Fabian

The holy Hieromartyr Fabian was bishop of Rome from 236 to 250. He shepherded the Church in the years of peace before the persecution of Decius and was one of the first victims of that persecution.

Election

The historian Eusebius relates that Fabian, a man from the countryside, was in Rome when the Christians gathered to choose a new bishop. While they were thinking of other eminent men, a dove settled on his head. The assembly saw in it the descent of the Holy Spirit at the Baptism of the Lord, and chose him by acclamation. He was ordained on 10 January 236.

Ministry

Fabian was a good organizer of the Church. According to the Book of the Popes, he divided the city into regions entrusted to the deacons and appointed seven subdeacons to collect faithfully the acts of the martyrs. Thanks to good relations with the imperial court, he was able to bring from Sardinia the bodies of Bishop Pontian and Hippolytus and laid them in the catacomb of Callixtus. Origen wrote to him to defend his teaching. According to Gregory of Tours, in 245 he sent seven missionary bishops to Gaul, among them Denis to Paris. The story that he baptized Emperor Philip the Arab is probably a legend.

Martyrdom

Under Emperor Decius, who ordered everyone to offer sacrifice to the gods, Fabian received the crown of martyrdom on 20 January 250, probably in prison rather than by execution. Saint Cyprian called him an incomparable man, saying that the glory of his death matched the purity of his life. He was buried in the catacomb of Callixtus, where the slab of his tomb with the Greek inscription "Fabian, Bishop, Martyr" has been found.

The Orthodox Church celebrates him on 5 August, together with the Holy Martyr Pontius, and the Latin calendar on 20 January. The Greek Synaxarion says that he died by the sword.