Telesphorus

The holy Hieromartyr Telesphorus was bishop of Rome from about 126 to about 137, in the time of the emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. He is counted the eighth bishop of Rome from the holy Apostle Peter. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons testifies that he suffered martyrdom, which is the earliest attested martyrdom of a bishop of Rome after Peter.

Ministry

According to the Liber Pontificalis he was of Greek descent, born at Thurii in Calabria, and had lived as a hermit before becoming bishop. Eusebius places the start of his ministry in the twelfth year of Hadrian and his death in the first year of Antoninus Pius, that is 138 or 139. In his time many teachers of Gnosticism came to Rome, among them Valentinus.

A fragment of a letter of Saint Irenaeus to Bishop Victor, preserved by Eusebius, shows that Telesphorus kept Pascha on Sunday but remained in communion with the communities that did not share this custom. The Liber Pontificalis credits him with the seven weeks' fast before Pascha, the midnight service before the Nativity of the Lord and the hymn "Glory to God in the highest", but historians do not consider these attributions reliable.

Martyrdom and commemoration

Irenaeus says that Telesphorus bore witness "gloriously", meaning that he died for Christ, but he does not say when or how. He was buried in the Vatican necropolis, next to his predecessors. The Roman calendar commemorates him on 2 January, a western Orthodox calendar on 5 January, and in the East his memory is kept on 22 February.