The new bishop

Not long before his first anniversary in office, the bishop was saying Mass quietly.

Suddenly, armed men broke in.

They beheaded the bishop as well as some deacons who were with him, leaving their bodies where they had just been celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Sixtus, the second bishop of Rome by that name, was buried in that same area, in the catacombs of St. Callistus, in August 258. The memory of Pope St. Sixtus II and those who were martyred with him is celebrated on this day.

(from an earlier post)