Saint Hippolytus

Saint Hippolytus is usually understood to mean Hippolytus of Rome, a Roman priest celebrated in a common feast with Pope Pontian on 13 August as having both won the martyr's crown after being exiled to Sardinia after a period in which the priest had opposed the pope.

Most, if not all, of what appear to be other martyrs of the same name seem to be in reality this same Hippolytus.

The feast of Saint Hippolytus formerly celebrated on 22 August (see General Roman Calendar as in 1954) was a duplicate of the 13 August feast and for that reason was deleted when the Roman Catholic calendar of saints was revised in 1960. [See General Roman Calendar of 1962 and "Calendarium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 135] Earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology referred to the 22 August Hippolytus as Bishop of Porto, but the Catholic Encyclopedia sees this as "connected with the confusion regarding the Roman presbyter resulting from the Acts of the Martyrs of Porto. It has not been ascertained whether the memory of the latter was localized at Porto merely in connection with the legend in Prudentius, without further foundation, or whether a person named Hippolytus was really martyred at Porto, and afterwards confounded in legend with Hippolytus of Rome." [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07362a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia:"Sts. Hippolytus"] ] This opinion is shared by a Benedictine source. [ [http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0822.shtml Saint of the Day, 22 August] ]

Earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology also mentioned on 30 January a Hippolytus venerated at Antioch, but the details it gave were borrowed from the story of Saint Hippolytus of Rome. [ [http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0130.shtml Saint of the Day, 30 January] ] 30 January is indeed the date on which the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Hippolytus "of Rome". Modern editions of the Roman Martyrology omit all mention of this supposed distinct Saint Hippolytus of Antioch.

The "Acts of St Laurence" mention a Roman army officer named Hippolytus, who with his nurse Concordia and nineteen others of his household, was put to death for the Faith. When this statement was supposed to refer to the best-known Hippolytus, it was inserted into the account of the 13 August martyr in earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology. It has since been removed. The Roman Martyrology entry for 13 August is now: "The holy martyrs Pontian, Pope, and Hippolytus, Priest, who were exiled to Sardinia, where they given the same sentence and, it seems, won the same crown of martyrdom, and later were brought to burial in Rome, Hippolytus in a cemetery on the Via Tiburtina and Pontian in the Cemetery of Callixtus." ["Martyrologium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7)] The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church counts the story of Hippolytus as a soldier as one of the signs of how soon the facts of the life of the real Hippolytus of Rome were forgotten in the West, allowing writers to give free rein to their imaginations.Cross, F. L., ed., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005)]

The Catholic Encyclopedia also stated: "Another Hippolytus is likewise found among a group of martyrs described as "martyres graeci" "Greek martyrs", whose burial place was venerated in the Catacomb of Callistus. This Hippolytus is certainly distinct from the Roman presbyter. The feast of these Greek saints is celebrated on 2 December." Modern editions of the Roman Martyrology make no mention of these saints on 2 December.

References

External links

* [http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/hippolytus.html St. Hippolytus iconography]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07362a.htm Sts. Hippolytus] article from "The Catholic Encyclopedia"