Sts. Sixtus II and Companions

Sts. Sixtus II and his Companions were among the most honored martyrs of the early Roman Church. Sixtus II governed the Church as pope from 257, in the midst of the fierce persecution of the Emperor Valerian, and worked to restore peace with the churches of Africa and the East after earlier disputes over the baptism of heretics. His reign lasted less than a year before the storm broke upon him.

On 6 August 258 an imperial edict commanded the immediate execution of bishops, priests, and deacons. Sixtus was seized while presiding at the liturgy in the cemetery of Callixtus on the Appian Way and was beheaded together with several of his deacons; his archdeacon, St. Lawrence, followed him in martyrdom a few days later. So revered was Sixtus that his name was inscribed in the Roman Canon of the Mass among the martyrs, and the Church keeps his memory, with his companions, on 7 August.