In Honor of St. Marcellus I, Pope and Martyr
(Feast: January 16, III Classis)
Readings:
1 Peter 5:1–4, 10–11
Matthew 16:13–19
“And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory.” (1 Peter 5:4)
In the quiet majesty of today’s feast, the Church venerates St. Marcellus I, Bishop of Rome and martyr, who governed the Church in the wake of Diocletian’s ferocious persecution. His pontificate was short—marked by struggle, division, and eventual exile—but his witness endures in glory, a crown given by the Chief Shepherd to one who labored faithfully in His stead.
It is no coincidence that the readings appointed for this day draw our gaze to both the apostolic mission of Peter and the suffering of the shepherds of the Church. In 1 Peter 5, the Prince of the Apostles exhorts the elders—those entrusted with the care of souls—to “feed the flock of God” with humility and vigilance. He speaks not as one aloof, but as one who himself had learned—through shame, repentance, and love—what it means to shepherd in the image of Christ.
St. Marcellus, as Bishop of Rome, stood in this same line of Petrine care, feeding a battered flock, rebuilding what the persecutors had scattered. The Acts of his martyrdom recall his unswerving commitment to ecclesiastical discipline and order in the aftermath of apostasy. Like Peter, he too exhorted the faithful, not by domination, but by example—and for this, he was condemned by the Emperor Maxentius and died in exile.
“Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)
The Gospel from Matthew 16 draws us to the very heart of ecclesial authority and divine promise. Peter’s confession—“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”—elicits from our Lord the foundational response: a Church built upon the rock of Peter and safeguarded against the gates of death.
St. Augustine comments on this passage:
“Peter, because he first acknowledged the Rock, was made worthy to be the Rock of the Church.” (Tract. in Ioan. 124)
The Fathers never saw in Peter a mere private figure, but the head and sign of unity, a visible foundation of the Church’s unity and strength. St. Leo the Great, himself a successor of Peter, writes:
“The firmness of that faith, which was praised in the Prince of the Apostles, remains unshaken to this day; and as that which Peter believed in Christ continues, so does what Christ instituted in Peter continue.” (Sermon 3, On His Birthday)
Thus, every true pope, including the martyr Marcellus, shares not only Peter’s office, but also his burden and his blessing. Their authority is not self-chosen, but given from above—“flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee”—and so too is the grace to suffer for Christ and His Body, the Church.
Suffering and the Crown of Glory
Returning to Peter’s epistle, we hear the promise that “after you have suffered a little, the God of all grace… will perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10). This is not mere consolation, but a divine pattern. The cross precedes the crown. For Peter, for Marcellus, and for us.
St. Cyprian of Carthage speaks to the bishops of the Church amid persecution:
“The episcopate is one, of which a part is held by each without division of the whole.” (De Unit. Eccles. 5)
But that unity is not without cost. The episcopate, especially the Roman Pontiff, is called to suffer with the Church, and often for the Church. Marcellus governed during chaos, when the wounds of the great persecution were fresh, and the question of lapsed Christians deeply divided the flock. He chose fidelity to the Apostolic discipline over compromise, knowing well the cost.
As Pope Benedict XIV once observed in his commentary on the early martyrs:
“The popes of those early centuries governed not from thrones, but from catacombs; not with tiaras, but with chains.”
Conclusion: To Him Be Glory and Dominion Forever
In St. Marcellus, we see the enduring truth of Peter’s confession and the power of Christ’s promise. The papacy is not preserved by human cunning, but by divine fidelity. The gates of hell roar, persecutions arise, heresies threaten, and even internal divisions rend the body—but the Church stands, because Christ has built her upon the rock.
Let us then pray, in union with St. Marcellus and all confessors of the faith, for our shepherds today:
That they may feed the flock of God with truth, suffer for the Church with love, and receive at last the unfading crown of glory from the hand of the Chief Shepherd.
“To Him be glory and dominion, forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:11)