Marcellus I

Saint Marcellus I was born in Rome on January 6, 255. He lived through the dark years of the Diocletian persecution, and after Pope Marcellinus died in 304 the Church in Rome remained without a bishop for a long and painful interval. When Marcellus was finally elected bishop of Rome in 308, he found the Christian community scattered, its meeting places disrupted, and many believers divided over how to welcome back those who had denied the faith under pressure. With a shepherd’s firmness, Marcellus reorganized the Church’s life in the city, dividing Rome into districts entrusted to priests to prepare catechumens for baptism, oversee public penance, and care for the burial of the faithful and the memory of the martyrs. His insistence that the lapsed undertake true penance stirred unrest, and under the emperor Maxentius he was seized and banished from Rome. He died in exile in 309 and was honored as a saint. His relics rest beneath the altar of San Marcello al Corso in Rome. He is invoked as patron of places including San Marcello and Saint-Marcel. His feast day is January 16.