Pope Telesphorus
| Saint Telesphorus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Papacy began | 126 |
| Papacy ended | 137 |
| Predecessor | Sixtus I |
| Successor | Hyginus |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Telesphorus |
| Born | ??? Greece |
| Died | 137 Rome, Italy |
| Papal styles of Pope Telesphorus |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Reference style | His Holiness |
| Spoken style | Your Holiness |
| Religious style | Holy Father |
| Posthumous style | Saint |
Pope Saint Telesphorus was pope from 126 or 127 to 137 or 138, during the reigns of Roman Emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. He was Greek by birth.
Telesphorus is traditionally reckoned as being the seventh Roman bishop in succession after Saint Peter. The Liber Pontificalis mentions that he had been an anchorite (or hermit) monk prior to assuming office. According to the testimony of Irenæus (Against Heresies III.3.3), he suffered a "glorious" martyrdom. Although all early popes are called martyrs by sources such as the Liber Ponificalis, Telesphorus is the first to whom Ireneaus, writing considerably earlier, gives this title.
Eusebius (Church History iv.7; iv.14) places the beginning of his pontificate in the twelfth year of the reign of Emperor Hadrian (128–129) and gives the date of his death as being in the first year of the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–139).
In the Roman Martyrology his feast is celebrated on 2 January;[1] the Greek Church celebrates it on 22 February.
The tradition of Christmas Midnight Masses, the celebration of Easter on Sundays, the keeping of a seven-week Lent before Easter and the singing of the Gloria are usually attributed to his pontificate, but some historians doubt that such attributions are accurate.
A fragment of a letter from Irenæus to Pope Victor I during the Easter controversy in the late second century, also preserved by Eusebius, testifies that Telesphorus was one of the Roman bishops who always celebrated Easter on Sunday, rather than on other days of the week according to the calculation of the Jewish Passover. Unlike Victor, however, Telesphorus remained in communion with those communities that did not follow this custom.
The Carmelites venerate Telesphorus as a patron saint of the order since some sources depict him as a hermit living on Mount Carmel.
The town of Saint-Télesphore, in the southwestern part of Canada's Quebec province, is named after him.
References
- Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.
- Kelly, J.N.D. Oxford Dictionary of Popes. (1986). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Benedict XVI. The Roman Martyrology. Gardners Books, 2007. ISBN 9780548133743. Chapman, John. Studies on the Early Papacy. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1971. ISBN 9780804611398. Fortescue, Adrian, and Scott M. P. Reid. The Early Papacy: To the Synod of Chalcedon in 451. Southampton: Saint Austin Press, 1997. ISBN 9781901157604. Loomis, Louise Ropes. The Book of Popes (Liber Pontificalis). Merchantville, NJ: Evolution Publishing. ISBN 1889758868
External links
- (Latin) The Works of Pope Telesphorus (from Documenta Catholica Omnia)
- "Pope St. Telesphorus" Catholic Encyclopedia
Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Telesphorus". Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sixtus I |
Bishop of Rome Pope 125–136 |
Succeeded by Hyginus |
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