Pope Sixtus I (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Σίξτος), also spelled Xystus, a Roman of

descent, was the

bishop of Rome The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

from 117 or 119 to his death 126 or 128. He succeeded

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...

and was in turn succeeded by Telesphorus. His feast is celebrated on 6 April.

Name

Older sources use the spelling Xystus (from the

ξυστός, ''xystos'', " shaved") in reference to the first three popes of that name. Pope Sixtus I was also the sixth Pope after

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, leading to questions as to whether the name "Sixtus" is derived from ''sextus'',

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "sixth". The "Xystus" mentioned in the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Canon of the Mass The Canon of the Mass (), also known as the Canon of the Roman Mass and in the Mass of Paul VI as the Roman Canon or Eucharistic Prayer I, is the oldest Anaphora (liturgy), anaphora used in the Roman Rite of Mass (liturgy), Mass. The name ''Canon ...

is Xystus II, not Xystus I.

Biography

Some authorities agree that he reigned about ten years. According to the ''

Liberian Catalogue The ''Liberian Catalogue'' ({{langx, la, Catalogus Liberianus) is a List of popes, list of the bishops of Rome from Saint Peter, Peter to Pope Liberius, Liberius (died 366). For each bishop, the list gives the lengths of his episcopate, the corres ...

'' of popes, he served the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

during the reign of

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

"from the consulate of Niger and Apronianus until that of Verus III and Ambibulus", that is, from 117 to 126.

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

states in his '' Historia Ecclesiastica'' that Sixtus I reigned from 119 to 128, which is repeated in the Latin translation of his '' Chronicon''. However, the Armenian translation dates Telesphorus’ accession to 124. Eusebius himself begins to show internal inconsistencies for the chronology of this period;

Richard Adelbert Lipsius Richard Adelbert Lipsius (14 February 1830 in Gera, Thuringia – 19 August 1892 in Jena, Thuringia) was a German Protestant theologian. Biography Richard Adelbert Lipsius was the son of K. H. A. Lipsius (d. 1861), who was rector of the school ...

compares the available sources and asserts that Sixtus died between around 125, after a tenure of 10 years. Like most of his predecessors, Sixtus I was believed to have been buried near

's grave on

Vatican Hill Vatican Hill (; ; ) is a hill in Rome, located on the right bank (west side) of Tiber river, opposite to the traditional seven hills of Rome. The hill also gave the name to Vatican City. It is the location of St. Peter's Basilica. Etymology ...

, although there are differing traditions concerning where his body lies today. In Alife, there is a Romanesque crypt, which houses the relics of Pope Sixtus I, brought there by Rainulf III.

Alban Butler Alban Butler (13 October 171015 May 1773) was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiography, hagiographer. Born in Northamptonshire, he studied at the English College, in Douai, Douay, France where he later taught philosophy and theology. He s ...

(''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 Saint Michael in

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

Liturgical codification

Sixtus I instituted several Catholic liturgical and administrative traditions. According to the ''

Liber Pontificalis The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biography, biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adr ...

'' (ed. Duchesne, I.128), he passed the following three ordinances: * that none but sacred ministers are allowed to touch the sacred vessels; * 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; * that after the

Preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literature, literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a ''foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface o ...

in the

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

, the priest shall recite the ''

Sanctus The ''Sanctus'' (, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' (, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition and parts of it are sometimes called "Benedictus". ''Tersanctus'' (Latin: "Thr ...

'' with the people.

References

Bibliography

* Benedict XVI. ''The Roman Martyrology''. Gardners Books, 2007. . * Chapman, John. ''Studies on the Early Papacy''. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1971. . * Fortescue, Adrian, and Scott M. P. Reid. ''The Early Papacy: To the Synod of Chalcedon in 451''. Southampton: Saint Austin Press, 1997. . * Jowett, George F. ''The Drama of the Lost Disciples''. London: Covenant Pub. Co, 1968. * Loomis, Louise Ropes. ''The Book of Popes'' (''Liber Pontificalis''). Merchantville, NJ: Evolution Publishing. . *

External links