Happy the Church when she is governed by men who, strengthened by the Dove, that is, by the Holy Spirit, do not fear martyrdom by wild beasts!

Newsdesk (23/01/2023 16:05, Gaudium Press) Fabian was a devout Christian of those early centuries, when publicly testifying to the name of Jesus meant risking one’s life.

Not long before, the Pope had been martyred. “The pontificate of Anterus,” says Eusebius of Caesarea, “had lasted only a month.

And Fabian, like all the faithful, looked forward to the election of the new pontiff. As soon as circumstances permitted, the clergy and Christian people of Rome gathered in one of the places of worship, perhaps an outbuilding of the catacombs, and proceeded to the election.

They tried hard to reach a consensus on the most suitable candidate. Preferences leaned towards those of noble and influential origin. However, there was no way of reaching an agreement.

From anonymity to notoriety

That day, Fabian was returning from the fields with some friends. On the way he felt an intense desire to know who the new Pope would be.

Mere curiosity? Or an inspiration of the Holy Spirit?

And so, moved by this mysterious impulse, he entered the place where the election was taking place. We can imagine that he went straight away to his acquaintances to find out the latest news. Perhaps one of the candidates was a friend or relative of his …

But when Fabian crossed the threshold of the place where this historic event was taking place, he was convicted that in the choice of a Pope there is always an invisible elector who has the last word, regardless of human intentions that might interfere in that act: the Divine Holy Spirit.

This time, the Great Elector had decided to intervene in a visible way. While Fabian was sneaking through the audience to approach the centre of the scene where the debates were taking place, a dove entered through a window, fluttered elegantly above the people and landed softly on his head: the Holy Spirit had chosen him!

The assembly, upon witnessing this, immediately erupted in a great acclamation of jubilation at such a sign from Providence: “He is worthy! He is worthy”! And despite Fabian’s resistance, they surrounded him and made him sit on the pontifical throne”, as Eusebius reports.

St. Fabian governed the Church for 14 years, crowning his pontificate with martyrdom, under the emperor Decius, on January 20th, 250.

Among the innovative measures taken by this Pope was the appointment of a deacon for each of the seven regions of Rome to assist the poor, as well as seven sub-deacons to direct the notarii, in charge of writing up the acts of the martyrs. These regional deacons are the remote ancestors of one of the orders into which the College of Cardinals is now divided: the Cardinal Deacons.

And the fact that it was a Pope chosen directly by a “dove” who laid the foundations of this institution which, centuries later, would have as its principal function the election of the Supreme Pontiff, is not without significance.

In fact, Fabian did not receive in vain the coming of the Dove, becoming a hero and martyr himself, not just a collector and compiler of the heroic deeds of others.

Saint Fabian, pray for the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church!

Text taken, with adaptations, from the magazine Heralds of the Gospel n. 73, January 2008.

Compiled by Roberta MacEwan