Adeodatus I of Rome

Adeodatus I of Rome, also called Deusdedit, a name meaning God has given, was bishop of Rome from 19 October 615 until his death on 8 November 618. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, which keeps his memory on 8 November, and he is counted by some lists among the saintly popes of Rome from before the Schism, but we found no Orthodox service or calendar entry for him. Very little is known about his life.

Life

He was born in Rome, the son of a subdeacon named Stephen. He served as a priest for about forty years and was elected in old age. He was the first priest chosen as bishop of Rome since John II in 533, and the clergy are said to have preferred him because the popes before him had filled the offices of the Church with monks. The Book of the Pontiffs says that he was greatly loved by the clergy. He ordained some fourteen priests, the first ordinations in Rome since the days of Gregory the Great.

Calamities and death

During his pontificate Rome suffered an earthquake in August 618, followed by an epidemic of a skin disease (sources speak of scabies, the Romanian Wikipedia of leprosy). Adeodatus is remembered for his help to the people in this time. A revolt of unpaid Byzantine soldiers also took place in Italy, and he remained faithful to the emperor Heraclius.

According to tradition he was the first pope to attach a lead seal, a bulla, to papal documents, from which the later name of papal bulls comes. One such seal from his reign survives, showing the Good Shepherd among His sheep, with the letters Alpha and Omega.

On his deathbed he left all his property to the clergy. He reposed on 8 November 618 and was buried in the Basilica of Saint Peter.