Pope St. Fabian

Double (1954 Calendar): January 20
Optional Memorial (1969 Calendar): January 20

Today the Church remembers St. Fabian along with St. Sebastian. St. Fabian was a Roman layman, who was coming in from the fields one day when the clergy were preparing to elect a new Pope. As soon as St. Fabian came into the assembly, a dove came and rested upon his head - a sign for the laity and clergy. St. Fabian was chosen as Pope.

He led the Church for 14 years and died in 250 AD as a martyr. St. Fabian is remembered for baptizing the emperor Marcus Julius Philippus, known as Philip the Arab, along with his son. Pope St. Fabian helped build in the catacombs, improved the organization of the Church in Rome, and appointed officials to register the deeds of the martyrs. His grave, though broken into four pieces, is still readable today in the catacombs of Saint Callistus: "Fabian, bishop, martyr"

As we continue down our journey in this world, please don't forget all of our past. For hundreds of years, Catholics were murdered for their faith. Let us not forget the martyrs who gave their lives to Christ and His Church. Even today, men and women die for their faith in Christ. Let us praise God and know that He is life (John 14:6); no one else is pure joy.

May Christ reign in His Church and may we pray for the unity of all Christians, especially during this week of prayer for Christian Unity. 

Traditional Matins Reading:

Fabian, a Roman by birth, governed the Church from the reign of 'Maximian to that of Decius. He divided the City into seven parts, which he consigned to as many Deacons, and to them he gave the charge of looking after the poor. He created also a like number of Subdeacons, who were to collect the Acts of the Martyrs, written by seven Notaries. It was he who decreed that every year, on the fifth Feria of our Lord's Supper, the Chrism should be renewed, and the old should be burnt. At length, on the thirteenth of the Kalends of February (January 20), he was crowned with martyrdom, in the persecution of Decius, and was buried in the cemetery of Callixtus, on the Appian Way, after reigning fifteen years and four days. He held five ordinations in the month of December, in which ordinations he made two and twenty Priests, seven Deacons, and eleven Bishops for divers places.

St. Fabian, ora pro nobis! “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” (Tertullian).

Prayer:

O Almighty God, have regard to our weakness: and since the weight of our own evil deeds is oppressive, may the glorious intercession of Thy blessed Martyrs, Fabian and Sebastian, protect us. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal