Jose Mario O. Mandia
ST TELESPHORUS (127/128-137/138)
St Telesphorus is the 2nd pope of Greek nationality. Caporilli (The Roman Pontiffs) reports that he instituted the seven-week fast before Easter. He was said to have ordered that each priest celebrate three Masses on Christmas night and added new prayers to the Mass. The practice at that time was to celebrate Mass not earlier than the hour of terce (9 am to 12 noon). For the Christmas Mass, he ordered that the “Gloria in excelsis Deo” should be prayed at the beginning of the Mass. Telesphorus and the next pope, Hyginus had to face a prevailing heretical trend propagated by Valentinus who was a Gnostic. What are these? “Gnostics were ‘people who knew’ [gnosis Greek for ‘knowledge,’ gnostikos, ‘good at knowing’], and their knowledge at once constituted them a superior class of beings, whose present and future status was essentially different from that of those who, for whatever reason, did not know” (Arendzen, J. (1909). Gnosticism. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06592a.htm). Telesphorus knew that this teaching could lead mysticism away from reality. Among Valentinus’ heresies were to teach that “Jesus is a higher being who, though not God, gradually being purified, and will lead the elect with Him into the pleroma or ‘fullness’ (JS Brusher and E Borden, Popes Through the Ages). The Liber Pontificalis and the earlier writing of St Irenaeus report that he died a martyr and was buried close to the relics of St Peter.
ST HYGINUS (138-142/149)
St Hyginus, the 9th Pope, was a philosopher (cf Liber Pontificalis), also of Greek nationality, and hailed from Athens. He set down the different prerogatives of the clergy and defined the grades of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. He also decreed that there be godparents at baptism to assist the newly-baptized into the Christian life. Furthermore, he ordered that all churches be consecrated. (Caporilli, The Roman Pontiffs). One of his main challenges was to face the Gnostics, in particular, Cerdon. Cerdon was predecessor of Marcion of Sinope who lived in Rome in the reign of Hyginus. Cerdon would admit his errors, recant, get back into the Church, but again fell into heresy. Finally, he was expelled from the Church by St Pius I. Tradition believes that Hyginus died a martyr and was buried, like Telesphorus, close to the tomb of Peter.
ST PIUS I (142/146-157/161)
St Pius was born in Aquileia. One interesting datum about him is that he is believed to be the brother of the famous Hermas who wrote The Shepherd (cf Church Fathers 6). It is believed that he established the date of Easter on the first Sunday after the full moon in March. He welcomed Jews into the fold and laid down rules for their admission to the Church. He excommunicated the Gnostics – Valentinus, Cerdon, and Marcion. Marcion then set up his own church. Providentially, the pope found great help in St Justin (cf Church Fathers, 10), a convert from paganism and philosopher who was acquainted with the different prevailing schools of thought at the time. Justin was the greatest apologist of the second century. Pius I was also buried close to the remains of St Peter.
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