Anicetus

The holy Hieromartyr Anicetus was bishop of Rome from about 155 to 166 or 168. He is remembered above all for his brotherly meeting with Saint Polycarp of Smyrna.

According to the Book of the Popes, he was a Syrian from the city of Emesa. In his time Gnostic teachers and disciples of Marcion were active in Rome, and Anicetus defended against them the faith received from the Apostles. The historian Hegesippus also visited Rome in those years.

Saint Polycarp, a disciple of the holy Apostle John, came to Rome to speak with Anicetus about the day of celebrating Pascha. The Churches of Asia Minor kept the feast on the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan, whatever the day of the week, while Rome celebrated on Sunday. According to Saint Irenaeus, neither persuaded the other, but Anicetus allowed the Church of Smyrna to keep its custom, and they parted in peace.

Tradition says that he suffered martyrdom under Marcus Aurelius or Lucius Verus, but history does not confirm it. The Book of the Popes says that he was buried in the cemetery of Callixtus. The Greek Synaxarion commemorates him on 17 April, the date also kept in the Western Orthodox calendar.