Saint Telesphorus. Pope And Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 5 January.

Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Telesphorus.
   Pope And Martyr.
   Feast Day 5 January.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

English: Portrait of Pope Telesphorus

in the Basilica of Saint Paul-outside-the-Walls, Rome.

Italiano: Retratto di it:Papa Telesforo

nella it:Basilica di San Paolo fuori la Mura, Roma.

Date: 2nd-Century A.D.

Source: Unknown.

Artist: Unknown.

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

Saint Telesphorus is Traditionally considered as being the eighth Roman Bishop (hence, Pope) in succession to Saint Peter. The Liber Pontificalis mentions that he had been an Anchorite (or, Hermit) Monk, prior to assuming Office.

According to the testimony of Saint Irenæus (Against Heresies III.3.3), he suffered a “glorious” Martyrdom. Although most early Popes are called Martyrs, by sources such as the Liber Pontificalis, Saint Telesphorus is the first to whom Irenaeus, writing considerably earlier, gives this title.

Eusebius (Church History iv.7; iv.14) places the beginning of his Pontificate in the twelfth year of the reign of Emperor Hadrian (128 A.D. – 129 A.D.) and gives the date of his death as being in the first year of the reign of Antoninus Pius (138 A.D. – 139 A.D.).

In the Roman Martyrology, his Feast is Celebrated on 

5 January; The Greek Church Celebrates it on 22 February.

The Tradition of Christmas Midnight Masses, the Celebration of Easter on Sundays, the keeping of a seven-week Lent before Easter, and the singing of the Gloria, are usually attributed to his Pontificate, but some historians doubt that such attributions are accurate.

A fragment of a Letter from Irenæus to Pope Victor I during the Easter controversy in the Late-2nd-Century A.D., also preserved by Eusebius, testifies that Saint Telesphorus was one of the Roman Bishops who always Celebrated Easter on Sunday, rather than on other days of the week according to the calculation of the Jewish Passover. Unlike Pope Victor, however, Pope Telesphorus remained in communion with those communities that did not follow this custom.

The Carmelites Venerate Saint Telesphorus as a Patron Saint of the Order, since some sources depict him as a Hermit living on Mount Carmel.

The Town of Saint-Télesphore, in the South-West of Canada's Quebec Province, is named after him.

Mass: Sacerdotes Dei. (Second Mass of The Common of Martyrs.)

The Roman Martyrology states that Saint Telesphorus undertook numerous labours to confess The Divinity of Christ, and suffered a glorious Martyrdom at Rome in 138 A.D.