"Faithfully compile the acts of the martyrs, omitting nothing." ~ The duty of the Popes to preserve the history of the Church

Images of Popes Clement I, Anteros, Fabian, and Damasus I, all holding codices indicating their legacies
of defending the doctrines and preserving the history of the Church.

Immediately prior to a Papal Conclave seems like the absolute best time to break out the Liber Pontificalis – that fascinating, frustrating, and enigmatic work of Late Antiquity that purports to provide a brief biographical sketch of each of the first 65 Popes of Rome.

This is perhaps the fourth or fifth time I have read the Liber cover to cover, not including the dozens of times I’ve referenced individual accounts for research purposes, posts, comments, etc. Admittedly, the text is littered with errors: some obvious, others requiring a PhD in Patristics to spot. Thankfully, the version I most commonly use includes copious footnotes by early 20th century classicist, Louise Ropes Loomis, who herself draws heavily from such hoary authorities as Mommsen and Duchesne. 

Click for more info.

If you decide to embark upon reading the Liber, it is well to keep in mind that the work in its earliest iteration was likely assembled in the 6th century, and based on earlier sources which the anonymous compiler may have known only imperfectly. As a result, the earliest entries tend to be the most disappointing in terms of details and accuracy. Those sketches closer to the compiler’s own day are much more satisfying, replete with curious anecdotes and details found nowhere else in the historical record.  

There are a few clear themes that run throughout the entire work. These are as follows:

• The Popes as martyrs and confessors—and the rare exceptions which prove the rule.
• The Popes as defenders of doctrine.
• The Popes as builders and restorers of the physical edifices of the Church.
• The Popes as guardians of the relics and monuments of the great saints and martyrs.
• The Popes as stewards of the Church's wealth, derived from princes and generous donors.
• The Popes as recorders and transmitters of the history of the Church.

It is that last bullet that I’d like to focus on a bit here. 

As a historical aggregator himself, the compiler of the Liber Pontificalis gives due honor to those who came before him who preserved the records of the ancient Church. He tells us that the fourth Pope, Saint Clement, who lived in the 1st century AD, “created seven districts and assigned them to notaries of the church that they might make diligent, careful and searching inquiry, each in his own district, regarding the acts of the martyrs.” Whether Clement actually did this, or whether the compiler is ascribing this act to a great ancient saint like Clement to ennoble his own profession is a matter of scholarly debate. In any event, the compiler of the Liber is the only one to record this aspect of Clement's biography.

Anecdotes recorded in the later sketches are more likely to be accurate. In the record of the practically un-remembered Pope Anteros who perished after an abbreviated reign of 40 days in AD 236—likely as a martyr—only one deed worthy of note is recorded by the author of the Liber Pontificalis:

“He collected carefully from the notaries the acts of the martyrs and of the readers and deposited them in the church, for the sake of one Maximinus, a priest, who had been crowned with martyrdom.”

The successor of Anteros, Pope Fabianus, who reigned until AD 250, continued the work begun by his short-lived immediate predecessor. The Liber says that he “created seven subdeacons to be associated with the seven notaries, that they might faithfully compile the acts of the martyrs, omitting nothing.”

Fragmentary grave marker of Pope Anteros in the Cemetery of Callixtos.

Unfortunately, from AD 249 through AD 311, there occurred three Roman Empire-wide persecutions of Christians under the emperors Decius (AD 249-251), Valerian (AD 258-260) and the Tetrarchy of Diocletian (AD 304-311). The aforementioned Pope St. Fabianus was among the first victims of the Decian persecution. Certainly during the last of these in the early 4th century, a systematic search was made for Christian literary works which, when found, would be consigned to the flames. I have previously written posts concerning the evidence for such efforts by the persecutors here, here, and here. It may be presumed that many, if not all of the acts of the Martyrs collected by Clement, Anteros, and Fabianus were destroyed during this time.

Seated statue believed to
be a representation of
Saint Hippolytus of Rome. 

The destroyers were very thorough in their work. Case in point are the Acts of Saint Hippolytus who lived a very impactful life in the early 3rd century AD. He was a theologian, a bishop, possibly an anti-Pope, and likely a Novatian heretic who was reconciled with the Church prior to his martyrdom. Saint Jerome lists him among the "illustrious men," while admitting that he has not been able to learn the name of the city of which Hippolytus had been bishop. 

It wasn't until Damasus was made Pope about AD 366, that a far-reaching project of recovery was begun to restore the glorious history of the early martyrs that had been lost during the persecutions. To that end, according to the Liber, Damasus "searched out many bodies of the saints and found them and marked them with verses.” Many of these poetic epitaphs have come down to us from antiquity, and I have posted about them previously. But in some cases, even such a zealous researcher as Pope Damasus was at a loss. Regarding the aforementioned Hippolytus, Damasus admits his ignorance in this touchingly honest epitaph:

"Hippolytus, it is said, once a venerable bishop,

At the time when a schism arose in the city of Rome,

Yet it is not certain what he did or from where,

Whether a martyr, an exile, or reconciled,

Damasus placed this, uncertain but with love for the faith."

[From Damasi epigrammata. Translated into English by Grok3]

So as we pray for the Holy Spirit to bless the Conclave and provide the Church with a saintly Pope, let us beg the intercession of those early Pontiffs who worked to preserve the historical records of the ancient Church and the glorious Acts of the Martyrs:

Papa Clemens, ora pro nobis!
Papa Anteros, ora pro nobis!
Papa Fabiane, ora pro nobis!
Papa Damase, ora pro nobis!
Sancte Hippolyte, ora pro nobis!

The Martyrdom of Pope St. Silverius -- Starved to death on the Island of Palmarola in AD 538

Pope St. Silverius is deposed in AD 537. Artwork by Lori Kauffmann.

Throughout the history of the Church, several Popes have been deposed for a variety of reasons. Pope Liberius was deposed and exiled by the Arian emperor, Constantius II in the mid-4th century. Six hundred years later, Pope Gregory VII was deposed by anti-Pope Clement III, the creature of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV. 

During the reign of Justinian, Pope Saint Silverius, who I have written about previously on this blog, was not only deposed—he was martyred by the political forces who coveted his ecclesiastical power as head of the Church. In my previous post, I included an excerpt from the Liber Pontificalis that provided some extraordinary details of the event. Given that the Liber was first compiled in the late 6th century, possibly within living memory of the deposition, it is a solid source, and I used the account provided therein as the basis for that pivotal scene in Belisarius Book III: Rome the Eternal.

Most of what we know of Silverius's brief reign comes from the Liber Pontificalis and the writings of Procopius. To the best of my knowledge, the only written work of Silverius that survives is an epitaph that he wrote for his father, Pope Saint Hormisdas. After his deposition, Silverius was exiled to the city of Patara in Asia Minor. According to the account of Liberatus of Carthage in his Breviarium, it soon became clear to the resident bishop, a certain Licinius, that Silverius had been slanderously accused and wrongfully deposed. Licinius took it upon himself to go directly to Constantinople to advise the emperor Justinian of this fact. The bishop's effort had the desired effect because following this meeting, the emperor sent Silverius back to Italy to receive a proper trial.

But Silverius would never get the opportunity to defend himself. Upon his arrival in Italy, the deposed Pope was seized and hustled to the tiny island of Palmarola about 20 miles off the west coast of Italy, roughly halfway between Rome and Naples. 

A craggy islet about a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, Palmarola is part of the Pontine Archipelago, a grouping of small islands which were used as places of exile during Roman times. One of the other islands in the group—known as Ventotene today and Pandateria in antiquity—once housed the disgraced Julia the Elder, daughter of Augustus Caesar. The same island also served as the place of exile for Agrippina the Elder, granddaughter of Augustus. Saint Flavia Domitilla, granddaughter of the emperor Vespasian, was also exiled there on suspicion of being a Christian.

But Pandateria at least has a harbor and some residents. Tiny Palmarola is uninhabited. It is said that Pope Silverius starved to death after being abandoned there. To this day, a shrine in his honor may be found on Palmarola. 

Here is how I have described the scene in Belisarius: Rome the Eternal. Silverius is a recurring character in the first half of the book, and I have given him a fictional servant named Philo to serve as an interlocutor:

Chapter XXIX

“Something’s wrong,” Philo whispered. “The pilots were supposed to conduct us into the harbor, but instead, they are taking us back out to sea.”

“We are in God’s hands, Philo,” Pope Silverius replied. “His will be done.” The Holy Father had become thinner since his exile in the east. A rough gray beard now covered his previously smooth chin. A raspy cough rattled in his chest, as he pulled his cloak tighter about him to ward off the chilly wind.

“That may be, but nevertheless, I am going to say something,” Philo persisted.

Click for more info.

“Friend, I beg you...” Silverius trailed off. But his servant was already making his way to the stern from whence the ship was conned. Silverius returned to his prayers, gazing out over the choppy sea. January was a terrible time for travel by sea and the sailors dreaded it. To this point, they had credited their unusually safe passage from Asia at this inauspicious time of year to Stella Maris smiling kindly upon their very special passenger. But their attitude had shifted after their arrival outside the harbor at Ostia. A large dromon had intercepted them and four men came across in a skiff, braving the rough seas. All aboard had assumed they were harbor pilots—until the ship’s prow was turned toward the south, back from whence they had come.

Striding with care along the pitching deck with Philo stumbling behind him, a hooded Calligonus approached Silverius with a stony expression. “My apologies but there has been a change of plans. It is too dangerous for you to land at Ostia now. We will therefore conduct you to a place of safety until the perils have passed.”

“Where?” Philo asked. “Neapolis? We seem to be sailing south.”

Silverius said nothing. He recognized Calligonus immediately as one who had been present at his deposition and none too friendly.

“Neapolis is not safe either, I’m afraid,” Calligonus said.

“Safe for whom?” Silverius asked. “Belisarius and his wife? Or for Theodora, perhaps?”

Calligonus gave a sly smile, bowed his head and walked away. 

“What do you mean?” Philo said, clutching Silverius’s sleeve, alarm rising in his voice. “Where are they taking us, Holy Father?”

“God knows,” Silverius replied.

Several hours of sailing brought them to within sight of a small islet with vaulting cliffs of sheer rock, almost white, emerging from a rolling azure sea. Using a combination of sail and oars, the crew maneuvered the ship to a sheltered spot about two bowshots offshore where they dropped anchor.

“May I present your new home,” Calligonus said as he once again approached Silverius and Philo.

“Does this rock even have a name?” an agitated Philo asked.

“It is called Palmarola,” Calligonus replied. “I am told that no one lives there at all, so you will have a new patriarchal see all to yourself with plenty of gulls and lizards to hear your homilies. Now, if you please. I would ask you both to step smartly into the boat. Your basilica awaits.”

“Is there even any fresh water?” Philo cried.

“That’s a fair question,” Calligonus puzzled. “You will have to find out.”

Pope Silverius and his servant climbed down into the heaving boat with friendly hands from the sailors, all of whom seemed to dread what was happening. “Remember us in your prayers, Holy Father,” one of them said softly. “What we do today we are forced to do.”

“Have no concern, my son,” Silverius replied. “Even Saint Peter was led where he did not wish to go.”

“Forgive us!” a few called aloud from the deck.

Silverius made the sign of the cross over the ship as the boat pulled away. “I shall always remember the kind sailors who risked the winter seas for me.”

Moments later, the boat grounded on a beach of brown sand. The three henchmen of Calligonus hurried Silverius and Philo out of the boat, dumped some meager supplies on the beach, and hastened to row back to the ship. Within an hour, the ship had sailed out of sight.

Resigned to his fate, Silverius soon found a small grotto which would at least offer shelter and a place to pray if nothing else. He put the supplies in order and attempted to set up a place of repose for them that was somewhat protected from the chilly wind. Philo, meanwhile, made a circuit of the tiny island which did not take him long.

“Based on what I have seen, we will starve within two weeks,” Philo declared. “Sooner if it doesn’t rain at all.”

“I doubt I will last even that long,” Silverius said, suppressing a cough. Even the light work he had done had exhausted him.

“Perhaps they will drop food and water for us?”

“I don’t think so, my friend,” Silverius smiled a little sadly. “I think Our Lord Jesus has offered us the palm of a bloodless martyrdom. Let us embrace it, come what may.”

Philo sighed, fingering the stiff fronds of a dwarf palm which he had collected during his walk. “A small, pathetic palm to match the stunted trees that clutter this tiny rock.”

Silverius smiled luminously. “There is no such thing as a small martyrdom. Let us fill this island with our prayerful voices so that blessings may flow from it for centuries to come.”

If you enjoyed that passage, you'll probably enjoy the entire book which is available for purchase at the Arx Publishing website. Other excerpts from this book may be found at these links:

• "He weathered their rage like some craggy rock in a howling tempest." ~ Belisarius and the lead-up to the Great Siege of Rome
• Saint Benedict Chases the Devil off a Boulder
• "They went with all speed to the palace carrying weapons and raising a great tumult" ~ March 23, AD 536, Mutiny of Justinian's Army in Africa

Palmarola today. The shrine of St. Silverius is atop the peak at left.

"No one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist." ~ Pius XI and Quadragesimo Anno.

"Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are contradictory
terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic
and a true socialist."
—Pope Pius XI, May 15, 1931

One of the saddest hallmarks of our times is profound historical ignorance. What makes this ignorance particularly grievous is that it is not self-aware. Rather, it arrogantly considers itself wise and possessed of deep, often hidden truths. Whether this ignorance manifests itself in the study of the saints, Christopher Columbus, the Church Fathers, the Great Persecution, Late Antiquity, Catholic morality, or a million other topics, it is found everywhere. It is truly pandemic. We are surrounded by sophomores in the literal sense of that word—and the sophomores in question are not only wise fools but nasty bullies as well. 

It is an old saw that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. We have now raised several generations who not only don't know history, but who have been presented with a false history based on "alternative facts." What they think of as historical facts are quite often politically-charged fictions. But as U.S. Vice President Mike Pence recently quipped, "You are entitled to your own opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts." 

Most Catholics have been nurtured on alternative facts for decades now. Thus, is it any surprise that the anti-Church political movement is being led by apostate politicians who have the audacity to declare themselves devout in order to garner Catholic votes? Is it at all unexpected that these politicians ally themselves with those who consider the Knights of Columbus to be an extremist group? 

This scam has run for decades now with hardly a half-hearted whimper from our bishops. It is now reaching its apogee as an abortion-loving puppet of the socialist left with Rosary beads wrapped around his wrist is one election away from the presidency. The followers of Gramsci and Alinsky may have finally attained that tipping-point where a majority of the uncatechized-by-design have been drawn into the moist embrace of socialism without ever knowing that the Church has a longstanding history of condemning socialism. 

There are a few priests and bishops who will dare to preach on this subject these days, though they tend to be voices crying out in the wilderness. But the cool thing is that you don't need to have access to solid preaching to discover the truth in the Information Age. A sixty second web search will bring you to the papal encyclical known as Quadragesimo Anno (Forty Years) as written in 1931. In this encyclical, we see Pope Pius XI's forceful, clear and unequivocal condemnation of socialism, including the quote featured above. Here is the context of that particular quote, along with a few other pertinent excerpts from this timeless encyclical letter:

"Because of the fact that goods are produced more efficiently by a suitable division of labor than by the scattered efforts of individuals, socialists infer that economic activity, only the material ends of which enter into their thinking, ought of necessity to be carried on socially. Because of this necessity, they hold that men are obliged, with respect to the producing of goods, to surrender and subject themselves entirely to society. Indeed, possession of the greatest possible supply of things that serve the advantages of this life is considered of such great importance that the higher goods of man, liberty not excepted, must take a secondary place and even be sacrificed to the demands of the most efficient production of goods. This damage to human dignity, undergone in the "socialized" process of production, will be easily offset, they say, by the abundance of socially produced goods which will pour out in profusion to individuals to be used freely at their pleasure for comforts and cultural development. Society, therefore, as Socialism conceives it, can on the one hand neither exist nor be thought of without an obviously excessive use of force; on the other hand, it fosters a liberty no less false, since there is no place in it for true social authority, which rests not on temporal and material advantages but descends from God alone, the Creator and last end of all things.

If Socialism, like all errors, contains some truth (which, moreover, the Supreme Pontiffs have never denied), it is based nevertheless on a theory of human society peculiar to itself and irreconcilable with true Christianity. Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are contradictory terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist."

Pius XI goes on to diagnose why so many Catholics succumb to the allure of socialism:

The root and font of this defection in economic and social life from the Christian law, and of the consequent apostasy of great numbers of workers from the Catholic faith, are the disordered passions of the soul, the sad result of original sin which has so destroyed the wonderful harmony of man's faculties that, easily led astray by his evil desires, he is strongly incited to prefer the passing goods of this world to the lasting goods of Heaven. Hence arises that unquenchable thirst for riches and temporal goods, which has at all times impelled men to break God's laws and trample upon the rights of their neighbors, but which, on account of the present system of economic life, is laying far more numerous snares for human frailty.

If this was true in 1931 near the height of the Great Depression, how much more true it is in our own day when the "disordered passions of the soul" have become the norm rather than the exception? 

This next passage is also quite applicable to where we find ourselves now. For any who hope that by softening some of Christ's hard teachings or by adopting some of socialism's tenets, we may convert those drawn to socialism, Pius XI throws cold water on that notion:

There are some allured by the foolish hope that socialists in this way will be drawn to us. A vain hope! Those who want to be apostles among socialists ought to profess Christian truth whole and entire, openly and sincerely, and not connive at error in any way. If they truly wish to be heralds of the Gospel, let them above all strive to show to socialists that socialist claims, so far as they are just, are far more strongly supported by the principles of Christian faith and much more effectively promoted through the power of Christian charity.

Sadly, those Catholics who have attempted to bring socialism within the Church have indeed "connived at error" to the point where error has replaced sound teaching in many places where it should not be tolerated at all—that is, our schools and institutions of higher learning. Pius XI predicted that just such a thing would happen:

All these admonitions which have been renewed and confirmed by Our solemn authority must likewise be applied to a certain new kind of socialist activity, hitherto little known but now carried on among many socialist groups. It devotes itself above all to the training of the mind and character. Under the guise of affection it tries in particular to attract children of tender age and win them to itself, although it also embraces the whole population in its scope in order finally to produce true socialists who would shape human society to the tenets of Socialism.

With the insinuation of socialism into our Catholic schools over the past several decades, what has been the result? What fruit has the toleration, acceptance and celebration of socialist-materialist ideals borne among our Catholic youth? Are the poor better off? Are our cities where socialists rule bastions of peace, justice and kindness? Are our churches thronged with zealous Christians yearning to imitate Christ in service to the poor? 

Or are we witnessing instead the disintegration of society and the auto-demolition of the Catholic Church in America?

Pope Pius XI, pray for us.

"With great haste and tears, he fell down before Zephyrinus" ~ August 26, feast of Pope Saint Zephyrinus

Natalius falls at the feet of Pope St. Zephyrinus, seeking forgiveness.

August 26 is the feast of Pope Saint Zephyrinus on the traditional Catholic calendar. Following is the entry for Zephyrinus that appears in the Liber Pontificalis: 

Zephyrinus, by nationality a Roman, son of Habundius, occupied the see 18 years, 3 months and 10 days [or 8 years, 7 months and 10 days]. 

He was bishop in the time of Antoninus and Severus, from the consulship of Saturninus and Gallicanus (AD 198) to the year when Presens and Stricatus were consuls (AD 217). 

Click for more info.

He decreed that in the presence of all the clergy and the faithful laity every cleric, deacon or priest, should be ordained. He also made a regulation for the church, that there should be vessels of glass before the priests in the church and servitors to hold them while the bishop was celebrating mass and priests standing about him. Thus mass should be celebrated and the clergy should assist in all the ceremony, except in that which belongs only to the bishop. From the consecration of the bishop's hand the priest should receive the consecrated wafer to distribute to the people. He held 4 ordinations in the month of December, 14 priests, 7 deacons, 13 bishops in divers places. He also was buried in his own cemetery near the cemetery of Callistus on the Via Appia, August 25. [Liber Pontificalis, page 19]

Another anecdote regarding Pope Zephyrinus may be found in the Eccelsiastical History of Eusebius. This story regards a man named Natalius who was persuaded by heretics to accept a bishopric for the sum of 150 denarii per month. Eusebius explains:

When he had thus connected himself with them, he was warned oftentimes by the Lord through visions. For the compassionate God and our Lord Jesus Christ was not willing that a witness of his own sufferings, being cast out of the Church, should perish. But as he paid little regard to the visions, because he was ensnared by the first position among them and by that shameful covetousness which destroys a great many, he was scourged by holy angels, and punished severely through the entire night. Thereupon having risen in the morning, he put on sackcloth and covered himself with ashes, and with great haste and tears he fell down before Zephyrinus, the bishop, rolling at the feet not only of the clergy, but also of the laity; and he moved with his tears the compassionate Church of the merciful Christ. And though he used much supplication, and showed the welts of the stripes which he had received, yet scarcely was he taken back into communion. [Eusebius: Ecclesiastical History, Book V, Chapter 28]

It is also recorded by Eusebius that while Zephyrinus was Pope, Origin—the great theologian of Alexandria—visited Rome, "desiring, as he himself somewhere says, to see the most ancient Church of Rome."

There is some confusion as to whether Zephyrinus died a martyr under Caracalla or not. This obscurity has led to a general suppression of his cult in modern times and his feast was moved to December 20 after 1969, as this date is considered to be more reliable as the anniversary of his death.

"He will make me, Damasus, arise from my ashes" ~ The epitaphs of Pope Saint Damasus

Pope Saint Damasus I in the Catacombs, taken from Shea's Pictorial Lives of the Saints. 

“He who stilled the raging waves of the sea by walking thereon, He who makes the dying seeds of the earth to live, He who could loose for Lazarus the chains of death, and give back again to the world above her brother to his sister Martha after three days and nights. He, I believe, will make me, Damasus, arise from my ashes.”

—Epitaph of Pope Saint Damasus, composed by himself and placed on his tomb. 

Pope Saint Damasus I reigned as bishop of Rome for eighteen years from AD 366 through 384. The Liber Pontificalis records that he was a Spaniard and the son of Antonius. Based on the epitaph written for his father by Damasus himself, Antonius was a Church record-keeper, lector and later bishop.

Click for info.

According to the Liber Pontificalis, Damasus, “searched out many bodies of the saints and found them and marked them with verses.” He further, “built two basilicas, one near the theater to the holy Lawrence, and the other on the Via Ardeatina where he is buried in the catacombs, and he dedicated the marble slab whereon lay the bodies of the apostles, that is, the blessed Peter and Paul, and he beautified it with verses.”

His father’s original profession probably explains Damasus’s passion to restore the tombs of the martyrs and commemorate them in stone as best he could. It should be remembered that sixty years before his reign, the Christian Church in Rome was nearly annihilated during the persecution under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian. At that time, it seems that most of the records of the Roman Church, including grave sites, were sought out and obliterated by the persecutors.

To restore as much as he could for posterity, Damasus undertook to mark the graves of his predecessors. Many of his epitaphs (like the one above) have survived to this day. Inscribed in the mid-4th century, these epitaphs represent some of the earliest records of the saints and popes of Rome. Here are a few examples:

Epitaph on a niche which once held the bodies of Saints Peter and Paul in the Catacombs (as mentioned above):

Here, you must know, the saints dwelt aforetime. Their names, if you ask, were Peter and Paul. The East sent the disciples, as we gladly admit. On account of the merit of their blood—and having followed Christ through the stars, they sought the ethereal havens and the realms of the just—Rome rather deserved to defend her citizens. Let Damasus thus recall your praises, ye new constellations.

Epitaph of Pope Sixtus II, martyred during the reign of Valerian in AD 258:

At the time when the sword severed the holy bowels of our mother, I, the ruler, was seated here teaching the Divine laws: those come suddenly who are to seize me on my throne. Then the people gave their necks to the soldiers who were sent, but when the elder knew who wished to bear away the palm, he offered himself and his life of his own accord first of all, lest their impatient frenzy should injure anyone. Christ, who awards the prizes of life, shows the merit of the Shepherd. He Himself keeps the number of the flock.

Epitaph of the martyrs Peter and Marcellinus who are mentioned to this day in the Roman Canon of the Mass:

When I was a boy, your executioner made known to me thy triumphs, O Marcellinus, and thine also, O Peter. The mad butcher gave him this commandment—that he should sever your necks in the midst of the thickets in order that no one should be able to recognize your grave, and he told how you prepared your sepulcher with eager hands. Afterwards you lay hid in a white cave, and then Lucilla was caused to know by your goodness that it pleased you rather to lay your sacred limbs here.

This epitaph is especially interesting because it demonstrates the emphasis placed by the Roman persecutors on preventing Christians from finding and commemorating the bodies of their martyrs. It is also a good indication of how the oral tradition was passed down during the dangerous years before the history could be written again on paper or carved into stone.

Epitaph of Saint Eutychius by Pope St. Damasus I. Read the translation here. 

Finally, here is an epitaph for Pope Saint Marcellus who advocated tough discipline for those who had apostatized during the Great Persecution and was later banished from Rome by the usurper, Maxentius:

The truth-telling ruler, because he bade the lapsed weep for their crimes, became a bitter enemy to all these unhappy men. Hence followed rage and hate, and discord and strife, sedition and slaughter. The bonds of peace are loosed. On account of the crimes of another, who denied Christ in time of peace, he was driven from the borders of his fatherland by the savagery of the tyrant. Damasus wishes briefly to tell these things which he had found out, that the people might know the merit of Marcellus.

Click for more info.

Other saints whose epitaphs of Damasus survive include: Nereus, Achilleus, Pope Callixtus, Gordianus, Tiburtius, Felicitas, Felix, Philippus, Hippolytus, Pope Cornelius, Tarsacius, Pope Eusebius, Lawrence, and Agnes.

All of these may be found in the book, I Am a Christian: Authentic Accounts of Christian Martyrdom and Persecution from the Ancient Sources. These epitaphs, along with explanatory text, are included as an appendix.

As part of his drive to preserve Christian antiquity for all time and transmit it faithfully to the future, Damasus encouraged Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus (aka, Saint Jerome) to undertake his monumental Latin Vulgate translation of Sacred Scripture. Indeed, Jerome mentions Pope Damasus by name in his preface on the Gospels.

Damasus died on December 11, AD 384 and his feast is commemorated on that date.

"I am receiving the reward for my deeds" ~ The Miserable Reign of Pope Vigilius, AD 537-555

A 17th century engraving of Pope Vigilius. 

Dark political machinations occur. Huge sums of money change hands. The secular power intrudes upon the domain of the Church, creating a situation whereby the reigning Pope is deposed and another is set up in his place. The deposed Pope is silenced, made a monk and sent into exile. The new Pope is secretly beholden to the secular powers who afforded him his seat. They now expect to see their temporal and ecclesiastical goals supported and advanced by the authority of the Papal office. Indeed, they are willing to coerce the Holy Father if he shows any reticence —and they’ve got a lot of dirt on him.

All of the above has indeed come to pass.

Of course, it came to pass in the 6th century AD.

In the above tale, the deposed Pontiff is Pope Saint Silverius. Born the son of another Pope (Saint Hormisdas), Silverius attained the papal throne in AD 536 following the death of Pope Agapetus who was on a mission in Constantinople when he perished. Silverius’s election was due in large part to the support of the Gothic King of Italy, Theodahad. All this occurred during a tumultuous time when the resurgent Roman Empire under Justinian was attempting to topple the Gothic monarchy and restore Italy to the empire. Shortly after, the feckless Theodahad was killed by his Gothic subjects and the more warlike Vitiges took the throne of Italy in his place. Having to contend with the invasion of Italy by Justinian’s skillful general, Belisarius, the Arian Vitiges left Pope Silverius to rule the Catholic Church in peace.

Thanks in no small part to the good will of Pope Silverius, Belisarius was able to capture Rome from the Goths in AD 537, ending over 60 years of Gothic rule. At about the same time, however, another player arrived on the scene in Italy. This was Vigilius, son of a noble Roman family, who had spent several years as Pope Agapetus’s representative in Constantinople. There, Vigilius had come into contact with the Empress Theodora who had strong sympathies toward the Monophysites.

Monophysitism is the heretical belief that Christ has only one nature, as opposed to the orthodox belief that Christ has two natures (human and divine) joined in a hypostatic union. This argument had been the cause of various schisms since the Council of Chalcedon in AD 450, as well as numerous attempts by religious and political authorities to reconcile the two sides using both the velvet glove and the mailed fist.

When Belisarius invaded Italy in AD 536, Pope Agapetus himself sojourned to Constantinople in an attempt to negotiate a peace treaty between the Goths and the Romans. While there, he discovered that the Patriarch of Constantinople, Anthemius, was a Monophysite heretic and famously deposed him before Justinian and Theodora. Appalled, Justinian demanded that Agapetus rescind his deposition and threatened the Pope with banishment. To this, Agapetus replied: “With eager longing have I come to gaze upon the most Christian emperor, Justinian. In his place I find a Diocletian, whose threats, however, terrify me not.” [Liber Pontificalis, LIX. Agapetus]

At this bold public display of papal authority, Justinian quailed and the deposition of Anthemius stood. But Agapetus perished in Constantinople shortly afterwards, and with the Roman cathedra vacant, the Augusta Theodora sensed a golden opportunity. In his 6th century work known as the Breviarium, the north African archdeacon Liberatus describes what happened next:

Augusta summoned Vigilius, deacon of Agapetus, and asked him secretly to promise her that if he were made pope, he would annul the synod of Chalcedon, where the dual nature of Christ had been maintained, and would write to Theodosius, Anthemius and Severus and in his letters approve their faith, and she offered to give him an order to Belisarius to make him pope and to bestow on him 700 pounds of gold. So Vigilius gladly gave his promise, desiring the bishopric and the gold, and after making his pledge, went to Rome.[Liberatus, Breviarium, 22 – See Liber Pontificalis, LX. Silverius, footnote 1] 

Having hurried back to Rome, Vigilius bided his time until the military situation stabilized. Once it became clear that Belisarius held the city firmly and that the besieging Gothic army was not able to dislodge him, a conspiracy was hatched. Secret letters were revealed, purporting to be from Silverius to King Vitiges, offering to let the Goths into the city surreptitiously during the night. Pope Silverius protested his innocence, but he was accused of conspiring with the Goths by Belisarius’s own wife, Antonina—herself an agent of Theodora. The Liber Pontificalis describes the scene as follows:

Click for more info.

Silverius went alone with Vigilius into the [Pincian Palace] and Antonina, the patrician, was lying upon a couch and Belisarius, the patrician, was sitting at her feet. When Antonina saw him, she said: “Tell us, Lord Pope Silverius, what we have done to you and to the Romans that you should wish to betray us into the hands of the Goths?”

While she was yet speaking John, the subdeacon of the first district, took the pallium from his neck and carried it into an inner chamber and stripped him of his vestments and put on him a monk’s robe and led him into hiding. [Liber Pontificalis, LX. Silverius]

This scene, as well as the entire reign of Silverius, his exile, death and the beginning of the reign of Vigilius are portrayed in detail in the third book of my Belisarius series, Rome the Eternal. I tried hard to stick to the history, given how fascinating the story is.

Immediately thereafter, to no one’s surprise at all, Vigilius was elected Pope. His first act was to send the deposed Silverius into exile at Patara, a city in the east. Given the chaotic situation in Rome and the power of Belisarius and Antonina, few among the clergy or the laity protested his actions or his irregular election. Later, when some friends of Silverius were able to plead his case before Justinian, the emperor took pity and ordered a trial for the deposed Pope in Rome. As a result, Silverius was brought back to Italy, but upon landing, he was seized by Vigilius’s henchmen and exiled to Ponza, a desolate island in the Tuscan sea, where he soon died of starvation.

Click for more info.

At this point, Theodora felt that she had achieved a great victory and happily prepared to receive the spoils. According to the Liber Pontificalis, she wrote to Vigilius, saying: “Come fulfill for us what you promised of your own free will concerning our father Anthemius and restore him to his office.”

But if the Augusta expected Vigilius to simply comply, she was in for a surprise. Now safely ensconced in his office far distant from Constantinople, Vigilius gave a most unexpected reply, as recorded in the Liber Pontificalis: “Far be this from me, Lady Augusta. I spoke beforetime wrongly and foolishly. Now I do assuredly refuse to restore a man who is a heretic and under the anathema. Although unworthy, I am the vicar of the blessed Peter, the apostle, as were my predecessors, the most holy Agapetus and Silverius, who condemned him.” [Liber Pontificalis, LXI: Vigilius]

Upon receiving this audacious response, Theodora must have been furious. Seeing that her pawn had gone rogue, the empress began looking for reasons to drag him back to Constantinople. And reasons, like dragon’s teeth sown in the ground, soon erupted everywhere. Vigilius was not popular in Rome as the clergy and the laity seemed to hold a silent grudge against him for his awful treatment of Silverius. Thus, they were more than happy to provide fodder for scandal. One rumor claimed that Vigilius had struck a notary with such force that the man died. Another said that he had ordered the murder of the husband of his niece, Vigilia.

With these accusations in hand, Theodora ordered Vigilius to be seized by her agents and put aboard a ship for Constantinople. As the ship sailed down the Tiber, the Roman people threw sticks and stones after it, crying out: “Your hunger go with you! Your pestilence go with you! You have done evil to the Romans; may you find evil where you go!” [Liber Pontificalis, LXI: Vigilius]

Arriving in Constantinople some months later, Vigilius was greeted by the emperor with a kiss. But the good feelings would not endure. For two years, the imperial court browbeat the Roman Pontiff, attempting to make him compromise on matters of doctrine in an attempt to placate the Monophysite sect. Specifically, Vigilius was asked to condemn a document called The Three Chapters which was particularly offensive to the Monophysites. However, the bishops of the West viewed such an act as the prelude to nullifying the Council of Chalcedon, the true goal the Monophysites had in mind.

Thus, if Vigilius condemned The Three Chapters, the Churches of the West would anathematize him as a heretic. If he did not condemn it, the Emperor and Empress—his one time patrons—would be wroth. As a result, Vigilius walked a tightrope trying desperately to appease the imperial couple while not resorting to concessions that would be seen as heretical in the West.

It is likely during this time that the partisans of Theodora used the scandalous accusations mentioned above as leverage to make Vigilius yield on points of doctrine, threatening to reveal all unless the Pope conceded to their will. But either through sheer obstinance or thanks to a nascent terror at offending God in this way, Vigilius refused to yield, saying to the Emperor and Empress: “Do with me as you will. I am receiving the reward for my deeds.”

Finally, in exasperation, one of the members of court struck Vigilius and flung the scandalous accusations in his face: “Murderer, do you not know to whom you speak? Do you not know that you slew Pope Silverius and killed the son of a widow woman with kicks and blows?” [Liber Pontificalis, LXI: Vigilius]

In terror, Vigilius fled to sanctuary in the church of Saint Peter in Constantinople. There he remained some time while the officers of the imperial court attempted to cajole him to negotiate on the doctrinal questions which the emperor wanted settled. When Vigilius refused to budge from his place of refuge, Justinian lost patience and ordered him removed by force. The imperial officers arrived and attempted to drag Vigilius out, grabbing him by his hair, beard and feet as he clung to the altar. His grip was so tight, however, that the altar itself collapsed and the imperial officers fled.

A fresco of the Second Council of Constantinople from the
Great Lavra of Mount Athos. Pope Vigilius may not be the
figure shown bound and chained in the lower left corner,
but that would be an apt representation of his treatment
during the council.

Vigilius would eventually emerge from sanctuary and into the hands of Justinian. At this point, the sources are contradictory, but the Liber Pontificalis claims that he was held in prison and members of his clergy were sent to toil in the mines. By AD 553, Justinian had prepared an ecumenical council to deal with the matter. He had carefully stacked the deck, however, with bishops from the east whom he was sure would support his position. Realizing this, Vigilius refused to attend the council, which would come to be known as the Second Council of Constantinople. With Vigilius absent, the bishops of the council proceeded to anathematize the Three Chapters as well as their authors.

For a few months more, Vigilius held to his position while serving time in an island exile. Then, finally, worn out and sick from a painful illness, Vigilius capitulated and accepted the acts of the Council. Once he did so, Justinian allowed him to return to Rome. But the Pope never made it. He died in Sicily while on his way home less than a year after knuckling under to Imperial pressure.

While the man he disgracefully deposed--Silverius--became venerated as a saint, Pope Vigilius never did. He remains to this day one of the few early Popes who did not attain sainthood.

For a detailed treatment of this miserable episode in Church history, check out this article entitled “Church and State: The Reign of Justinian” in The American Catholic Quarterly, Volume 37, pages 266-285.

Ironically, Justinian’s victory did little to heal the schism between the orthodox and the Monophysites who yet remained in bitter separation. It did succeed in further alienating the Western Church from the East as the bishops in Italy and Africa viewed the entire affair as sordid and heavily tainted with worldly politics, blackmail and underhanded intrigue.

How this situation relates to the present state of Holy Mother Church and her position vis a vis the dominant political forces in the world today, I leave for the reader to determine as best he can.

"He bade the lapsed weep for their crimes" ~ The ancient sources for Pope Saint Marcellus who died AD 309

Painting of Saint Marcello in Heavenly Glory which appears above the high
altar of the Basilica of San Marcello al Corso in Rome.

January 16 is the feast day of Pope Saint Marcellus who led the Roman see for a short period during the rule of the pagan emperor/usurper Maxentius over the city of Rome. Marcellus perished in AD 309 and was the last Pope to suffer martyrdom under the pagan administration of the empire.

The 6th century Liber Pontificalis records the highlights of his life, including conflicts with Maxentius that ultimately cost Marcellus his life:

Marcellus, by nationality a Roman, son of Marcellus (or Benedictus) from the district of the Via Lata, occupied the see 4 years. He was bishop in the time of Maxentius, from the 4th consulship of Maxentius, when Maximus was his colleague, until after the consulship.

He established a cemetery on the Via Salaria, and he appointed 25 parish churches as diocese in the city of Rome to provide baptism and penance for the many who were converted among the pagans, and burial for the martyrs.

Click for more info.

He ordained 25 priests in the city of Rome and 2 deacons, in the month of December, and 21 bishops in divers places.

He was seized by Maxentius and held in confinement because he set the church in order, and imprisoned that he might deny his bishopric and degrade himself by sacrifices to demons. Then, forasmuch as he continually despised and scorned the words and commands of Maxentius, he was condemned to the stable.

In her footnote, Louise Ropes Loomis speculates that the “stable” in question here are those maintained as part of the imperial post. This story is not repeated in other sources, says Loomis, but it is not inconsistent with the other facts we know about this turbulent period.

The account in the Liber Pontificalis continues:

But although he served many days in the stable, he did not cease his service to the Lord with prayers and fastings. Moreover in the ninth month, all his clergy came by night and removed him by night from the stable. A certain matron and widow whose name was Lucina, who had lived with her husband Marcus 15 years and had been 19 years a widow, received the blessed man. And she dedicated her house as a church in the name of the blessed Marcellus and there day and night the Lord Jesus Christ was confessed with hymns and prayers.

This is the church known in modern times as San Lorenzo in Lucina where a basilica was subsequently built in the mid-4th century AD, restored and embellished numerous times throughout the centuries. Traces of the original Roman structure may be seen amidst the foundations even to this day.

A fragment of mosaic flooring from beneath the present-day San Lorenzo in Lucina.

The Liber Pontificalis continues:

But Maxentius heard of it and sent and seized the blessed Marcellus a second time and gave orders that in that very church, boards should be laid down and the animals of the stable should be collected and kept there and the blessed Marcellus should tend them. And he died in the service of the animals, clad only in a hair shirt.

And the blessed Lucina took is body and he was buried in the cemetery of Priscilla on the Via Salaria, January 16.

And the bishopric was empty 20 days.

Lucina herself was condemned by proscription.

The remains of the martyred pope were later transferred to the basilica of San Marcello al Corso in Rome. An epitaph of Pope Saint Marcellus, written by Pope Damasus about 80 years after Marcellus’s martyrdom, was found in the cemetery of Priscilla. The epitaph seems to tell a slightly different story than the one found in the Liber Pontificalis:

Click for more info.

The truth-telling ruler, because he bade the lapsed weep for their crimes, became a bitter enemy to all these unhappy men. Hence followed rage and hate, and discord and strife, sedition and slaughter. The bonds of peace are loosed. On account of the crimes of another, who denied Christ in time of peace, he was driven from the borders of his fatherland by the savagery of the tyrant. Damasus wishes to briefly tell these things which he had found out, that people might know the merit of Marcellus.

This translation of the epitaph was taken from I Am a Christian: Authentic Accounts of Christian Martyrdom and Persecution from the Ancient Sources.

January 20 ~ Martyrdom of Pope Saint Fabian, victim of the persecution of Decius

On this day in Roman history - January 20 - Pope Fabian, the bishop of Rome, was martyred.

In AD 250, the Roman emperor Decius decided that the disasters afflicting the empire were the result of impiety to the gods by the people. To address this issue, Decius decreed that all Romans should publicly offer obeisance to the gods. Any who resisted this command were to be severely punished.

Since Christians steadfastly refused to be bound by this imperial mandate, Decius struck their leaders first. One of the first victims of this persecution was Fabian, the Pope of Rome. It is thought that he perished a martyr while in prison, though a tradition exists that he was beheaded. The Liberian Catalog records that he was martyred on January 20, 250.

Following is Pope Fabian's record from the Liber Pontificalis, first compiled in the 4th century:

Fabianus, by nationality a Roman, son of Fabius, occupied the see 14 years, 1 month and 10 days. He was crowned with martyrdom.

Click here for more info.

He was bishop in the time of Maximus and Africanus (AD 236) until the year when Decius was consul the 2nd time and Quadratus was his colleague (AD 250), and he suffered January 29.

He divided the districts among the deacons and created 7 subdeacons to be associated with the 7 notaries, that they might faithfully compile the acts of the martyrs, omitting nothing. And he commanded many buildings to be erected throughout the cemeteries.

And after his passion, Moyses and Maximus, priests, and Nicostratus, a deacon, were seized and committed to prison. At that time, Novatus arrived from Africa and drew away from the church Novatian and certain confessors. Afterwards, Moyses died in prison, when he had been there 11 months, and therefore many Christians fled to divers places.

He held 5 ordinations in the month of December, 22 priests, 7 deacons, 11 bishops in divers places. He also was buried in the cemetery of Calistus on the Via Appia, January 20. And the bishopric was empty 7 days. 

The persecution under Decius was one of the severest trials the Catholic Church had experienced up to that point. It is thought that thousands were killed, and thousands more publicly renounced their faith to avoid death.

"With the authority of the blessed Peter" ~ Gregory the Great's Rebuke of the Bishops of Dalmatia

Click to share on Facebook.

"Your manners have been so perverted by secular concerns, that, forgetting the whole path of the sacerdotal dignity that is yours, and all sense of heavenly fear, you study to accomplish what may please yourselves and not God."

~Pope Saint Gregory the Great, to the bishops of Dalmatia 

Today being the feast day of Pope Saint Gregory the Great (ca. AD 540 - 604) whose papacy began on this date in AD 590, this quote seems a fitting reminder of this outstanding occupant of the cathedra of Rome. He was truly one of the greatest popes.

Gregory is often viewed as one of the last of the patristic Church fathers, and one of the first popes to exercise political power in central Italy the absence of Roman power in the region. He did not hesitate to use his authority as successor of St. Peter to enforce discipline on his brother bishops, as the quote above demonstrates. While this stern letter was written specifically for the bishops in the province of Dalmatia, across the Adriatic Sea from Italy (modern Croatia), Gregory's exhortation against undue attention to worldly concerns is perfectly valid advice for modern prelates, clergy and the laity as well.

Here is the quote in the context of the full letter:

Gregory to all the bishops through Dalmatia.

It behooved your Fraternity, having the eyes of the flesh closed out of regard to Divine judgment, to have omitted nothing that appertains to God and to a right inclination of mind, nor to have preferred the countenance of any man whatever to the uprightness of justice. But now that your manners have been so perverted by secular concerns, that, forgetting the whole path of the sacerdotal dignity that is yours, and all sense of heavenly fear, you study to accomplish what may please yourselves and not God, we have held it necessary to send you these specially strict written orders, whereby, with the authority of the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles, we enjoin that you presume not to lay hands on any one whatever in the city of Salona, so far as regards ordination to episcopacy, without our consent and permission; nor to ordain any one in the same city otherwise than as we have said.

But if, either of your own accord, or under compulsion from any one whatever, you should presume or attempt to do anything contrary to this injunction, we shall decree you to be deprived of participation of the Lord's body and blood, that so your very handling of the business, or your very inclination to transgress our order, may cut you off from the sacred mysteries, and no one may be accounted a bishop whom you may ordain. For we wish no one to be rashly ordained whose life can be found fault with. And so, if the deacon Honoratus is shown to be unworthy, we desire that a report may be sent us of the life and manners of him who may be elected, that whatever is to be done in this matter we may allow to be carried out salubriously with our consent.

For we trust in Almighty God that, as far as in us lies, we may never suffer to be done what may damage our soul; never what may damage your Church. But, if the voluntary consent of all should so fix on one person that by the favor of God he may be proved worthy, and there should be no one to dissent from his being ordained, we wish him to be consecrated by you in this same church of Salona under the license granted in this present epistle; excepting notwithstanding the person of Maximus, about whom many evil reports have reached us: and, unless he desists from coveting the higher order, it remains, as I think, that after full enquiry, he should be deprived also of the very office which he now holds. 

Taken from: The Epistles of Pope Gregory the Great, Book IV, Letter 10.

The epitaph of Pope Saint Hormisdas, written by his son, Pope Saint Silverius

Pope St. Hormisdas, from an antique engraving.

August 6 is the Feast Day of Pope Saint Hormisdas who reigned from AD 514 to 523. This was a difficult time for the Church when Italy was under the domination of the Arian Ostrogothic King, Theodoric, and the Eastern Roman Emperor, Anastasius, was a monophysite heretic. 

During Hormisdas's reign, in an attempt to end the Acacian Schism which had separated the eastern and western Churches, Hormisdas caused secret letters to be circulated in the east explaining the Catholic faith and proposing that the monophysites should be reconciled and do penance. According to the Liber Pontificalis, his efforts were in vain as long as Anastasius remained emperor in Constantinople. Indeed, Anastasius's response to the proposed penance was to say angrily: "We wish to command you not to lay commands upon us." Shortly thereafter, Anastasius died, "struck by the divine thunderbolt" as the author of the Liber relates.

A detailed description of Hormisdas's reign may be found in the Catholic Encyclopedia. 

Though his name is Persian in origin, the Liber Pontificalis says that Hormisdas was "by nationality a Campanian, son of Justus, from the town of Frisino"—modern day Frosinone about 30 miles south of Rome. He was a Pope and a saint as well as the father of a Pope and a saint. His son, Pope Saint Silverius wrote the following epitaph in verse on his tomb in the catacombs under Old Saint Peters in Rome:

Although my verses, father,
are unworthy of your sepulcher
and though your celebrated faith
has no need for eulogy,
accept, however, these praises,
to be read by a pilgrim
who for the love of Peter,
will be coming here from the ends of the world. 

You healed the body of your native country
lacerated by schism,
and restored the torn-off limbs
to their proper places.
Greece, defeated by holy power,
submitted herself to you,
happy in having regained her lost faith.
Africa, captive for many years,
rejoices over the bishops
she owes to your prayers. 

I, Silverius, have recorded this,
though it causes me sorrow,
in order that, engraved on a tombstone,
it may defy age

(Translation taken from Reardon: The Deaths of the Popes) 

Sadly, the original inscription was lost when Old Saint Peters was demolished to make way for the present monumental basilica of Saint Peter at the Vatican in the 17th century.

Silverius would go on to become Pope in his own right in AD 536. He would be deposed by Antonina and Belisarius (acting on behalf of Theodora), exiled, and later martyred by starvation on the island of Palmarola. 

Pope Saint Silverius ~ Resisted state-mandated heresy. Died a martyr.

Click here to share on Facebook.

June 20 is the Feast of Pope Saint Silverius, a 6th century martyr who was deposed and starved to death for the sake of political expediency by order of the Christian Roman empress, Theodora.

Pope Saint Silverius is truly a saint for our times. Faced with persecution by the Christian Roman imperial government which insisted that he embrace heresy, he nonetheless held courageously to the truth of the Catholic faith, despite lies, corruption, intimidation and threats to his office and his life.

Almost no one today knows him, but Silverius is a saint that Catholics should invoke when faced with weak leadership in the Church that serves or capitulates to those in political power.

Here is his story.

Made pope under the influence of the Gothic King, Theodahad, Silverius was the son of a previous pope, Saint Hormisdas. He was newly crowned in AD 537, when the Roman imperial couple, Justinian and Theodora, enjoined him to reinstate Anthemius, the monophysite patricarch of Constantinople. Anthemius had previously been deposed as a heretic by Silverius’s immediate predecessor, Pope Saint Agapetus who had died in Constantinople. Events played out as follows, according to the Liber Pontificalis: 

At that time the patrician Belisarius [called "Vilisarius" in this source] went to Naples and set it in order and afterwards came to Rome. And he was received graciously by Lord Silverius.... 

At that time [future Pope] Vigilius the deacon was delegate to Constantinople. And the empress was vexed for the patriarch Anthemius because he had been deposed by the most holy pope, Agapitus, who had found him to be a heretic and had appointed Menas, the servant of God, in his stead. So Augustus took counsel with Vigilius the deacon and sent a letter to Rome to Pope Silverius with the request: "Be not slow to come to us or else fail not to restore Anthemius to his place."

And when the blessed Silverius read the letter he groaned and said, "Now I know that this affair has put an end to my life." But the most blessed Silverius had trust in God and in blessed Peter the apostle and he wrote to the empress Lady Augusta, "I will never do this thing to recall a heretic condemned in his iniquity."

Then Augusta was wroth and she sent instructions to Belisarius the patrician by Vigilius the deacon as follows: "Find some occasion to accuse Pope Silverius and depose him from the bishopric or else send him surely and speedily to us. See you have with you Vigilius the archdeacon and legate our well beloved who has promised us to restore the patriarch Anthemius."

And Belisarius the patrician received the instructions and said "I forsooth will perform these instructions, but as for him who brings about the overthrow of Pope Silverius he shall render an account of his deeds to our Lord Jesus Christ." 

And certain false witnesses encouraged by these instructions came forward and said "We have found Pope Silverius sending letters to the king of the Goths saying, 'Come to the gate which is called the Asinaria near the Lateran and I will deliver to you the city.'"

And Belisarius the patrician heard this and did not believe it for he knew that it was spoken out of malice. Nevertheless since many persisted in that same accusation he was afraid. Then he bade Pope Silverius come to him in the Pincian palace and he had all the clergy wait at the first and second portals. And Silverius went alone with Vigilius into the mausoleum, and Antonina the patrician was lying upon a couch and Belisarius the patrician was sitting at her feet. And when Antonina the patrician saw him she said to him, "Tell us, Lord Pope Silverius, what we have done to you and to the Romans that you should wish to betray us into the hands of the Goths?"

Click for more info.

While she was yet speaking, John the subdeacon of the first district, took the pallium from his neck and carried it into an inner chamber and stripped him of his vestments and put on him a monk's robe and led him into hiding. Then Xystus, the subdeacon of the sixth district, when he saw him as a monk went outside and proclaimed to the clergy that the lord pope had been deposed and had become a monk. And when they heard it they all fled. But Vigilius the archdeacon took Silverius as if in his own charge, and sent him into exile to Pontiae and fed him with the bread of tribulation and the water of bitterness. And he fell ill and died a confessor.

And he was buried in that place June 20 and a multitude of those who were diseased came to his sepulcher and were healed.

Silverius knew full well the grave danger of contradicting the will of the emperor and empress. As much as he may have feared them and the fate which they had in store for him, he feared God more. For as our Lord said, "Fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell."

It is interesting to note that the political and military fortunes of Justinian and Belisarius seemed to wax greatest up until the time of Silverius's death. After that, they waned slowly, steadily, almost tragically. As the old saying goes, Qui mange du pape en meurt (Who eats of the Pope, dies of it).

Pope Saint Silverius will be featured prominently in Book III of my series of historical novels on Belisarius, the last great Roman general, now well under way.

As for Belisarius's role in this tragedy, there is a curious story of a good priest who once had a vision of the great general. Belisarius told the priest that he was his ancestor, and that his soul was in need of prayers for the dreadful crime he had committed against Pope Silverius. As a result of that troubling spiritual encounter, the priest changed his name and did penance for the rest of his life to make up for the great sin of his ancestor. This tale may sound apocryphal to you, but I believe it -- because I knew the man. He passed to his eternal reward in December of last year.

In your kindness, please remember the soul of Fr. Constantine Belisarius in your prayers.

June 2024 Update:

Click for more info.

Belisarius, Book III: Rome the Eternal is now published. I posted an excerpt from the book dealing with the exile and death of Pope Saint Silverius here. Hope you enjoy it!

You can also find a post on the miserable reign of Pope Vigilius, Saint Silverius's successor. There's also a separate post about how Pope Vigilius jumped out of a window on Christmas to escape Justinian's henchmen.

And finally, this post contains a translation of the otherwise lost epitaph written by Pope Saint Silverius for his father, Pope Saint Hormisdas. Yes, you read that right—Pope Hormisdas was the father of Pope Silverius.