Saint Dionysius-Pope

Catholic Saint

Feast Day : December 26

For a year after the murder of Pope St. Sixtus II in August 258, there was a vacancy in the Holy See of Rome as the persecutions under Emperor Valerian continued. Finally Gallienus came to power, and Dionysius, a priest in the Roman Church, was elected bishop on July 22, 259. The signal event of his pontificate was the effort to discipline Sabellius, an Asian priest who, like Marcion, denied the Trinity and held that Jesus was but a man who had received supernatural powers at baptism. Dionysius called a synod in Rome about 260 to discuss the matter, then issued an important doctrinal letter explaining the Church’s position. Dionysius is also known for sending support to help the Christians of Cappadocia when faced with invasion by the Goths. Along with a letter he sent a large sum of money for the ransom of enslaved believers. Dionysius died in 268 of natural causes and was interred in the papal crypt of the Catacomb of St. Callistus. In art he is portrayed wearing papal vestments and holding a book.