Saint Fabian, Pope and Martyr

Fabian, a Roman layman, became bishop of Rome in 236. The historian Eusebius tells that during the election a dove settled on his head, and the people, taking it as a sign, chose him though no one had thought of him before.

In fourteen years of peace he organized the Roman Church into seven districts, each in the care of a deacon, and had work done in the catacombs. When the emperor Decius began the first empire-wide persecution, Fabian was among its first victims, dying on 20 January 250. Cyprian of Carthage praised his steadfastness. His tombstone, with his name in Greek, was found in the catacomb of Callistus.