against the Montanists; he adds that Tertullian wrote against Pope Soter and
Apollonius. As we know (JEROME, Illustrious
Men 40) that Tertullian wrote against Apollonius in his lost De
Ecstasi, this may be true; see HARNACK, Gesch. der altchristlich.
Lit., I, 589; ZAHN, Forschungen (1893), V, 49. On Caius in later Acts
of Saints see TILLEMONT, IV; Acta SS., 14 April; BECILLUS, Acta
S. Caii P. et M. (Rome, 1628). The false decretals attributed to these two
popes will be found in the collections of councils, in COUSTANT, MIGNE,
HINSCHIUS, etc. On a lette attributed to Caius by the Malabar Christians, see
ROUTH, Reliq. Sacrae, II, 158, and HARNACK, op. cit., 777.
Chapman,
John. "Caius and Soter, Saints and Popes." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1908. 23 Apr.
2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03144c.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Matthew Reak.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John
Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03144c.htm
Sts. Caius and Soter
Feast day: Apr 22
Cauis and Soter, Popes of the early Church, are both
venerated in tradition as martyrs, though no reliable account of their
martyrdom survives today.
St. Soter was born in Fundi, in Italy. The date of his
birth is unknown but we know that he was Pope for eight years from 166 until
his death in 174.
Soter´s papacy was an example of what seems to have
been the remarkable tradition of generosity exercised by the bishop of Rome.
This tradition and Soter´s personal charity and paternal love for his universal
flock can be evidenced from a letter to Pope Soter by Bishop St. Dionysus of
Corinth, quoted in the 4th century “Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius”:
“This has been your custom from the beginning, to do
good in manifold ways to all Christians, and to send contributions to the many
churches in every city, in some places relieving the poverty of the needy and
ministering to the Christians in the mines, by the contribution which you have
sent from the beginning, preserving the ancestral custom of the Romans, true
Romans as you are. Your blessed bishop Soter has not only carried on the habit
but has even increased it, by administering the bounty distributed to the
saints and by exhorting with his blessed words the brethren who come to Rome,
as a loving father would his children." (IV, xxiii, 9- 15)
In the same letter of Dionysus we learn that Pope
Soter had written a letter to the Corinthians which was read in the Church alongside
the epistle of St. Clement and was held in high esteem.
Though his kindness extended to all persons, he was a
fierce opponent of heresy, having been said to have written an encyclical
against Montanism – the teachings of a heretical sect which believed that a
Christian who had sinned gravely could never be redeemed.
Pope St. Caius reigned for 13 years from 283 until his
death in 296 just before the Diocletian persecution. He was a relative of the
Emperor Diocletian – instigator of one of the last great persecution of
Christians in the early years of the Church. Early in his papacy Caius decreed
that a man must be a priest before he could be ordained a bishop.
He is said to have been driven into hiding in the
catacombs for eight years whence he died a confessor, however the source from
which this information is gleaned is considered unreliable by most historians.
Both St. Soter and St. Caius are buried in the
cemetery of St. Calixtus and are venerated on the date of the death of Pope St.
Caius.
SOURCE : https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/sts-caius-and-soter-449
Lorenzo
Monaco, Martirio di papa Caio, 1394-1397 circa, Los
Angeles, Centro Getty.
Lorenzo
Monaco (Piero di Giovanni), The Martyrdom of Pope Caius (San
Gaggio). ca. 1394. Originally part of altarpiece of church of San Gaggio in
Florence.
San Caio Papa
m. 296
(Papa dal 17/12/283 al 22/04/296)
Su Papa Caio (come su Papa Sotere che viene ricordato sempre oggi) abbiamo
poche notizie certe. Di lui si diceva che fosse parente di Diocleziano e fosse
altresì zio di una non meglio identificata santa Susanna. A lui inoltre si
faceva risalire la definitiva strutturazione degli ordini inferiori
all'episcopato. Ma sono notizie non verificabili, mentre sembra da escludere il
suo martirio, perché - sul soglio di Pietro dal 283 al 296 - morì prima che
Diocleziano scatenasse, nel 303, la persecuzione. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Caio = lieto,
felice, dal latino
Martirologio Romano: A
Roma nel cimitero di Callisto sulla via Appia, deposizione di san Gaio, papa,
che, fuggito dalla persecuzione dell’imperatore Diocleziano, morì confessore
della fede.
La leggenda vuole che Caio fosse nato nell'antica città dalmata di Salona (nda: attuale Solin a circa 5 km, NE di Spalato), da nobile famiglia romana imparentata con l'imperatore Diocleziano.
Fu consacrato papa il 17 dicembre 283. Comunque, durante il suo pontificato le repressioni anticristiane furono di gran lunga attenuate. Vi furono concessioni per la costruzione di nuove chiese e l'ampliamento dei cimiteri.
Nel contempo sul "fronte interno" si moltiplicarono le eresie. L'ultima in ordine cronologico fu quella di "Mitra" (nda: eresia di tipo manicheistico, di provenienza asiatica, per la quale Dio assumeva in se la contrapposizione celeste della luce e delle tenebre).
Morì il 22 aprile del 296. Contrastata è la sua santificazione ed il suo martirio, anche per il fatto che Diocleziano scatenò le persecuzioni solo nel 303.
Le sue spoglie furono deposte prima nel cimitero di San Callisto, nel 1631 in quella che fu la sua casa in Roma e trasformata in chiesa. Nel 1880, quando la chiesa fu demolita per costruirvi il "Ministero della Guerra" di via XX settembre, le reliquie furono traslate nella cappella della famiglia Barberini.
Autore: Franco Prevato
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/50400
CAIO, santo
di Francesco Scorza
Barcellona - Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000)
A C. (o Gaio), successore
di Eutichiano, il Catalogo Liberiano attribuisce un pontificato di dodici anni,
quattro mesi e sette giorni, per il periodo dal 17 dicembre 283 al 22 aprile
296: questa datazione è più corretta di quella fornita da Eusebio di Cesarea,
che assegna a C. un pontificato di quindici anni, a partire dal 282, o di
quella del Liber pontificalis, che, pur riprendendo le date del Catalogo
Liberiano, parla di undici anni, quattro mesi e dodici giorni. La ricorrenza
della morte, alla data del 22 aprile, è confermata dalla Depositio martyrum,
che ricorda C. sepolto nel cimitero di Callisto. Pur avendo retto così a lungo
la Chiesa di Roma, di C. non si hanno notizie da fonti attendibili. Il vescovo
C. appare nella Passio Susannae come fratello del presbitero Gabinio, padre di
Susanna, entrambi figli di Massimino, senatore e console, cugino degli Augusti
Diocleziano e Massimiano, quest'ultimo considerato figlio dello stesso
Diocleziano, e al quale il padre vuole dare in sposa la figlia di Gabinio.
Nella prima parte di questa Passio, C. opera molte conversioni di pagani: tra
questi il senatore Claudio con la moglie Prepedigna e i figli Alessandro e
Cuzia, il "comes rei privatae" Massimo, fratello di Claudio, che
moriranno martiri. In un primo momento Susanna con il padre Gabinio sono
arrestati. Gabinio scompare poi dal racconto della Passio, mentre Susanna
subisce il martirio nella casa paterna, contigua a quella di C., e quest'ultimo
si occupa del servizio liturgico che vi si svolge a partire da allora, in
quello che si chiamerà il "titulus [o statio] ad Duas domos". Tale
chiesa è attestata con il nome di "titulus Caii" alla fine del V
secolo, nel sinodo romano del 499 (cfr. M.G.H., Auctores antiquissimi, XIII, a
cura di Th. Mommsen, 1898, p. 413), mentre nel Martyrologium Hieronymianum,
alla data dell'11 agosto e con il nome di "Ad Duas domos", è
ricordata come la sede del culto di Susanna: alla fine del sec. VI è già citata
come "titulus Susannae". La Passio Susannae, che secondo L. Duchesne
risale all'anno 500 circa, è una leggenda di fondazione che vuole spiegare le
diverse titolature della predetta chiesa, situata sulla Alta semita, l'attuale
via XX Settembre in Roma, facendovi agire il più antico titolare, Caio (che non
si sa se originariamente fosse già identificato con l'omonimo vescovo), insieme
alla più recente Susanna: i nomi di altri personaggi che intervengono nella
Passio, come Alessandro, Prepedigna e Cuzia, sarebbero malamente desunti dal
latercolo del Martyrologium Hieronymianum alla data del 1° ottobre
relativamente ai martiri di Dinogetia nella Mesia. In questa Passio,
specialmente nella seconda parte relativa al martirio di Susanna, il
personaggio di C. resta sullo sfondo, e soprattutto non vi figura come martire.
Scarso seguito ha avuto l'ipotesi (C. Cecchelli) secondo cui il "titulus
Caii" non si dovrebbe identificare con il "titulus Susannae", ma
con una chiesa attigua, sulle cui rovine Urbano VIII avrebbe fatto erigere un
nuovo edificio, al quale nel 1631 avrebbe restituito la titolatura di S. Caio,
trasferendovi le reliquie del santo ritrovate nel 1622 nel cimitero di
Callisto: la chiesa moderna fu distrutta a seguito dei lavori di riassetto di
via XX Settembre per la costruzione dell'attuale Ministero della Difesa. Va
sottolineato che nella zona, sulla base di rinvenimenti epigrafici, tre dei
quali menzionano "Nummius Tuscus", console prima del 295 e praefectus
urbi del 302 (contemporaneo dunque di papa C.), è stata identificata una domus
tardoantica (IV secolo) costituita da due unità abitative contigue (cfr.
Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae, II, Roma 1995, s.v. Domus: Nummi, pp.
146-47), il che potrebbe concordare con il toponimo "ad Duas domos"
prima menzionato. Una recente ipotesi propende per la collocazione del
"titulus Caii" presso l'odierna piazza Fiume, dal momento che
l'edificio è ricordato anche presso l'"arcus Portae Salariae" (cfr.
ibid., I, ivi 1993, s.v. S. Caius, p. 214). Indipendentemente dalla tradizione della
Passio Susannae, C. appare anche nei capitoli XVIII e XIX della Passio
Sebastiani, ai tempi di Diocleziano, durante la persecuzione che si scatena
contro i cristiani. In questa circostanza, tra i cristiani rimasti a Roma
presso il papa, C. avrebbe nominato Sebastiano difensore della Chiesa. In
un'aggiunta del ms. Vat. lat. 3764 alla notizia su Stefano I nel Liber
pontificalis, nr. 24, C. figura insieme a Sisto II e a Dionigi, suoi
predecessori nella cattedra di Roma, come uno dei diaconi arrestati insieme a
papa Stefano. Nella prima redazione del Liber pontificalis, nr. 29, C. era
detto dalmata, della famiglia di Diocleziano, e figlio a sua volta di un Caio.
Durante la persecuzione di Diocleziano sarebbe morto da confessore, nascosto in
sotterranei ("in criptis habitans confessor quievit"). Avrebbe
ordinato sedici presbiteri, otto diaconi e cinque vescovi, sarebbe stato
sepolto nel cimitero di Callisto alla data del 22 aprile, e la sua morte
sarebbe stata seguita da undici giorni di sede vacante. La seconda redazione
del Liber pontificalis riprende le notizie della precedente, alle quali
aggiunge che C. stabilì i sette gradi dell'ordine sacro da percorrere fino
all'episcopato - ostiario, lettore, esorcista, accolito (sequens), suddiacono,
diacono, presbitero e vescovo - e che assegnò ai diaconi le regiones della
città di Roma. La notizia sulla sorte di C. durante la persecuzione di
Diocleziano vi è modificata in quanto vi si afferma che "in criptis
habitando martyrio coronatur post annos VIII" (o "VIIII"). Lo
stesso concetto è ripetuto poco più avanti quando si afferma che C. morì
martire "post annos XI, cum Gavinio fratre suo, propter filiam Gavini
presbyteri, nomine Susanna". L'istituzione dei sette gradi dell'ordine
sacro è più antica dell'epoca di C., in quanto ne parla già il suo predecessore
Cornelio nella lettera a Fabio di Antiochia (Eusebio di Cesarea, Historia
ecclesiastica VI, 43, 11). L'istituzione delle regiones romane e la loro
assegnazione ai sette diaconi era stata attribuita dal Catalogo Liberiano, e al
seguito di questo dallo stesso Liber pontificalis, nr. 21, a papa Fabiano.
L'origine dalmata di C., e la sua appartenenza alla famiglia di Diocleziano,
sono desunte con tutta evidenza dalla Passio Susannae. Forse proprio la
presenza di C. in questa Passio, fra tanti martiri, ha determinato nel primo
redattore del Liber pontificalis la necessità di spiegare le ragioni per cui il
vescovo sarebbe sfuggito alla persecuzione: di qui il cenno a una sua
permanenza "in criptis", forse in relazione a diversi spostamenti
della tomba di C. all'interno del cimitero di Callisto. Il fatto che nella
seconda redazione del Liber pontificalis C. sia considerato martire "post
annos VIII" (o "VIIII") dipenderebbe secondo L. Duchesne da un
testo perduto, forse un'appendice della Passio Susannae in cui tanto C. quanto
il fratello Gabinio avrebbero concluso la loro vita con il martirio, e in cui
si sarebbe fatto riferimento ad un evento anteriore di otto o nove anni a
questa circostanza. L'ipotesi sarebbe confermata dal secondo richiamo, nella
stessa notizia, al martirio di C. e di Gabinio, forse una glossa marginale
successivamente inglobata nel testo, il cui autore avrebbe corretto la
primitiva indicazione, "post annos VIII" (o "VIIII"), in
base alla durata del pontificato di C. espressa all'inizio della notizia. C. fu
il primo papa (dopo l'eccezione di Cornelio) a non essere deposto nella cripta
papale, dove comunque la grande lastra marmorea collocata da Sisto III sul lato
interno della parete d'ingresso (Inscriptiones Christianae urbis Romae. Nova
series, nr. 9516: "Xystus Dionysius Stephanus Urbanus / Cornelius Felix
Lucius Manno / Pontianus Eutychianus Anteros Numidianus / Fabianus Gaius
Laudiceus Iulianus / Eusebius Miltiades Polycarpus Optatus") ne ricorda la
presenza nella catacomba. C. fu deposto in una regione del cimitero dotata di
una propria scala di accesso dal sopratterra. In età damasiana, la galleria
principale di questo settore della catacomba fu rinforzata da murature che -
oltre ad avere una funzione statica, obliterando alcune gallerie trasversali e
creando così un percorso facilitato per i pellegrini che si recavano alle tombe
da venerare nella zona - erano collocate in tre cubicoli distinti: quello dei
martiri Calocero e Partenio (identificato grazie ad un'iscrizione tracciata a
sgraffio sull'intonaco dell'ingresso, cfr. ibid., nr. 9543c), quello di papa
Eusebio, e quello - di fronte al precedente - di C. (cfr. L. Reekmans, Les
tombeaux), dove G.B. de Rossi rinvenne dieci frammenti di una iscrizione greca
attestante la "deposizione del vescovo Gaio: dieci giorni prima delle
calende di maggio" (Inscriptiones Christianae urbis Romae. Nova series,
nr. 10584). Tale data, cioè il 22 aprile, attestata nella Depositio
episcoporum, è passata al Martyrologium Hieronymianum e ai martirologi
successivi, fino al Martyrologium Romanum. La stessa data è inoltre attestata
nell'epigrafe posta nell'atrio della chiesa di S. Silvestro in Capite, databile
al pontificato di Paolo I, a commemorazione di una serie di traslazioni delle
spoglie di papi e martiri dai cimiteri del suburbio romano (cfr. Monumenta
epigraphica); una seconda traslazione, nella chiesa di S. Prassede, all'epoca
del pontificato di Pasquale I, è documentata da un'iscrizione posta sul primo
pilastro della navata destra (cfr. il testo riportato in Le Liber pontificalis,
II, pp. 63-4). Altre commemorazioni di C. a Roma, riportate nel Martyrologium
Hieronymianum alle date del 20 febbraio e del 1° luglio, sono state spiegate la
prima come un errore di trascrizione ("X kal. mart." in luogo di
"X kal. mai."), la seconda, sempre che non si riferisca a un omonimo,
col ricordo di una traslazione. Per quanto C. sia stato considerato martire
almeno a partire dal Liber pontificalis, nel Calendarium Romanum del 1969 la
sua commemorazione è stata espunta, in base al fatto che tra le fonti
liturgiche più antiche della Chiesa di Roma il suo nome è inserito nella
Depositio episcoporum e non nella Depositio martyrum. Sotto il nome di C. è
posta una delle decretali pseudoisidoriane.
Fonti e Bibl.: Eusebio di
Cesarea, Historia ecclesiastica VI, 43, 11; VII, 32, 1, a cura di E.
Schwartz, Leipzig 1908 (Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller. Eusebius
Werke, II, 2), pp. 618, 716; Id., Chronicon, ad a. 282, a cura di R. Helm,
Berlin 1956 (Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller. Eusebius Werke,
VII), p. 224; Le Liber pontificalis, a cura di L. Duchesne, I-II, Paris
1886-92: I, pp. XCVIII-XCIX, CCIX-CCXVII, 64-5, 68-9, 70-3, 148, 154, 161; II,
pp. 63-4; Catalogo Liberiano, ibid., I, pp. 4-5 (Fabiano), 6-7 (C.);
Passio Susannae, in Acta Sanctorum [...], Februarii, III, Antverpiae 1658,
pp. 61-4 e ibid., Augusti, II, ivi 1735, pp. 631-32; H. Delehaye, Commentarius
perpetuus in Martyrologium Hieronymianum [...], in Acta Sanctorum Novembris
[...], II, pars posterior, Bruxellis 1931, pp. 106 (20 febbraio), 202-03 (22
aprile), 345-46 (1° luglio), 534-35 (1° ottobre); Martyrologium Romanum [...]
scholiis historicis instructum, in Propylaeum ad Acta Sanctorum Decembris,
ivi 1940, p. 150.
Fonti agiografiche:
cfr. Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina [...], I, ivi 1898-99, p. 483;
ibid., Novum Supplementum, a cura di H. Fros, ivi 1986, p. 368;
Calendarium Romanum ex decreto sacrosancti oecumenici concilii Vaticani II
instauratum auctoritate Pauli PP. VI promulgatum, In Civitate Vaticana 1969,
p. 120. Per la decretale attribuita a C. cfr. P. Hinschius, Decretales
pseudo-Isidorianae et Capitula Angilramni [...], Lipsiae 1863, pp.
214-18. Studi: Ecclesiastica Historia [...] per aliquot studiosos et pios
viros in urbe Magdeburgica, Centuria III, Caput X, Basileae 1562, coll. 286-87;
C. Baronio, Annales ecclesiastici, II, Romae 1590, pp. 651-56; [L.-S.]
Lenain de Tillemont, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique des
six premiers siècles, t. IV, Venise 1732, pp. 564-73, 760-65; Acta
Sanctorum [...], Aprilis, III, Antverpiae 1675, pp. 13-7; G.B. de
Rossi, La Roma sotterranea cristiana, II, Roma 1867, pp. 114-20; G.
Schneider, La triplice deposizione di papa Gaio, "Nuovo Bullettino di
Archeologia Cristiana", 13, 1907, pp. 147-68; L. Duchesne, Les légendes de
l'Alta semita, "Mélanges d'Archéologie et d'Histoire. École Française de
Rome", 36, 1916-17, pp. 26-42; P. Franchi de' Cavalieri, S. Susanna e il
titulus Gai, in Id., Note agiografiche, VI, Roma 1920, pp. 185-202; G.
Biasiotti, L'antica chiesa di S. Caio in Via XX Settembre, in Atti del I
congresso nazionale di Studi romani, I, ivi 1929, pp. 828 ss.; C. Cecchelli, in
M. Armellini, Le chiese di Roma dal sec. V al XIX, a cura di C. Cecchelli,
II, ivi 1942, p. 1459; B. Apolloni Ghetti, Santa Susanna, ivi s.d., pp.
10-1; L. Reekmans, Les tombeaux des papes Gaius (283-296) et Eusèbe (309 ou
310) et les martyrs Calocerus et Parthenius dans la catacombe de Calliste.
Aperçu d'une recherche, in Memoriam Sanctorum venerantes. Miscellanea in
onore di Monsignor Victor Saxer, Città del Vaticano-Roma 1992, pp. 689-709. Per
quanto riguarda la documentazione archeologica ed epigrafica v. inoltre: Codice
topografico della città di Roma, a cura di R. Valentini-G. Zucchetti, II, Roma
1942 (Fonti per la Storia d'Italia, 88); Monumenta epigraphica christiana
saeculo XIII antiquiora quae in Italiae finibus adhuc extant [...], a cura di
A. Silvagni, I, Roma, Città del Vaticano 1943, tav. XXXVII, 1; Inscriptiones
Christianae urbis Romae. Nova series, IV, a cura di G.B. de Rossi-A. Ferrua,
ivi 1964, nrr. 9516, 9543c, 10584; L. Reekmans, Le complexe cémétérial du
pape Gaius dans la catacombe de Callixte, ivi 1988; Lexicon
Topographicum Urbis Romae, IV, Roma 1999, s.v. S. Susanna Titulus, pp.
387-88. A Dictionary of Christian Biography, I, London 1877, s.v., pp.
386-87; Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, II, 2, Paris 1923, s.v.,
col. 1309; Vies des Saints et des Bienheureux, IV, ivi 1946, s.v., pp.
566-68; G. Bardy, Caius, in D.H.G.E., IX, coll. 237-38; Catholicisme, II,
Paris 1950, s.v., coll. 364-65; E.C., III, s.v., col. 305; A.
Amore-I.Belli Barsali, Caio, in B.S., III, coll. 646-49; New Catholic
Encyclopaedia, VI, Washington 1967, s.v., p. 241; Lexikon der christlichen
Ikonographie, V, Rom 1973, s.v., col. 464; Lexikon für Theologie und
Kirche, IV, Freiburg 1953, s.v., col. 265; Il grande libro dei Santi. Dizionario
enciclopedico, I, Cinisello Balsamo 1998, s.v., p. 358.
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/santo-caio_(Enciclopedia-dei-Papi)/
Voir aussi : https://adottaunaguglia.duomomilano.it/en/spire/s-caio-pontefice/01cda580-699b-44e6-ab7a-5fed491f22b1/
