Pope and Martyr (ca. 250)
His life
+ Saint Fabian, the first layman to be elected pope, reigned from 236 to 250, succeeding Pope Saint Anterus.
+ Fabian is credited with sending Saint Denis, Saint Martial, and other preachers into Gaul (modern-day France).
+ Pope Fabian is also said to have baptized the Emperor Marcus Julius Philippus, to have expanded the catacombs, to have improved the organization of the Roman church, and to have appointed officials to keep more accurate records of the accounts of the suffering (acta)of the martyrs.
+ Praised by Saint Cyprian, who called him an “incomparable man,” Saint Fabian suffered martyrdom in the year 250, during a persecution ordered by the Emperor Decius.
For prayer and reflection
“We venerate the martyrs with the same veneration of love and fellowship that we give to the holy men of God still with us. We sense that the hearts of these latter are just as ready to suffer death for the sake of the Gospel, and yet we feel more devotion toward those who have already emerged victorious from the struggle. We honor those who are fighting on the battlefield of this life here below, but we honor more confidently those who have already achieved the victor’s crown and live in heaven.”—Saint Cyprian of Carthage
Spiritual bonus
On this day, the Church also remembers Blessed Basil Anthony Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross (priests and brothers), the Sisters of Holy Cross (the Marianites), and the Brothers of Holy Cross. Blessed Basil died in 1873 and was beatified in 2007.
Prayer
O God, glory of your Priests,
grant, we pray,
that, helped by the intercession of your Martyr Saint Fabian,
we may make progress by communion in the faith
and by worthy service.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
And today we celebrate...