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2025 Lenten Reflections
Contemplative Activist
Illustration by Eunice Sunmie Derksen
"Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another."
Zechariah 7:10
What is a Contemplative Activist?
As followers of Christ, we strive to emulate Jesus' rhythm of contemplative prayer and active service, recognizing that he often withdrew to pray before ministering to others. In the Anglican tradition, this balance is foundational; our prayer life fuels our outreach to the vulnerable. In turn, engaging with those who suffer deepens our sense of Christ’s nearness as the Suffering Servant.
This Lenten season, we will explore the lives of five contemplative activists who exemplify this pattern, demonstrating love for "the least of these" through the Holy Spirit's empowerment.
Benvenuto di Giovanni, The Martyrdom of St. Fabian, oil on panel, Musee du Petit Palais, Avignon, FranceSt. Fabian
St. Fabian of Rome, who lived just two centuries after Christ walked on earth, served as pope for 14 years and played a large role in shaping the early church. During a time overshadowed by political turmoil, sweeping poverty, and social injustice, Fabian was instrumental in empowering the Church to step into her role as an agent of change in the world.
Humility marks the famous story of his election to the papacy. Fabian was a Roman layman who came into the city from his farm one day as clergy and people were preparing to elect a new pope. Eusebius, a Church historian, says the names of several illustrious and noble churchmen were being considered for thirteen days, a dove flew in and settled on the head of Fabian who wasn’t among the preferred candidates. This sign united the votes of clergy and laity, and he was chosen unanimously.
St. Fabian is credited with organizing Rome into seven ecclesiastical districts, each overseen by a deacon who was responsible for benevolence work. This structure helped distribute aid more effectively to the poor, including immigrants and refugees seeking shelter and sustenance.
Who were the poor in Third Century Rome?
Not unlike churches today, early Christians found themselves amid many communities of people in need.
In a world where men were deemed the most valuable to society, widows and orphans were among the most vulnerable to exploitation and in need of necessities like food, shelter, and safety. The church’s charity was essential to their survival.
As a prominent trade hub and well-resourced city, Rome was a common relocation spot for immigrants and refugees from across the empire. Many of them, seeking a better life within Rome’s walls, were welcomed only with discrimination and poverty.
Without the discoveries of modern medicine, those who were sick and disabled often found themselves on the outskirts of society and without resources.
Most slaves during this time were ill-treated and exploited. Former slaves, known as freedmen, found it difficult to find work because of their status and lived in a new form of enslavement: the endless cycle of poverty.
Prisoners and outcasts were looked down upon, and never received second chances without advocacy.
As a result, many of these people lived inhomelessness and destitution.
Fabian’s Response
As head of the Church in Rome, St. Fabian followed the Galatians 2:10 model of structuring the church from the highest level to care for the vulnerable. He understood that by institutionally prioritizing the poor, he was powerfully shaping the values and impact of the church in society.
At Fabian's encouragement, believers began to welcome strangers into their homes, offering shelter, food, and support to those in need of care. Deacons were empowered and charged to fulfill their vows of caring for the vulnerable outside the church. They visited and comforted the sick and wounded, even caring for them through contagious plagues. It was not uncommon for Roman parents to abandon their unwanted children, and many believers rescued these children and cared for them as their own.
Christians worked together to build structured systems of care. As a community, they ransomed those who had been unjustly imprisoned, including believers and marginalized people. They organized food distribution systems. Widows were embraced and welcomed into society again. Believers shared Christ’s love with the poor and forgotten of society, healing the wounds of broken hearts.
These transformative actions were not easy. Not only did Christians give from their resources and risk their own health, but they also faced societal ostracization from openly caring for the outsiders in their communities and persecution from the Roman authorities for publicly showing their devotion to Christ.
The believers of the early church both challenge and encourage Christians today with what it looks like to “count everything as loss for the sake of Christ” (Phil 3:8).
Biographers summarize the end of this saint’s life in this way: “St. Fabian died a glorious martyr in the persecution of Decius, in 250, as St. Cyprian and St. Jerome witness.” St Cyprian then writes a beautiful letters to the church charging them to follow in St. Fabian’s steps.
St. Fabian's life, work, and vision spearheaded the movement for systemic care for the vulnerable that is still at work today. St. Fabian's leadership and devotion to caring for “the least of these” should encourage us to live missionally with empathy, courage, and tangible acts of radical gospel love. Like St. Fabian, who encouraged early believers to seek the flourishing of all, may we continue his legacy by living out the charge of Jeremiah 29:7:
“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
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