Thursday, June 2, 2016

June 2: Pope Saint Eugene I

History

Eugene was a Roman priest who had a reputation for being generous, gentle and holy. Pope Saint Martin I was in office at the time, but the Emperor, Constans II, didn’t like him, because Martin was fighting against a heresy that Constans II thought was true. So Constans had Martin abducted from the Holy See and carried off into exile. Of course, people still needed a pope, so Constans had Eugene elected. Most people thought that this meant Pope Eugene would do whatever Constans told him to do. However, Jesus had promised that “the gates of hell will not prevail” against the Church (Mt. 16:19), and Eugene refused to follow Constans’ orders. He stayed true to Christ and taught the right things. 

Activity

Eugene was a holy man, devoted to Jesus, and that’s why Pope Martin I, before he died, approved of Eugene being given the papacy. Martin knew that Eugene was close to the Lord and would be a fine successor to Peter. Today, read Mt. 16:18,19 and thank God for protecting the Church from error, through every single pope we’ve ever had, even the ones put in office by people who wanted to change what the Church taught. Here’s a coloring page of Peter as the “rock” on which Jesus built His Church. 

Pope Saint Eugene, pray for us!


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