Pope Saint Felix III was
pope from
March 13, 483 to
492.
He was born into a Roman senatorial family and said to have been a great-great-grandfather of
Saint Gregory the Great. Nothing certain is known of Felix until he succeeded
St. Simplicius.
His first act was to repudiate the
Henoticon, a deed of union originating with
Patriarch Acacius of Constantinople and published by Emperor
Zeno with the view of allaying the strife between the
Miaphysite Christians and Chalcedonian Christians. He also addressed a letter of remonstrance to Acacius. The latter proved refractory, and sentence of deposition was passed against Acacius.
In his first synod, Felix excommunicated
Peter the Fuller who had assumed the
See of
Antioch against Papal wishes. In
484, Felix also excommunicated
Peter Mongus, who had taken the See of
Alexandria - an act which brought about a schism between East and West that was not healed until
519.
It is said that Felix appeared to one of his descendants, his great-granddaughter
Trasilla (an aunt of St. Gregory the Great), bidding her to enter her abode of glory. On the eve of
Christmas Trasilla died, seeing
Jesus beckoning.
(Note on numbering: Pope Felix II is now considered an anti-pope. At the time however, this fact was not recognized and so the second true Pope Felix is known by the official number III. This has advanced the numbering of all subsequent Popes Felix by one. Popes Felix III and IV are really the second and third popes by that name. It also affected the name taken by the anti-pope Felix V, who if he had been pope, really would have been the fourth Felix.)
Felix III
Felix III
Felix 3
Felix 03
Felix III
Felix 3
Felix 03