vendredi 3 avril 2015

Saint SIXTE Ier, Pape et martyr


Saint Sixte Ier, pape

Pape de 117 à 127, Sixte Ier était romain. Il mourut martyr lors de la persécution de l'empereur Hadrien. Son nom figure au Canon romain de la messe.


Saint Sixte Ier


Pape (7 ème) de 115 à 125 ( 125)

On ne sait presque rien de lui, sinon qu'il est le sixième successeur de saint Pierre et qu'il mourut martyr après dix années d'épiscopat romain.


À Rome, en 128, saint Sixte Ier, pape, qui, au temps de l’empereur Adrien, gouverna l’Église de Rome, le sixième après saint Pierre.


Martyrologe romain



Saint Sixte I (115-125)

Né à Rome. Il chercha, pendant son pontificat à réorganiser l’Église.
Il introduisit, dans la messe, le triple chant du « Sanctus ».


Saint Sixte Ier

Pape et Martyr sous Antonin le Pieux

Fête le 6 avril

Rome – † id. 125

Autres graphies : [Sixtus] Sixte ou Xyste Ier

Autre mention : 3 avril

Pape de 115 à 125, il succéda à saint Alexandre Ier sur le trône papal. On l’honore comme un martyr. Romain d’origine, il devint pape vers la fin du règne de l’empereur romain Trajan (98-117). Après dix ans de pontificat, il fut arrêté et martyrisé sur l’ordre de l’empereur Hadrien (117-138). Saint Sixte Ier repose dans le Duomo d’Alatri, dans la province de Frosinone (Latium).




Reliquaire du pape Sixtus I, 1596, 
exposé à la The Permanent Ecclesiastical Art Exhibition "The Gold and Silver of Zadar" 
à l’église Sainte Marie, Zadar, Croatie


3 avril. Saint Sixte Ier, pape. 117, 127.

Papes : Saint Alexandre Ier (prédécesseur, +117) ; saint Télesphore (successeur, +136). 


Empereurs : Adrien ; Antonin le Pieux.
" Après beaucoup de lecture et de connaissance, il en faut toujours revenir à un seul principe. C'est moi qui donne la science aux hommes, et j'accorde aux petits une intelligence plus claire que les hommes n'en peuvent communiquer."

Imitation, liv. III, chap. XLIII.
Saint Sixte succéda, en l'an 117, à saint Alexandre Ier, dont un glorieux martyre avait couronné la glorieuse vie.

Le nouveau Pontife était en Orient lorsque les suffrages du clergé et du peuple l'élevèrent sur la chaire de saint Pierre il ne vint que trente-cinq jours après prendre possession d'une dignité qui le désignait d'avance au martyre.

Saint Sixte était Romain d'origine. Il eut pour père Pastor, qui habitait le quartier de la rue Large, le septième de la Rome d'Auguste. La Rome chrétienne en a consacré le souvenir par le titre cardinalice de Sainte-Marie-in-Via-Lata.

Sous son pontificat, les Gnostiques firent de grands maux à l'Eglise et lui en préparèrent de plus grands encore. Ces hérétiques, dont l'origine remontait à celle du christianisme, à Simon le Magicien lui-même, prétendaient avoir seuls l'intelligence, la connaissance parfaite des saintes Ecritures. A les entendre, la révélation contenue dans la Bible était d'ailleurs inexacte et insuffisante. Selon la morale de ces sectaires, le principe même de la Rédemption consistait dans l'affranchissement, par la satiété de toutes les passions.

" En conséquence dit Tertullien, leurs désordres ne se bornaient pas à des crimes vulgaires il leur fallait des crimes monstrueux. En haine de la chair, ils immolaient des enfants nouveau-nés, dont ils pilaient les membres mêlés à des aromates et en composaient un mets épouvantable. Dans le but de discréditer les chrétiens, ils se faisaient passer, aux yeux des païens, pour les disciples de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ de là vient que les païens confondaient gnostiques et chrétiens dans la même haine."

Cet état des choses, au IIe siècle de l'Eglise, nous explique un des motifs, le plus puissant sans doute, pour lequel saint Sixte renouvela l'obligation des lettres formelles, ou lettres de recommandation, dont les fidèles, et à plus forte raison les évêques, devaient se munir lorsqu'ils passaient d'une église à une autre, d'un pays à un autre, afin qu'il fût possible aux pasteurs des peuples de distinguer les loups des brebis, et de ne pas introduire dans la bergerie les gnostiques, dont la présence seule dans l'Eglise eût été un sujet d'opprobre.

On doit encore à saint Sixte plusieurs autres règlements de discipline ecclésiastique :

il défendit que nul ne touchât aux vases sacrés s'il n'était ministre des autels ;

le corporal ne devait pas être d'une autre matière que de lin ;

- enfin le peuple devait continuer le chant du Trisagion commencé par le prêtre.

Si les païens ont rappelé avec honneur les noms de ceux qui avaient augmenté la pompe de leur culte absurde. Nous devons, Chrétiens, contempler avec respect les saints Pontifes qui ont successivement, selon l'esprit de la piété chrétienne, rendu plus vénérable le plus auguste de nos mystères.

Sous le pontificat de saint Sixte, la persécution se ralentit. Un proconsul, encore plus courageux que Pline, représentait à l'empereur Adrien combien il était injuste d'exercer des cruautés sans examen et sans procès, et par pure prévention, contre une classe dont toute la faute, aux yeux des Romains raisonnables, se trouvait uniquement dans le nom de chrétien car ces chrétiens respectaient les lois du pays, et obéissaient à l'empereur en tout ce qui n'était pas du tribunal de la conscience.

Ce proconsul fut Serenius Granianus. On doit inscrire dans l'histoire, en lettres d'or, le nom d'un ministre qui osa s'exposer à la haine du prince pour protéger deux pauvres infortunées, la vérité et la justice. L'empereur fut ému ; les lumineuses apologies que lui présentèrent saint Quadrat et saint Aristide achevèrent de l'apaiser. Adrien écrivit une lettre mémorable en faveur des chrétiens, défendit sévèrement de les dénoncer, voulut que les méchants, convaincus de calomnie à cet égard, fussent punis, et montra que, s'il n'était pas arrivé au point d'adorer Jésus, il était alors prêt a le vénérer. Cependant la persécution ne tarda pas à recommencer sous ce prince inconséquent. Sixte en fut la victime, mais la seule ; preuve nouvelle que ce prince opérait le bien par légèreté, et le mal par disposition naturelle de son caractère. Sur la fin de sa vie, il ordonna lui-même les plus lâches insultes contre le culte des chrétiens.

Saint Sixte fut enterré au Vatican, non loin de Saint-Pierre. En 1132, ses reliques furent portées dans l'église cathédrale d'Alatri où elles reposent encore. Cette ville le reconnaît, après saint Paul, pour son patron secondaire.

En trois ordinations faites au mois de décembre, selon l'usage, il avait créé quatre éveques pour divers lieux, onze prêtres et trois diacres. C'était un homme d'une rare sainteté, d'une grande pureté de mœurs, d'une extrême libéralité envers les pauvres. De nombreux miracles ont recommandé sa mémoire.


Pope Sixtus I

Pope Sixtus I was born in Rome, Italy. His father was a Roman pastor and therefore he was brought up in a Christian family. Pope Sixtus I was the pope of the Roman Catholic Church between c.115 and c.124. His predecessor was Pope Alexander I and his successor was Pope Telesphorus. According to the chronicles of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Sixtus I was the sixth pope after St. Peter. On the other hand, the oldest documents of the Catholic Church state that the name Xystus was used for the first three popes. This has also raised some dispute about the use of the name Sixtus. In Greek, the name Xystus means “shaved” and some sources that Pope Sixtus I was also called Xystus as a reference to his unusual style of shaving his head or face. The name originated in Rome during the reign of Emperor Hadrian who brought back the fashion of full beards.

During his reign as the Roman Catholic Pope, Pope Sixtus I contributed greatly to the administrative  aspect of the church. According to the “Liber Pontificalis”, Pope Sixtus I passed the following three ordinances: The first ordinance was that none but sacred ministers are allowed to touch the sacred vessels; The second was 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. The third ordinance stated that after the Preface in the Mass the priest shall recite the Sanctus with the people.

 Not much is known about Pope Sixtus I especially because during his reign, there was documentation about the matters of the Catholic Church was scarce. However, it is agreed that he was among the first Roman popes who did not have any clashes with the leaders of Italy or other churches. In fact during his papacy, he made great contributions in the day to day running of the administrative matters of the church; some of these are still in use until today.

Nevertheless, some historians have argued that some of the contributions attributed to Pope Sixtus I were not really his and that they were only attributed him to complete the history of the Roman Catholic Church. They claim that the attributes were used a way of showing the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church in the ancient days and that the information concerning Pope Sixtus I is not real or accurate.

The feast of Pope Sixtus I is celebrated on the 6th  of April. He died in c.124 and was buried in the Vatican, next to the tomb of St. Peter. His relics are said to have been transferred to Alatri in 1132 although there have been claims that the relics are still in the Vatican Basilica. On the other hand, Butler states that Clement X gave some of Pope Sixtus I’s relics to Cardinal de Retz, who put them in the Abbey of St. Michael in Lorraine. 


Pope St. Sixtus I

Pope St. Sixtus I (in the oldest documents, Xystus is the spelling used for the first three popes of that name), succeeded St. Alexander and was followed by St. Telesphorus. According to the "Liberian Catalogue" of popes, he ruled the Church during the reign of Adrian "a conulatu Nigri et Aproniani usque Vero III et Ambibulo", that is, from 117 to 126. Eusebius, who in his "Chronicon" made use of a catalogue of popes different from the one he used in his "Historia ecclesiastica", states in his "Chronicon" that Sixtus I was pope from 114 to 124, while in his "History" he makes him rule from 114 to 128. All authorities agree that he reigned about ten years. He was a Roman by birth, and his father's name was Pastor. According to the "Liber Pontificalis" (ed. Duchesne, I, 128), he passed the following three ordinances: (1) that none but sacred ministers are allowed to touch the sacred vessels; (2) 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; (3) that after the Preface in the Mass the priest shall recite the Sanctus with the people. The "Felician Catalogue" of popes and the various martyrologies give him the title of martyr. His feast is celebrated on 6 April. He was buried in the Vatican, beside the tomb of St. Peter. His relics are said to have been transferred to Alatri in 1132, though O Jozzi ("Il corpo di S. Sisto I., papa e martire rivendicato alla basilica Vaticana", Rome, 1900) contends that they are still in the Vatican Basilica. Butler (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 St. Michael in Lorraine. The Xystus who is commemorated in the Canon of the Mass is Xystus II, not Xystus I.

Sources

Acta SS., April, I, 531-4; Liber Pontificatis, ed. DUCHESNE, I (Paris, 1886), 128; MARINI, Cenni storici popolari sopra S. Sisto I, papa e martire, e suo culto in Aletri (Foligno, 1884); DE PERSIIS, Del pontificato di S. Sisto I, papa e martire, della translazione delle sue reliquie da Roma ecc., memorie (Alatri, 1884); BARMBY in Dict. Christ. Biog., s.v. Sixtus (2) I.

Ott, Michael. "Pope St. Sixtus I." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 2 Apr. 2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14031b.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Scott Anthony Hibbs.


Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.


Sixtus I, Pope M (RM)

(also known as Xystus)


Born at Rome; died 127. After the death of Pope Alexander I, when the emperor Trajan ruled the Roman Empire, it was virtually certain that anyone who succeeded the pope would suffer martyrdom, for this was an age when Christians were savagely persecuted. Sixtus I took the office c. 117 knowing this, and survived as pope for about 10 years before being killed by the Roman authorities.


As well as displaying great bravery, Sixtus I must have been much concerned with the liturgy of the church as the Liber Pontificalis details three ordinances. It anachronistically says that at the Eucharist when the priests came to the words 'Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might; heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest,' Sixtus decreed that all the people in the church should join in as well. (Unfortunately, this cannot be true because the Sanctus was not added to the liturgy until a much later date: it was not included in the Mass of Hippolytus. Therefore, it is unclear how accurate the balance of the entry is.) It relates that he issued a decree that only the clergy should touch the sacred vessels and that bishops called to Rome should not be received back by their diocese unless they present Apostolic papers.

The Roman Martyrology says that Sixtus I was killed by the pagan Romans in the year 127 under Antonius the Pious, but there are no acta (Attwater2, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia).



See Eus. b. 4. c. 4, 5. Tillemont, t. 2. p. 262.

Second Age

THIS holy pope succeeded St. Alexander about the end of the reign of Trajan, and governed the church ten years, at a time when that dignity was the common step to martyrdom; and in all martyrologies he is honoured with the title of martyr. But it seems to be Sixtus II. who is mentioned in the canon of the mass, whose martyrdom was more famous in the church. A portion of the relics of St. Sixtus I. given by Pope Clement X. to Cardinal de Retz, was by him placed with great solemnity in the abbey of St. Michael in Lorrain. 1

Those primitive pastors, who were chosen by God to be his great instruments in propagating his holy faith, were men eminently endued with the spirit of the most heroic Christian charity, so that we wonder not so much that their words and example were so powerful in converting the world, as that any could be so obstinate as to resist the spirit with which they delivered the divine oracles, and the miracles and sanctity of their lives, with which they confirmed their mission. What veneration must not the morality of the gospel command, when set off with all its lustre in the lives and spirit of those who profess it, seeing its bare precepts are allowed by Deists and Infidels themselves to be most admirable, and evidently divine! Only the maxims of the gospel teach true and pure virtue, and are such as extort applause from its enemies. The religion of a God crucified is the triumph over self-love: it commands us to tame our rebellious flesh, and subject it to the spirit; to divest ourselves of the old man, and to clothe ourselves with the new; to forget injuries and to pardon enemies. In these virtues, in this sublime disposition of soul, consist true greatness; not in vain titles and empty names. Religion, barely for the maxims which, it lays down, and in which it is founded, claims the highest respect. The morality of the wisest Pagan philosophers was mingled with several shocking errors and extravagances, and their virtues were generally defective in their motives. Worldly heroism is founded in vice or human weaknesses. It is at the bottom no better than a base ambition, avarice, or revenge, which makes many despise death, though they gild over their courage with the glorious name of zeal for their prince or country. Worldly actions spring not from those noble motives which appear, but from some base disorder of the soul or secret passion. Among the heathen philosophers, the Stoic led an austere life; but for the sake of a vain reputation. Thus he only sacrificed one passion to another; and whilst he insulted the Epicurean for his voluptuousness, was himself the dupe of his own illusion.

Note 1. Baron, ad an. 154.

Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73).  Volume IV: April. The Lives of the Saints.  1866.