Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.
Saints Soter and Caius.
Popes and Martyrs.
Feast Day 22 April.
Semi-Double.
White Vestments.
Pope Soter.
This Illustration is from The Lives and Times of the Popes by Chevalier Artaud de Montor, New York: The Catholic Publication Society of America, 1911. It was originally published in 1842.
Date: 6 June 2013.
Author: Artaud de Montor (1772–1849).
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Martyrdom of Pope Caius (San Gaggio).
By Lorenzo Monaco (Lorenzo di Giovanni), circa 1394.
Originally part of the Altarpiece of the Church of San Gaggio in Florence.
Date: January 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Polylerus.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Pope Soter succeeded Pope Anicetus in 161 A.D., and was Martyred ten years later under Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Pope Caiuss, whose Relics are kept in the Sanctuary of Saint Sylvester, at Rome, governed The Church a Century later and was put to death in 296 A.D.
Like all the Sovereign Pontiffs of the first Centuries, they united their sacrifice to that of Christ and "in Him bore much fruit" (Epistle). "God then avenged the blood of His servants and invited them to The Marriage Feast of The Lamb" (Epistle), to associate them in His Triumph and Happiness (Gospel, Offertory, Communion).
Let us honour the Blessed Martyrs Soter and Caius in order that, in Heaven, their powerful intercession may obtain for us Divine Protection (Collect).
Mass: Sancti tui.
