<p>Pontius, a biographer, writes that Sixtus was a "good and peaceable priest" who became pope in the year 257, succeeding Stephen I. That same year, persecution of Christians began under Emperor Valerian, and the next year, Sixtus and several of his deacons were put to death in a catacomb where they celebrated Mass. Sixtus offered himself in order to prevent the arrest of many others and was beheaded while sitting in his chair, speaking to the assembly. Then the four deacons were martyred, followed by two others later in the day. Sixtus was buried in the papal tomb where he met his death, but his relics were moved some centuries later to the old church of Saint Sixtus, where they remain and are venerated still.</p>
<p><strong>Saint Cajetan</strong></p>
<p>Cajetan was born in Vicenza in 1480. He received his doctorate in civil and canon law in 1504 and moved to Rome where he purchased a secretarial office in the papal chancery. The wars of 1509-16 resulted in financial setbacks for his family, a misfortune that seems to have sparked his religious conversion.</p>
<p>In 1516 he joined a confraternity called the Roman Order of Divine Love and was ordained the same year. Under the influence of his confessor, Cajetan gave up his position in Rome and devoted himself to serving the poor and the sick. His work made him aware of the desperate need for reform in the Church and, in 1524, along with Gian Pietro Carafa (later Pope Paul IV) and others, he formed a society of clerks regular called the Theatines. They lived as secular priests in community but took monastic vows. Owning no property, they refused even to beg, relying on charity alone to supply their needs.</p>
<p>When Spaniards plundered Rome in 1527, they tortured the Theatines in the mistaken belief they had hidden treasure. The community left Rome and set up houses in Venice and Naples, where Cajetan spent the rest of his life, gaining a reputation as a saint even during his lifetime. He died in Naples in 1547.<br /></p>
<p>©2011 <em>Living with Christ, </em>Novalis - Bayard Press Canada Inc., <strong>http://www.livingwithchrist.ca/</strong>. Reprinted with permission.</p>
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