Sergius I of Rome

Sergius I of Rome was bishop of Rome from 15 December 687 until his death on 8 September 701. He refused the decisions of the Quinisext Council, baptised an Anglo-⁠Saxon king, and supported the mission of English monks in Frisia and Germany.

Election

His family was of Syrian descent, from Antioch, and had settled at Palermo in Sicily. He came to Rome under Pope Adeodatus II, and Pope Leo II ordained him priest of the church of Santa Susanna in 683. After Pope Conon died, the archdeacon Paschal and the archpriest Theodore fought for the see, each holding part of the Lateran palace. To end the dispute, an assembly of officials, officers, clergy and citizens elected Sergius. Paschal tried to buy the support of the exarch of Ravenna, but ended in a monastery.

The Quinisext Council

The Quinisext Council, held at Constantinople in 692, issued canons that contradicted customs of Rome, among them the fast on Saturdays, the omission of the Alleluia in Lent, the depiction of Christ as a Lamb, and the marriage of clergy. Sergius would not accept them, saying, as the record has it, that he would rather die than agree to erroneous novelties. The emperor Justinian II sent to arrest him, but the militia of the exarch of Ravenna and of the Pentapolis blocked the seizure, and the envoy barely escaped with his life. Sergius did his best to calm the uprising. As a sign, he introduced into the Roman service the chant "Lamb of God" at the breaking of the Bread and restored the mosaic in the atrium of Saint Peter's that showed the worship of the Lamb.

Mission

On 10 April 689 he baptised King Caedwalla of Wessex at Rome, who died in the white robe of baptism. He ordained Saint Willibrord bishop of the Frisians. He helped end the Schism of the Three Chapters with Aquileia, in 698. English-⁠language Orthodox calendars that include Western saints keep him on 8 September, the day of his death. He was buried in the basilica of Saint Peter. He is a saint of the undivided Church.