ST EUTYCHIANUS, POPE - 8 DECEMBER

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN DECEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 8th of December

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST EUTYCHIANUS, POPE

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Saint Eutychianus succeeded Pope Felix I a few days after the latter’s death, and governed the Church from January, 275, until December 7, 283. We know no details of his pontificate. 

The rite for blessing the produce of the fields, ascribed to him by the "Liber Pontificalis", undoubtedly belongs to a later period. The statement also that he promulgated rules for the burial of martyrs and buried many of them with his own hands, has but slight claim to acceptance, since after the death of Aurelian (275) the Church enjoyed a long respite from persecution. 

IT IS HIGHLY PROBABLE THAT HE DID NOT DIE A MARTYR

It is highly probable that Eutychianus did not die a martyr. The fourth-century Roman Calendar mentions him (December 8) in the, "Depositio Episcoporum", but not in its list of martyrs. 

His remains were placed in the papal chapel in the Catacomb of Callistus. When this famous crypt was discovered the fragments of the epitaph of Eutychianus were found, i.e. his name (in Greek letters): EUTYCHIANOS EPIS(KOPOS). His feast is celebrated on December 8. 

(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)