Linus Herculanus

Born [date unknown] in Volterra, Tuscany, Roman Empire

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Biography

Pope St Linus Herculanus is Notable.

Linus, son of Claudia and Herculanus, was born in Volterra, Tuscany.^[1][2] According to Irenaeus, Linus is the same person as the one mentioned in the New Testament. Linus is mentioned in the valediction of the Second Epistle to Timothy as being with Paul the Apostle in Rome near the end of Paul's life.^[3]

He was a companion of St Paul: "At Rome, the commemoration of Saint Linus, Pope, to whom, as Saint Irenaeus narrates, the blessed Apostles entrusted the responsibility of the episcopate of the Church founded in the City, and whom the blessed Paul the Apostle mentions as a companion of his."^[4]

Irenaeus, wrote in c. AD 180 that "the blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate"^[5]

According to the earliest succession lists of bishops of Rome, passed down by Irenaeus and Hegesippus and attested by the historian Eusebius, Linus was entrusted with his office by the apostles Peter and Paul after they had established the Christian church in Rome. ^[3]

The Apostolic Constitutions note that Linus, whom Paul the Apostle consecrated, was the first bishop of Rome and that he was succeeded by Clement I, whom Peter the Apostle ordained and consecrated.^[3]

He was Bishop of Rome from 68 - 79 AD during the reign of Roman Emperor Nero, ending in the reign of Titus.^[3][1]

Flocknote Popes in a Year ^[6] tells us:

St. Linus is identified by St. Irenaeus in his work Adversus Haeresis ("Against Heresy") as the second pope and first successor of St. Peter, stating, "The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate."

He is generally understood to have been the second pope and the first successor of St. Peter as Bishop of Rome. His feast day is celebrated on September 23, and he's remembered as having been martyred for the faith.

Other than taking up St. Peter's torch after the Apostle's death, not a whole lot is known about his pontificate. Odds are good that Linus kept the wheels on the bus going round and round by evangelizing and helping the young Church to grow.

His name is also still commonly heard as part of the Roman Canon in Eucharistic Prayer I at Mass, immediately after the recitation of the names of the 12 Apostles and first in a litany of several future Successors of Peter: "Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius..."

Pope St. Linus may well be the same Linus mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21, which would make him one of the only popes other than Peter to be mentioned in Sacred Scripture.

Linus was pope when the Romans tore down the Jerusalem Temple in 70 A.D. Jesus didn't come back and say, "I told you so," but he did prophesy that it would happen in Mark 13:1-2.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Vatican
2. ↑ Liber Pontificalis
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Wikipedia Pope Linus
4. ↑ Martyrologium Romanum (Typis Vaticanis, 2004, p. 532).
5. ↑ Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3: 3.3
6. ↑ Flocknote Popes in a Year
   SOURCES (and further reading):
   - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09272b.htm
   - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09224a.htm
   - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Linus