Saint Evaristus, Pope and Martyr
by VP
Posted on Wednesday October 26, 2022 at 12:00AM in Saints
"Evaristus, a Greek by birth, was unanimously elected Pope when the Holy See became vacant at the death of Anacletus 1. It was he who first divided Rome into titles, or parishes, appointing to each a priest. He prescribed that seven deacons should surround the bishop when preaching for the greater honor of the word of God and of the episcopal dignity. St. Evaristus was condemned to death under Trajan, A.D. 109" Daily Missal with Vespers for Sundays
"You are the first Pontiff to whom the Church entrusted after the departure of all those who had seen the Lord. The world could then say in all strictness: "If we have known Christ according to the flesh, now we know Him so no longer." (2 Corinthians v. 16). The Church was now more truly an exile. At that period, which was not without perils and anxieties, her Spouse gave to you the charge of teaching her to pursue alone her path of faith and hope and love. And you did not betray the confidence of our Lord. Earth owes you on this account a special gratitude, O Evaristus, and a special reward is doubtless yours.
Watch still over Rome and the Church.
Teach us that we might be ready not only to fast here on Earth, but to resigned to the absence of the Bridegroom when He hides Himself, and not the less to serve Him and love Him with our whole heart and mind and soul and strength, as long as the world endures and He is pleased to leave us in it." Dom Prosper Gueranger.
