Pope Saint Anastasius I

Anastasius was a Roman who served as pope from 399 to 401. Saint Jerome called him a man of great holiness and rich poverty, and Saint Paulinus of Nola and Saint Augustine also spoke well of him. During his short pontificate he condemned errors drawn from the writings of Origen and encouraged the bishops of Africa in their struggle against the Donatist schism. He died on December 19, 401; according to Jerome and early tradition, his son became the next pope, Saint Innocent I.

He was buried in a cemetery on the Via Portuensis in Rome. His story reminds us that in the early Church some popes had been married men.