Whoever goes to Rome is often invited to visit the catacombs of Saint Callistus, the most famous in Italy.
Newsroom (October 14, 2021 12:10 PM, Gaudium Press) St. Callistus, Pope, and martyr, was a slave. After obtaining his freedom gave himself to the teaching of the Faith of Christ.
Catacombs of St. Callistus
Whoever goes to Rome is often invited to visit the catacombs of St. Callistus, the most famous in Italy. They have four floors and 20 kilometers of corridors; they include the tomb of St. Cecilia and many other martyrs. Pope St. Zeferino named St. Callistus responsible for their organization and management, which he did very well. The same Pope appointed him deacon, and he became his counselor.
In the year 217, with the death of Pope St. Zeferino, the people acclaimed him as the new Pontiff. But he soon had to fight Hippolytus, who did not like that someone who had been married two or three times before was admitted to the priesthood. Hippolytus also opposed another statement by St. Callistus, who said that if a bishop committed a grave sin but then repented, he should not be replaced.
St. Callistus is taken prisoner
St. Callistus was a man of frequent and prolonged fastings. That is why, after being taken prisoner, thrown into a dark dungeon without food, he was able to resist with some ease. The jailers asked him how he kept his temper, and he answered, “I have accustomed my body to spend days and weeks without eating or drinking, and this for love of my friend Jesus Christ, so I am already able to resist without despair.”
As it happened with many saintly prisoners, his virtue moved the guards. He brought about the healing of the jailer’s wife just as she was dying, which caused the custodian and his entire family to get a baptism.
In 222, there was rebellion. The guards threw St. Callistus into a well and covered it with rubble. It is the well of St. Callistus, where the memory of this Pope, who was a slave, a catacomb administrator, Pontiff, and martyr, is also venerated. (EPC)
Compiled by Ena Alfaro