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The saints

St. Fabian

A layman visiting Rome when a dove landed on his head, and the Church chose him as pope.

Feast: 20 January · died 250 · The early Church · Rome

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Painting of Pope St. Fabian, an old man in a papal tiara and vestments.

Giovanni di Paolo. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Home / The saints / St. Fabian

Rome, 236

Fabian was a farmer, the story goes, who came into Rome while the clergy were electing a new pope.1

A dove settled on his head, and the crowd took it as a sign.1

He was made bishop of Rome on the spot.

Patronage No official patronage we can cite yet. The Church remembers him as a pope martyred in the persecution of Decius.

01St. Fabian

Fourteen years

He organized the Church in Rome into districts, each served by deacons.1

He was martyred in the persecution of the emperor Decius in 250, and Cyprian praised his witness.1

Live it this week

Be ready to be picked

Fabian came to Rome for other reasons and was chosen. This week, sign up for one thing at your parish that needs volunteers, even if you don’t feel qualified.

Notes

How we know · 1 source for this page
  1. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint Fabian”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.