Pope Telesphorus

right|thumb|200px|14th century depiction of St. Telesphorus in the Carmelite Monastery of Straubing in Bavaria
Pope Telesphorus (Greek: Τελεσφόρος) was the bishop of Rome from circa 126 to his death circa 137, during the reigns of Roman Emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. He was of Greek ancestry and born in Terranova da Sibari,SAINT TELESPHORUS (119-127). SAINT HYGINUS (127-139). SAINT PIUS I (139-142)The Pope Podcast: Pope Telesphoruswikipedia:it:Papa Telesforo Calabria, Italy.
The Carmelites venerate Telesphorus as a patron saint of the order since some sources depict him as a hermit living on Mount Carmel. He is also a martyr according to the ancient testimony of Irenaeus.
==Biography==
Telesphorus is traditionally considered as the eighth Bishop of Rome in succession after Peter. The Liber Pontificalis mentions that he had been an anchorite (or hermit) monk prior to assuming office. According to the testimony of Irenaeus (Against Heresies III.3.3), he suffered a "glorious" martyrdom. Although most early popes are called martyrs by sources such as the Liber Pontificalis (dating to the 3rd century at earliest), Telesphorus is the first to whom Irenaeus, writing considerably earlier (c. 180 AD), gives this title, thus making his martyrdom the earliest attested martyrdom of a pope after Peter.
Eusebius (Church History iv.7; iv.14) places the beginning of his pontificate in the twelfth year of the reign of Emperor Hadrian (128–129) and gives the date of his death as being in the first year of the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–139).
In Roman Martyrology, his feast is celebrated on 2 January; the Eastern churches celebrate 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, also preserved by Eusebius, testifies that 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 Victor, however, Telesphorus remained in communion with those communities that did not follow this custom.
The town of Saint-Télesphore, in the southwestern part of Canada's Quebec province, is named after him.
==References==
==Further reading==
*Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0140513124
*Kelly, J.N.D. Oxford Dictionary of Popes. (1986). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
* Benedict XVI. The Roman Martyrology. Gardners Books, 2007. ISBN 9780548133743
*Chapman, John. Studies on the Early Papacy. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1971. ISBN 9780804611398
*Fortescue, Adrian, and Scott M. P. Reid. The Early Papacy: To the Synod of Chalcedon in 451. Southampton: Saint Austin Press, 1997. ISBN 9781901157604
*Loomis, Louise Ropes. The Book of Popes (Liber Pontificalis). Merchantville, NJ: Evolution Publishing. ISBN 1889758868
==External links==
*The Works of Pope Telesphorus (from Documenta Catholica Omnia) (in Latin)
*"Pope St. Telesphorus" Catholic Encyclopedia
Category:Greek popes
Category:Italian popes
Category:Papal saints
Category:Popes