Pope from 115-125 A.D.
Died: 125 A.D.
aka "Xystus I"
How do we know he was pope?
(You guessed it...) St. Irenaeus marks St. Sixtus I as the seventh pope and sixth successor of St. Peter in Adversus haeresis ("Against Heresy"), preceded by Alexander and succeeded by Telesphorus.
Give me the scoop on Sixtus I.
Sixtus I was Roman by birth and of Greek descent, but otherwise not much is known about his life. His feast day is celebrated on April 6.
What was he known for?
The Liber Pontificalis (a sort of history book on early popes) has Sixtus I instituting three disciplines into the life of the Church, one of which should be familiar with us today:
- That only the ordained (bishops, priests, deacons) were allowed to touch the sacred vessels (i.e. the paten and chalice containing the Eucharist)
- That bishops, when they were summoned to Rome, could only continue ruling their dioceses after presenting a letter from the pope saying so (indicating that the Church recognized SUPER early on that the pope had power to depose bishops if necessary)
- That the priest and the people recite/chant the Sanctus (aka, the Holy, Holy) at Mass, taken from Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8
Fun Fact: It's thanks to Sixtus I that we've been saying the Sanctus, as a Church, for over 1900 YEARS. That's a lot of Sanctuses.
What else was going on in the world at the time?
"Hadrian's Wall", a Roman fortification across northern England commissioned by the emperor Hadrian, was begun toward the end of Sixtus' papacy (122 A.D.). A good chunk of the wall is still in existence, and remains one of the biggest tourist attractions in the northern portion of the country.
Coming tomorrow....Pope St. Telesphorus