Pope St. Sixtus II & Companions

Sixtus was beheaded with four of his deacons while celebrating the Eucharist in the catacomb of Praetextatus on the Appian Way under the persecution of Valerian. His name appears in the Roman Canon of the Mass alongside the apostles. Cyprian of Carthage, in his last letter, called him "a good and peaceful priest."

Before his election to the papacy in 257, Sixtus was likely of Greek origin and known for his conciliatory temperament. He healed a rift between Rome and the churches of Asia Minor over the question of rebaptism, choosing diplomacy where his predecessor Stephen I had chosen confrontation. His brief pontificate of barely a year was marked by a gentleness that won him the esteem of the entire Church.

The imperial edict of Valerian in 258 forbade Christian assemblies and targeted bishops especially. Sixtus was seized on August 6 while seated in his episcopal chair, teaching his flock in the catacombs. According to the poet Prudentius, his deacon Lawrence wept at being left behind, and Sixtus promised him that a harder death awaited him three days hence — a prophecy fulfilled when Lawrence was roasted on a gridiron.