St. Evaristus a Pope from Palestine who Decreed Marriage Should be Public - Saint of October 26

St. Evaristus - POPE - St. Evaristus was the son of a Greek Jew, was the fifth Pope of the Catholic Church. Saint Evaristus succeeded Saint Clement as pope.
Feast: October 26 and Died : 107
He was also known as Aristus and is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church. It is probable that John the Apostle died during his reign period, thus ending the Apostolic Age. Evaristus I depicted in marble in Saint Peter's Basilica. Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, states that Evaristus took office in the 3rd year of Trajan's reign, which correspond to AD 99/100, and died in the 12th year of the same reign (AD 108/109) after holding the office for eight or nine years. He divided titles among the priests in the city of Rome, and ordained seven deacons to assist with the bishop's preaching. According to Reverend John F. Sullivan, Evaristus decreed that “in accordance with Apostolic tradition marriage should be celebrated publicly and with the blessing of the priest”


Place of birth Palestine; died about 107. In the Liberian Catalogue his name is given as Aristus. In papal catalogues of the second century used by Irenaeus and Hippolytus, he appears as the fourth successor of St. Peter, immediately after St Clement. The same lists allow him eight years of reign, covering the end of the first and the beginning of the second century (from about 98 or 99 to about 106 or 107).  In his "Ecclesiastical History" Eusebius says that he succeeded Clement in the episcopate of the Roman Church which fact was already known from St. Irenaeus. This order of succession is undoubtedly correct. The "Liber Pontificalis" says that Evaristus came of a Hellenic family, and was the son of a Bethlehem Jew. It also attributes to him the allotment of definite churches as to the Roman presbyters, and the division of the city into seven or deaconries; in this statement, however, the "Liber Pontificalis " arbitrarily refers to the time of Evaristus a later institution of the Roman Church. More trustworthy is the assertion of the "Liber Pontificalis" that he was laid to rest , near the tomb of St. Peter. The martyrdom of Evaristus, though traditional, is not historically proven. His feast occurs 26 Oct. The two decretals ascribed to him by Pseudo-Isidore.

SOURCE:The Catholic Encyclopedia and Wikipedia excerpts

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