Saint’s Life Story

His Early Life

Callistus (also spelled Callixtus) was born in Rome, Italy sometime in the second half of the second century, probably around the middle of the 160s, although the exact year of his birth is unknown. What we do know about Callistus comes from his contemporaries and enemies, Tertullian and Hippolytus of Rome, the author of Philosophumena.

Lost Money

As a young man, Callistus became a slave in the household of Carpophorus, a wealthy Christian who was connected with the imperial court. Eventually, Carpophorus put Callistus in charge of his master’s bank. Fellow Christians, including widows, deposited their money there. Callistus lost money entrusted to him and found himself in serious trouble. He eventually attempted to flee Rome. Near Portus, a harbor port, Callitus jumped overboard to possibly kill himself or avoid capture. However, he was rescued and taken back to his master. When he was caught, he was put in chains.

Initially, Callistus was sentenced to the slave’s punishment at the mill. Then, he was released at the request of the creditors, who hoped he might be able to recover some of the money. However, he was rearrested for fighting in a synagogue when he tried to borrow money or collect debts from some Jews.

Convict Working Sardinia Mines

He was sentenced and condemned to the harsh punishment of working in the mines of Sardinia.

It is difficult to imagine what Callistus must have experienced during those years. He had known failure, humiliation, and imprisonment, and now he was being sent away to a place where many Christians suffered terribly. Yet this painful chapter would eventually become part of the experience that shaped the man he became.

Released by the Pope

Around 186, Pope Victor I became involved in obtaining the freedom of Christians imprisoned in Sardinia. Eventually, Callistus was released with other Christians at the request of Hyacinthus, a eunuch presbyter, who represented Marcia, the empress who was sympathetic to Christians. After Callistus was released, he was sent to Anzio, where he lived away from Rome. Then, the Christians entrusted him to the care of Pope Victor I while he recovered from ill health.

This period seems to have been a turning point. The man who had once been a slave and prisoner was now being given his freedom from slavery and another opportunity to serve the Christian community.

Deacon In Charge of Appian Way Cemetery

Pope Victor I died around 199. Callistus remained in the service of the pope’s successor, Pope Zephyrinus, who ordained him a deacon. At that time, deacons had great responsibility, and Deacon Callistus was no exception. He was appointed by the pope as the superintendent and caretaker of an underground Christian cemetery on the Appian Way.

Catacombs of Saint Callistus

The Catacombs of Saint Callistus, as they are called today, were a massive multi-level underground cemetery used primarily for Christians from the second to fourth centuries. This land was the first land property owned by the Church.

Under Callistus, it eventually grew into a sprawling, thirteen-mile warren of dark, narrow tunnels lined with tombs chiseled out of the soft tufa stone. It is estimated that as many as 500,000 bodies were encased in its walls! The Catacombs of Saint Callistus remain a popular place of pilgrimage. Burials included several early popes and beloved Roman martyrs, making the catacombs an important place of prayer.

16th Pope

Around the year 217, Pope Saint Zephyrinus died and Deacon Callistus was chosen as his successor. By God’s grace, he had gone from slavery, to prisoner, to freeman, to deacon, to pope! Pope Callistus was a man of great compassion. Perhaps the sufferings, and even sins, that marked his early life inspired him to have a merciful heart.

Rivals

One question that had emerged at that time was what to do with those who had engaged in public sins but later repented. Some of these sinners had joined a heretical sect, engaged in adultery, or had succumbed to imperial decrees mandating emperor worship and the worship of Roman gods. Some priests, such as Hippolytus, revolted at the idea of leniency, especially for sexual sins. As a result, Hippolytus set himself up as a rival, or antipope, the first antipope in the history of the Church. Tertullian, writing from North Africa, also opposed Pope Callistus, arguing that the power to bind and loose from sins was a power given only to Saint Peter by Jesus, but not to his successors.

This did not mean that Callistus believed sin was unimportant. Rather, he emphasized repentance and reconciliation. His approach reflected one of the central themes of Christianity: that God’s mercy is greater than human failure.

Pastoral Achievements

Among his other pastoral achievements, Pope Callistus reinvigorated the practice of Ember Days, which were days of fasting at the beginning of the four seasons as a way of beseeching God for blessings in each of those seasons. He is said to have been a diligent evangelist, converting and baptizing many people of prominence, such as soldiers and senators, most of whom later died as martyrs. He was merciful in dealing with sinners, reversing excommunications and working to preserve orthodox Christianity against various schisms and heresies.

Tradition also connects Callistus with a place of Christian worship in the Trastevere area of Rome. An ancient account tells of a dispute involving Christians and tavern keepers over the use of a particular property. The emperor reportedly decided that allowing Christians to worship there was preferable to allowing the property to remain associated with a tavern. Later tradition connected the site with the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, although the exact historical development of the site is debated.

His Death

During the reign of Roman Emperor Alexander Severus, a persecution of Christians broke out in the empire, especially in Rome. A Roman priest named Calepodius was tortured and thrown into the Tiber River with a millstone tied around his neck. Pope Callistus found his body and buried it in a catacomb.

Afterwards, one tradition states that Calepodius appeared to Callistus and prophesied to him that he would soon die by martyrdom. Shortly afterwards, Callistus was arrested, starved for a week, tortured, and then thrown into a deep well with a stone around his neck.

According to the apocryphal Acts of Saint Callistus, Asterius, a Priest from Rome, recovered the body of St. Callistus after it had been tossed into a well and buried St. Callistus’s body at night next to Calepodius. Later, Asterius was arrested for this action by the Prefect Alexander and then was killed by being thrown off a bridge into the Tiber River.

In the ninth century, the bodies of Calepodius and Callistus were both transferred to the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere.

Born:                      Unknown date most likely in Rome, Italy

Died:                      Around 223 (Feast Day – Oct 14) in Rome, Italy

Beatified:              Pre-Congregation

Canonized:           Pre-Congregation

Feast Day:            October 14

Patron Saint:      Cemetery Workers

Source:

• CatholicSaints.Info » Pope Saint Callistus I
• Pope Saint Callistus – My Catholic Life!
• Chapman, J. (1908). Pope Callistus I. In The Catholic Encyclopedia – New Advent
• Pope Saint Callistus I – Saint for a Minute
• Pope Callixtus I – Wikipedia

Prayers

Video Link

October 14: St. Callistus I, Pope & Martyr – YouTube (Catholic Saints & Feasts)