LV0IU8
411
Luoixrs
she escaped unpunished, and it was afterwards
counted a glory to her." ^ The "foreign superstition"
of the Roman historian is now generally regarded as
probably identical with the Christian religion. When
de Rossi first conjectured that this might be the
case, he announced his view mcfrely as a more or less
remote probal)ility, but subsequent discoveries in the
cemeteiy of St. Callistus confirmed his supposition in
the happiest manner. The first of these discoveries
Section of the Chypt of Lucina
was the tomb of a Pomponius Grekeinos, evidently a
member of the family of Pomponia, and possibly her
descendant; the inscription dates from about the be-
ginning of the third century. A short distance from
this, the tomb of a Pomponius Bassus was also found
— another member of the family to which belonged
the mysterious lady of the reign of Claudius. Thus the
conversion to Christianity of this noble lady is estab-
hshed with a degree of probability that approaches
certainty.
NoRTHcoTB AND Brownlow, Roma SoUerraneOt I (2nd ed., London, 1879), 82-3, 270-81; Stokes in Smith and Wace, Diet. Christ, Biog.^ IV (London, 1887), s. v. Pomponia Gracina.
Maurice M. Hassett.
Lucius I, Saint, Popb (253-^54); d. at Rome, 5 March, 254. After the death of St. Cornelius, who died in exile in the summer of 253, Lucius was chosen to fill his place, and consecrated Bishop of Rome. Nothing is Known of the early life of this po|3e before his elevation. According to the " Liber Pontificalia ", he was Roman born, and his father's nanae was Por- phyrins. Where the author obtained this information IS not known. The persecution of the Church under the Emperor Callus, during which Cornelius had been banished, still went on. Lucius also was sent into ex- ile soon after his consecration, but in a short time, pre- sumably when Valerian was made emperor, he was al- lowed to return to his flock. The Felician Catalogue, whose information is found in the "Liber Pontifica- lis ", informs us of the banishment and the miraculous return of Lucius: " Hicexul fuit et postea nutu Dei in- columis ad ecclesiam reversus est. ' St. Cyprian, who wrote a (lost) letter of congratulation to Lucius on his elevation to the Roman See and on his banishment, sent a second letter of congratulation to him and his companions in exile, as well as to llic whole Roman Churcli (ep. Ixi, ed. llartel, H, (iO') sciq.).
The letter begins: "Beloved Brother, only a short
time ago we offered you our congratulations^ when in
exalting you to govern His Church God graciously be-
stowed upon ^ou the twofold glory of coiifessor and
bishop. Agam we congratulate you, your compan-
ions, and the whole congregation, in that, owing to the
kind and mighty protection of our Lord, He has led
you back with praise and glory to His own, so that the
flock can again receive its shepherd, the ship her pilot,
and the people a director to govern them and to show
openlv tnat it was God's disposition that He permitted
your banishment, not that the bishop who had been
expelled should l>e deprived of his Church, but rather
tliat he might return to his Church with greater
authority.*' Cyprian continues, alluding to the three
Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, that the return
from exile did not lessen the gjory of the confession,
and that the persecution, which was directed only
against the confessors of the true Church, proved
which was the Church of Christ. In conclusion he d^
scriljes the jov of Christian Rome on the return of its
shepherd. When Cyprian asserts that the Lord by
means of persecution sought " to bring the heretics to
shame and to silence them," and thiLs to prove where
tlic Church was, who was her one bishop chosen by
God's dispensation, who were her presbvters bound up
with the bishop in the glory of the priesthood, who were
the real people of Christ, united to His flock oy a pecu-
liar love, who were those who were oppressed by their
enemies, and at the same time who those were whom the
Devil protects as his own, he obviously means the
Novatians. The schism of Noyatian, through which
he was brought forward as antipope, in opposition to
Cornelius, still continued in Rome under Lucius.
In the matter of confession and the restoratioa of the " Lapsi " (fallen) Lucius adhered to the principles of Cornelius and Cyprian. According to the testi- mony of the latter, contained in a letter to Pope Ste- phen (ep. Ixviii, 5, ed. Hartel, II, 748), Lucius, like Cornelius, had expressed his opinions in writing: "Uli enim pleni spiritu Domini et in glorioso martyrio con- stituti dandam esse lapsis pacem censuerunt et poeni- tentia acta fructum communicationis et pacis negan- dum non esse litteris suis signaverunt. " (For they, filled with the spirit of the Lord and confirmed in glorious martyrdom, judged that pardon ought to be given to the Lapsi, and signified in their letters that, when these had done penance, they were not to be denied the en- joyment of communion and reconciliation.) Lucius died in the beginning of March, 254. In the " Depositio episcoporum the "Chronograph of 354" gives the. date of his <ij}^h afi B March, the ^' Martyrologium Hier- onymiap^ei'/jo^.4 March. The first^ate is probably rights. ^ i^>j|p Lucius died on 4 March and was burlAewMcn. According to the Liber Pontificar lis" tro^pope was beheaded in the time of Valerian, but this testimony cannot be admitted. It is true that Cyprian in the letter to Stephen above mentioned (e|>, Ixviii, 6) gives him, as well as Cornelius, the hon- o^iry title of martvr: "servandus est enim anteces- s^'|im nostrorum Tbeatorum martyrum Comelii et Lt^ Jii honor gloriosus " (for the glorious memoiy of our predecessors the blessed martyrs Cornelius and Lucius IS to be preserved); but probably this was on ac- count of Lucius's short banishment. Cornelius, who died in exile, was honoured as a martyr by the Romans after his death; but not Lucius. In the Roman calen- dar of feasts of the " Chronograph of 354 " he is men- tioned in the " Depositio episcoporum ", and not under the head of "Depositio martyrum". His memory was, nevertheless particularly honoured, as is clear, from the appearance of his name in the " Martyrolo-, gium Hieronymianum". Eusebius, it is true, main- tains (Hist. EccL, VII, 10) that Valerian was tavour- able to the Christians in the early part of his reign. The emperor's first persecution edict appeared onlv wl 257.
