Today October 14

Today is the feast of St. Callistus I (or Callixtus), (? - 222 AD), pope and martyr. Well, we call him a martyr, but we're not entirely sure. He was murdered during a riot, that's for sure, and his body probably shoved down a well, but we haven't direct information that it was because of his faith he was killed. All knew he was pope, so it's a good bet, but by no means a certain one.

Callistus' life didn't have an auspicious beginning. He was a slave -- born a slave, "the whole cruel lot of slaves" as the Bible eloquently says. He was no fieldhand, though, but given the care of running a Christian bank opened by Carpophorus, his master. Callistus lost all the money, through a combination of bad investments, petty theft and simple misplacement. (I am reminded of the characters of Uncle Billy in "It's a Wonderful Life" or Walter Longer in "Raisin in the Sun.") He ran away, was caught, and was sentenced to hard labor. Depositors at the bank asked he be released, hoping he'd lead them to at least SOME of the money, but he was re-arrested for brawling in a synagogue (think of the story of the unjust servant in Matthew 18: 24-35), and thrown into the salt mines in Sardinia, from which there was seemingly no escape.

But Marcia, mistress of Emperor Commodus, pardoned him and later he became free. His first job was as caretaker of the underground graves which still bear his name, but in which he himself is not buried, but rather a cemetery plot on the Via Aurelia. He was an archdeacon in Rome of Pope St. Zephyrinus, whom he succeeded. He was a very able pope, despite his humble origins. He it was who organized the titles of the original parish churches of Rome, condemned the heretic Sabellius (who was a Unitarian and whom he had once followed), and welcomed even mortal sinners -- fornicators, adulterers, murderers, etc. -- back into the fold after proper penance. St. Hippolytus, antipope, condemned him, both for his embezzling past and (probably more) for his forgiving ways. He even wrote a vicious book about him. (Hippolytus was reconciled to the Church during the reign of Pope St. Pontian, who was an inmate with him in the notorious Sardinian mines later.) But Callistus remained serene and firm. Pope St. Callistus, pray for us.