The holy pope and martyr
Callistus I was born to a Christian slave who had a Christian master in
second-century Rome. He was placed in charge of a Christian bank which
went broke. He fled the city, but was caught and sentenced to the
treadmill, then later to the tin mines. He was later ransomed and
returned to Rome. As a deacon he was hired by Pope Zephyrinus to
administer the Church's property and organize the burial of martyrs in
the catacombs on the Appian Way, still named the Cemetery of Saint
Callistus. In 217, 18 years later, he succeeded St. Zephyrinus as
bishop of Rome. As pope he regulated the discipline of the sacrament of
penance, ruling that penitent sinners were welcome in church. He
defended the faith against the Adoptionist and Modalist heresies
regarding the Holy Trinity and the Person of Jesus Christ. Under the
reign of Alexander Severus, he was thrown into prison, and then was
tortured by starvation in prison and scourged daily. Finally Callistus
was thrown from a window of the house headlong into a well, where he
drowned. St. Callistus died a martyr in 223. Holy Father Callistus,
pray to God for us!
