Anicetus

ON SAINT ANICETUS

POPE OF ROME AND MARTYR

IN THE YEAR 153.

Anicetus, Pope of Rome and Martyr (St.)

BY G. H.

The things that are written by various authors concerning the time and order of the pontificate of St. Anicetus appear at first glance sufficiently perplexing and intricate. In these difficulties we set before ourselves as guidelines to be followed certain rules customarily prescribed by Cardinal Baronius. Light from the Roman Catalogues Let the first of these be that in matters pertaining to the Roman Church greater trust should be placed in her own sons than in others. So Baronius notes on April 26, against Irenaeus, Eusebius, and others who did not reckon St. Cletus among the Roman Pontiffs, as we set forth at length in the Acts of St. Cletus. The other rule, also Baronius's, is that dates reckoned by consuls should be received with more willing ears, and are marked by consuls since that chronography is known to be more frequent, more liberal, and truer than the others, and has passed into more frequent use which is drawn from the consular fasti; and ancient monuments marked with consular dates bring great joy, just as if some longed-for torch should shine forth for one wandering in the darkness. So he writes in the Annals, year 69, number 36. These and other matters we explain more fully in the preliminary Commentary on the Catalogues of the Roman Pontiffs, published separately. Among these, the foremost is the one which St. Damasus, at the request of St. Jerome, sent to him, adding that he joyfully directed to him the deeds of the Pontiffs which he had been able to find in the archive of his See. This Catalogue is carried down to Siricius, the predecessor of St. Damasus, and is to be divided into several parts, the first of which ended with St. Urban, who died a Martyr in the year of Christ 231. This part perhaps was compiled by St. Anterus, afterwards Pope of Rome; for he is reported to have diligently sought out the deeds of the Martyrs from the Notaries. But what is to be regretted is that there is a gap for some of the Pontiffs; and so the consuls to be assigned to St. Anicetus were set forth together with his predecessor Hyginus.

[2] St. Hyginus held the see Concerning him we have only this. Hyginus for twelve years, three months, six days: the consuls are given in the next Catalogue, and in it he is said to have held office from the consulate of Magnus and Camerinus, until that of Orfitus and Priscus. The same consuls are assigned by Anastasius and Liutprand, in their Lives of the Pontiffs, likewise in the Pontifical Book and the manuscript Deeds of the Pontiffs, which extend to Martin V. from the year 138 Now the consuls Quinctius Niger Magnus and Sulpitius Camerinus were in the year 138, in which year also, on July 12, the Emperor Hadrian died, and was succeeded by Antoninus Pius. The other consuls Cornelius Scipio Orfitus and Quintus Nonius Priscus were in the year 149, to 149 in which Antoninus Pius began the twelfth year of his reign, and St. Hyginus survived to the tenth or eleventh of January of the following year, on which days his memory is celebrated in various Martyrologies, and in today's Roman Martyrology we read: "At Rome, of St. Hyginus the Pope, who gloriously completed his martyrdom in the persecution of Antoninus." Of his martyrdom nothing is read in the aforesaid authors. Molanus in his Notes on the Martyrology of Usuard, and Onuphrius on Platina, think that the title of Martyr is given to him because he suffered much for the confession of Christ. Perhaps he is more truly to be called Martyr because he ended his life after being shut in prison for four whole years, during which time St. Pius, as will be established below, as his Vicar governed the Church. In the meantime, after the death of St. Hyginus, St. Anicetus was established as the eleventh Pontiff, and St. Anicetus was set in his place St. Pius being hindered by illness or exile, or by some other cause which demanded it, unknown to us in the silence of the ancients. Concerning the pontificate of St. Anicetus we gather these things from the gap in the earlier Catalogue indicated above. "Anicetus for years... He was from the consulate of Gallicanus and Vetus until that of Praesens and Rufinus." The same consuls are contained in the other Catalogue drawn up in the sixth century of Christ; likewise in Anastasius and Liutprand, in the Pontifical Book and the above-cited manuscript Deeds of the Pontiffs, and finally in the ancient Roman Breviaries, both manuscript and printed in the years 1470, 1490, 1522, and 1524, which we have in our possession. And thus a great and longed-for light shines upon those who were wandering astray. The consuls Romulus Gallicanus and Antistius Vetus were in the year of Christ 150, he still presided in the year 153 and Brutius Praesens (for the second time) and Marcus Antonius Rufinus were in the year of Christ 153. Hence it is clear that St. Anicetus sat in his pontificate not beyond the fourth year, from the twelfth year of Antoninus Pius to the fifteenth, and it seems that by others years were subtracted from his predecessor Hyginus and transferred to St. Anicetus. then St. Pius, formerly Vicar To Anicetus succeeded St. Pius, the twelfth Pontiff, who in the older Catalogue is said to have presided in the times of Antoninus Pius, from the consulate of Clarus and Severus until that of the two Augusti. Sextus Erucius Clarus and Gnaeus Claudius Severus presided in the year 144, when in the time of St. Hyginus, perhaps, as we said, shut in prison, St. Pius was made his Vicar or Chorepiscopus; at which time Eusebius, in book 4 of his Ecclesiastical History, chapter 11, relates from Irenaeus that Valentinus the heretic was flourishing. Then under Pontiff Anicetus he seems to have remained Apostolic Bishop, or Anicetus's Chorepiscopus, and at last, when he had departed this life, he was made true and ordinary Pontiff, and sat for eight years, and therefore with these Catalogues Optatus of Milevis, in book 2 on the Schism of the Donatists, and St. Augustine, in letter 165 against the same Donatists, place St. Pius after St. Anicetus. Then St. Pius presided until the consulate of the two Augusti. he sat until the year 161 These are Marcus Aurelius Verus Caesar and Lucius Aelius Verus Caesar, brothers, who in their consulate in the year 161 were made Augusti, Emperors. In the following year there were substituted for these consuls Quintus Junius Rusticus and Vettius Aquilinus, afterwards St. Soter from whose consulate the beginning of the pontificate of St. Soter is reckoned, as will be fully confirmed at his Acts on April 22.

[3] Our resolution is established, besides by Optatus and St. Augustine, both by the above-named consuls and by the Emperor Antoninus Pius, under whom St. Jerome and Eusebius relate that St. Polycarp came to Rome to St. Anicetus. St. Anicetus, who under Antoninus Pius The words of St. Jerome in his book On Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 17, are these: "He, on account of certain questions about the day of Easter, under the Emperor Antoninus Pius, while Anicetus was governing the Church, came to Rome, received St. Polycarp where he led back to the faith very many believers who had been deceived by the persuasion of Marcion and Valentinus." So St. Jerome, in these things following the Chronicle and History of Eusebius, who in book 4 of the History, chapter 14, at the beginning says: "In the times just shown of the Emperor Antoninus Pius, while Anicetus was presiding over the Roman Church, Polycarp, who was still alive, came to Rome because of a certain question that had arisen concerning Easter, and had a conference with Anicetus, as Irenaeus relates." How kindly St. Polycarp was then received by St. Anicetus, St. Irenaeus writes in the letter sent in the name of the brethren who were in Gaul to Pope St. Victor, part of which Eusebius cites in book 5, chapter 24, from which we excerpt some things, which are thus narrated: "When the most blessed Polycarp had come to Rome in the times of Anicetus, and there was a slight controversy between them about certain other matters, they at once embraced one another with a mutual kiss of peace, not greatly contending with each other about this point (concerning the day of Easter). For neither could Anicetus ever persuade Polycarp to cease to observe, since he had perpetually observed that custom together with John the disciple of our Lord, and with the rest of the Apostles, with whom he had lived on familiar terms. Nor likewise did Polycarp try to persuade Anicetus to observe, since Anicetus said that he ought to retain the custom of the Presbyters who had been before him. And since such was the case, they communed with one another; and Anicetus, for the sake of honor, granted the office of consecrating in the Church to Polycarp, and at last they departed from one another in peace, both those who observed and those who did not observe retaining the peace and communion of the whole Church." This is there, which we have set forth more fully on January 26 in the Life of St. Polycarp. Moreover, because Eusebius placed Anicetus after St. Pius, he referred his death to the times of Marcus Aurelius Verus and Lucius Aelius Verus, whom various authors have followed, even leaving aside the consuls mentioned above, who, with the darkness dispelled, conferred the open light of truth.

[4] His name in the Martyrology on April 17 The day of the death or martyrdom of St. Anicetus is assigned by Anastasius and in other Catalogues to the 12th day before the Kalends of May, that is, April 20, on which day Rabanus before Anastasius has this: "At Rome, of Anicetus the Pope and Martyr, who established in the Church that the Clergy should not let their hair grow: he is buried in the cemetery of Callistus." He is also mentioned in

the Martyrology of Florus. The ancient Roman Breviaries likewise record that the Martyr died on the 12th day before the Kalends of May, April 17 and yet propose his veneration on the 15th day before the Kalends of May, that is, April 17, on which day in the manuscript Anastasius of the Most Christian King it is read that St. Anicetus the Martyr died, and the same is written in the Lives of the Pontiffs by Liutprand, John Stella, Onuphrius, Ciaconius, and passim by more recent writers. And thus they have recorded him in their Martyrologies, Bellinus, Maurolycus, Galesinius, and others with Petrus de Natalibus, and in today's Roman Martyrology. and April 16 But on the day before, that is, April 16, his memory is celebrated in many ancient manuscript Martyrologies, such as those of St. Cyriacus often praised by Baronius, a certain Barberinian one, the Cologne one of St. Mary ad Gradus, the Neapolitan one of the Clerics Regular, the Liège one of St. Lambert, likewise the manuscript Martyrology of Ado of Lobbes, the Liège one of St. Laurence, and another of the Queen of Sweden, and with them Notker, and the author of the Pseudo-Bede.

[5] Paolo Aringhi, in book 3 of Rome Subterranean, chapter 2, treating of the famous cemetery of Callistus, burial in which St. Anicetus was buried, writes this at number 10: "But indeed this cemetery, worthy of every veneration, once furnished to the Supreme Pontiffs, while they lived among men, a most longed-for dwelling place. For very many lie there, buried by the pious devotion of the faithful: among whom the chief are numbered Anicetus, Soter, Anterus, Pontianus, Fabianus, and twelve others named there." Giovanni Angelo, Duke of Altaemps, in chapter 13 of the Life of St. Anicetus which he published, asserts that it is believed St. Anicetus was buried by his deacon Eleutherius, who after Soter ascended to the pontifical dignity; and in chapter 14 he hands down these things concerning the Finding of the bodies of St. Anicetus and of other Saints: "When his body had rested in the cemetery of Callistus for 1429 years, Clement VIII, Supreme Pontiff of pious memory, moved by zeal and piety, the body found took care that the bodies of the Saints buried there should be exhumed so that they might be placed in a suitable spot, and might be venerated with greater devotion by men; and in order to satisfy many who were asking, he caused a diligent search to be made in the same cemetery of Callistus. And at last forty-four bodies of Holy Martyrs were found. These indeed were exhumed by a certain painter named Giovanni Angelo, commonly called Toccafondo: and it should be known that this man was most skilled in descending into such cemeteries and crypts, and in searching out the bodies that lay there. These bodies of the Holy Martyrs were brought into the sacristy of the Apostolic Palace, and from there were distributed to many who reverently sought them; and among others, I humbly asked for the body of Anicetus, which I knew was among them: and I was held by a greater desire to have it because in the Divine Office there is a commemoration of him, and in the pontifical dignity he conducted himself most excellently. and given to the Duke of Altaemps The aforesaid Clement VIII of happy memory, out of love, kindly granting my petitions, granted me the body of St. Anicetus Pope and Martyr: which on the 28th day of October of the year 1604 was brought to me by the Most Reverend Lord Angelus Rocca, the Augustinian Bishop of Tagaste, Prefect of that same most holy sacristy. I had it piously placed in the Confession, contained in choice marbles, in a chapel in my house erected from the foundations for this purpose, in caskets of silver, cypress, and lead, and in a basin of yellow marble, formerly the tomb of the Emperor Alexander Severus, found along the Appian Way placed in his chapel at the third milestone from the City, with this monument added:

THE BONES OF THE MARTYR ANICETUS THE POPE,

FROM THE SAND-PIT LATER CALLED

THE CEMETERY OF CALLISTUS, with this inscription

TRANSLATED BY THE AUTHORITY OF CLEMENT VIII,

GIOVANNI ANGELO DUKE OF ALTAEMPS

OFFERED A CHAPEL,

THE BODY OF THE SAME MARTYR

IN THE BASIN WHICH WAS THE TOMB OF ALEXANDER SEVERUS EMPEROR,

HE PLACED. GIVEN

IN THE YEAR OF THE LORD 1617.

Whom therefore I pray to be the perpetual defender, protector, and patron of this my house. If the knowledge of divine things, an unblemished life, and martyrdom for Christ's name can, as all admit, render a man most glorious in this world, what shall be thought of Anicetus, in whom all these things together shone forth eminently?"

[6] So the Duke of Altaemps, who near the end of chapter 13 has these things about the crown obtained after his martyrdom. encomium published by the same "This was the glorious end of the life of the most holy Pontiff and most unconquered Martyr, rather the beginning of an everlasting and blessed life. The faithful steward of the Lord, having so providently administered the family of Christ over which he was set, is transferred from earth to heaven, about to obtain deserved praises and rewards from the Lord. Having undergone innumerable labors, wearied by persecutions, having overcome so many difficulties which he endured in ruling the people of God, he at last found the place of the glory of peace prepared for him. The unconquered Martyr did not fear the force of the sword, nor did he shrink from death: he himself, the Head of the Church, most willingly offered his head to be cut off. Thither led him the excellent and outstanding virtues with which, adorned, he had flourished in life. He shone like the sun in his days: he was not darkened, but shone more splendidly in his setting: and now his soul reigns in the heavens. He was illumined by the Lord with great and many miracles." So the Duke of Altaemps, who traces out the Life of St. Anicetus at length, with the memorable events which happened while he sat as Pontiff in the Church, drawing them chiefly from the Annals of Baronius.

[7] Relics at Bologna Masini in Bologna Perlustrata relates that some relics of St. Anicetus Pope and Martyr are at Bologna in the church of St. Stephen, and of St. Francis, and of St. Paul of the Barnabites. The same St. Anicetus is venerated under a double rite in the church of the Society of Jesus at Munich in Bavaria, head at Munich because they have the entire head with a Roman testimony, which I wish had been submitted to us. If we obtain it, it can be printed at the end of this volume.