Celestine I | |
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Papacy began | 422 |
Papacy ended | 6 April 432 |
Predecessor | Boniface I |
Successor | Sixtus III |
Personal details | |
Birth name | Celestine |
Born | ??? Rome, Western Roman Empire |
Sainthood | |
Feast day | 6 April (Roman Catholic) 8 April (Greek Orthodox) |
Other Popes named Celestine |
Papal styles of Pope Celestine I |
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Reference style | His Holiness |
Spoken style | Your Holiness |
Religious style | Holy Father |
Posthumous style | Saint |
Pope Saint Celestine I was elevated to the papacy in the year 422, on 3 November according to the Liber Pontificalis[1], but on 10 April according to Tillemont.[2]
Celestine I was a Roman from the region of Campania.[1] Nothing is known of his early history except that his father's name was Priscus. He is said to have lived for a time at Milan with St. Ambrose. The first known record of him is in a document of Pope Innocent I from the year 416, where he is spoken of as "Celestine the Deacon".[3]
Various portions of the liturgy are attributed to him, but without any certainty on the subject. Though he did not attend personally, he sent delegates to the First Council of Ephesus of 431, in which the Nestorians were condemned. Four letters written by him on that occasion, all dated 15 March 431, together with a few others, to the African bishops, to those of Illyria, of Thessalonica, and of Narbonne, are extant in re-translations from the Greek; the Latin originals having been lost.
St. Celestine actively condemned the Pelagians and was zealous for orthodoxy. He sent Palladius to Ireland to serve as a bishop in 431. Bishop Patricius (Saint Patrick) continued this missionary work. Pope Celestine raged against the Novatians in Rome, imprisoning their bishop, and forbidding their worship. He was zealous in refusing to tolerate the smallest innovation on the constitutions of his predecessors. As St. Vincent of Lerins reported in 434:
St. Celestine died on 27 July 432. He was buried in the cemetery of St. Priscilla in the Via Salaria, but his body, subsequently moved, now lies in the Basilica di Santa Prassede.
In art, Saint Celestine is portrayed as a Pope with a dove, dragon, and flame, and is recognized by the Church as a saint.
Catholic Church titles | ||
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Preceded by Boniface I |
Pope 422–432 |
Succeeded by Sixtus III |
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