Today is the Feastday of St. Casimir of Poland (but it is reduced to only a Commemoration during Lent per the 1960 rubrics). In addition, this date each year is the Commemoration of St. Lucius I.
His Holiness Pope St. Lucius I assumed the Throne on June 25, 253 AD. He was chosen as the 22nd Pontiff. He was noted for his ascetic lifestyle during his brief reign, even while on the throne. He forbade men and women not related by blood to live together, even decreeing that clergy should not live with deaconesses even if given lodging for reasons of charity. He was exiled briefly during the persecution of Emperor Gallus.
He condemned the Novatian heresy, which was held by Antipope Novatian, who taught that those baptized Christians who had denied their faith or performed the formalities of a ritual sacrifice to the pagan gods, under the pressures of the persecution sanctioned by Emperor Decius, in AD 250, were never to again be admitted to the Faith.
Pope Lucius I was a true shepherd of his flock during a time of violent persecution. He laid down his life for Christ on March 5, 254, under a year into his reign. He was buried at Saint Callistus catacomb, but his relics were later transferred to the church of Saint Cecilia in Rome.
Prayer:
O Eternal Shepherd, who appointed blessed Lucius shepherd of the whole Church, let the prayers of this martyr and supreme pontiff move You to look with favor upon Your flock and to keep it under Your continual protection. Through our Lord . . .
Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal
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