Fabian was born in the early 200s to a noble family in Rome. History does not record much more about his early life, but it is a fair assumption that he was well-educated and raised in the Faith.
Fabian came to Rome in the year 236 as an observer to the selection of a new Bishop. It was a difficult election – Pope Pontian had reigned only five years before he was deported, following him Anterus held the position only a few months before he died. Discussions over the next Bishop were somewhat heated with many prominent Christians in contention.
According to the Church Historian Eusebius, who lived less than a century after this, among the assembled crowd a dove flew down and landed on the head of Fabian. Though he was not a leader in the church, the crowd noticed this and acclaimed Fabian as the next bishop. According to Eusebius, “the whole body exclaimed, with all eagerness and with one voice, as if moved by the Spirit of God, that he was worthy; and without delay they took and placed him upon the episcopal throne.”
Despite the unusual manner of his election, Fabian proved a very capable bishop. He organized the city of Rome into seven ecclesiastical districts to better provide for the spiritual needs of the residents. Deacons were assigned to administer these regions. He also organized charitable work within the city. Fabian also had a great concern for the lost. He sent a number of missionaries to Gaul (modern-day France) and established at least seven churches there. A surviving letter he sent reflects this passion for the lost:
“We beseech you also to be zealous in praying in your pious supplications, that our God and Lord Jesus Christ, who will have all men to be saved and not one to perish, may, by His vast omnipotence, cause their hearts to turn again to sound doctrine and to the Catholic faith, in order that they may be recovered from the toils of the devil…”
Fabian also had a great interest in preserving the history of martyrs. He advocated with Rome for the return of the bodies of two martyrs who had been sentenced to hard labor in Sardinia. Fabian initiated repairs on the catacombs where many Christians had been buried and gathered eyewitness accounts and court records of martyrs over the (then) two centuries of the existence of the Church.
Finally, Fabian exhibited a passion for sound doctrine, roundly condemning a new heresy begun by an individual named Privatus in North Africa.
In the year 249, Decius ascended as Emperor of Rome. Part of his agenda being a restoral of the Roman stage religion, this led to another round of persecutions for Christians. Decius put out a decree that every person should offer a sacrifice to the Roman gods within a certain period of time. This sacrifice would be witnessed by and recorded by the magistrates. Bishop Fabian, being one of the few vocal opponents of this edict, was one of the first victims of Decius’ persecution. He was thrown in prison. Historical accounts vary as to whether he died in prison or if he was beheaded but it is know that he died on January 20th, 250 – fourteen years and ten days after his remarkable ascension.
Bishop Cyprian of Carthage, a contemporary of Fabian, and one who would himself die a martyr, wrote to the church of Rome about Fabian:
“I greatly congratulate you that you honor his memory with so public and illustrious a testimony…For just as the fall of a bishop tends to bring about the ruinous fall of his followers, so it is a useful and helpful thing when, by the firmness of his faith, a bishop becomes manifest to his brethren as an object of imitation.”
E-mail from Christian History Institute, 10 January 2022.
https://popehistory.com/popes/pope-st-fabian/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Fabian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decius
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