Saints Marcellinus and Peter | |
|---|---|
 Statue of St. Marcellinus atSeligenstadt. | |
| Martyrs | |
| Died | ~304 AD Rome |
| Venerated in | Catholic ChurchEastern Orthodox ChurchOriental Orthodox Church |
| Majorshrine | Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano, Rome; Seligenstadt, Germany; relics also claimed bycathedral of Cremona |
| Feast | 2 June |
| Attributes | Depicted as two tonsured men holding crowns; palms of martyrdom; depicted alongsideSt. Pollio[1] |
Saints Marcellinus and Peter (sometimes calledPetrus Exorcista - Peter theExorcist;[2]Italian:Marcellino e Pietro) are venerated within theCatholic Church asmartyrs who were beheaded. Hagiographies place them in 4th centuryRome. They are generally represented as men in middle age, withtonsures and palms of martyrdom; sometimes they hold a crown each.
Little is known about the actual lives of these two men. Later hagiography suggests that Marcellinus, a priest, and Peter, anexorcist, died in the year 304, during theDiocletianic Persecution.Pope Damasus I claimed that he heard the story of these two martyrs from their executioner who went on to become a Christian.[1] Damasus states that they were killed at an out-of-the-way spot by the magistrate Severus or Serenus,[2] so that other Christians would not have a chance to bury and venerate their bodies. The two saints happily cleared the spot chosen for their death: a thicket overgrown with thorns, brambles, and briers three miles from Rome. They werebeheaded and buried in that spot.
Two women, Lucilla and Firmina, assisted by divine revelation, found the bodies, however, and had them properly buried.[3] They buried their bodies near the body ofSt. Tiburtius on theVia Labicana in what became known as theCatacombs of Marcellinus and Peter.Alban Butler writes that "it was thought at one time that forty-four other martyrs died with Marcellinus and Peter, but this is due to a misreading of theHieronymianum."[2]
Around the 6th century, apassio connected the martyrdom of Marcellinus and Peter with that of the jailer Artemius, who was converted to Christianity by Marcellinus. Artemius' wife Secunda (or Candida) and daughterPaulina were also converted.[3] Artemius was beheaded; Secunda andPaulina wereburied alive under a pile of stones. Thepassio states that they were killed at the 12thmilestone on theVia Aurelia in a place calledSilva Candida ("Whitewood", also calledSilva Nigra, "Blackwood", or atLorium). Their executioner, Dorotheus, was said to have been converted byPope Julius I.[1]
Pope Damasus, who opened their catacombs,[2] also remarks that he wrote a Latinepitaph with the details of their death with which he adorned their tomb.[3]
The martyrs were venerated by Christians in the centuries after their martyrdom. Their sepulcher is mentioned in theMartyrologium Hieronymianum, which includes the information that Marcellinus was apriest and that Peter was anexorcist.[5] In theMartyrologium, theirfeast day is given as 2 June and theirsepulcher is described as being locatedad duas lauros ("at the two laurel trees") at the third mile of theVia Labicana.[1] From the 7th century onwards, their sepulcher became a site ofpilgrimage, and their feast day is recorded in local liturgies and hagiographies.[1] According to theLiber Pontificalis,Constantine the Great built a basilica in their honor,[5] since a structure built by Damasus had been destroyed by theGoths.
The names of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter appeared in theAmbrosian liturgy.[1] Their names are also mentioned in theRoman Canon.[5]
In 1253Pope Alexander IVtranslated their relics to an ancient church (its presence was first mentioned in 595 AD) near the present-day Via Merulana that was named after them:Santi Marcellino e Pietro. The altarpiece, byGaetano Lapis depicts theMartyrdom of Saint Peter and Saint Marcellino (1751).[6]
Relics associated with Marcellinus and Peter were translated toSeligenstadt inGermany in the 9th century.[1] They were sent byPope Gregory IV toEinhard, secretary toCharlemagne. Einhard translated the relics toStrasburg, and then toMichlenstad; and afterwards to Malinheim or Mulinheim (later called Seligenstadt). In 829, Einhard built a church in honor of Marcellinus and Peter, and became its first abbot.Sigebert,Aimoin, andRabanus Maurus all mention this translation.
A slightly different account states that Einhard had built a basilica at Michelstadt in 827 and then sent a servant, Ratleic, to Rome with an end to find relics for the new building. Once in Rome, Ratleic, with the help of Deusdona, a Roman deacon with a reputation as a relics-swindler and thief,robbed acatacomb of the bones of Marcellinus and Peter and had them translated to Michelstadt.[1] Once there, the relics made it known they were unhappy with their new tomb and thus had to be moved again to Mulinheim (nowSeligenstadt). Once established there, they proved to be miracle workers.[7] Agostino Amore believes that the entire translation was fraudulent, due to Deusdona's reputation.[1]
Cremona Cathedral in Italy also claims to have relics of the two saints, inside a sarcophagus in one of itstransepts.[2]
They are generally represented as men in middle age, withtonsures and palms of martyrdom;[2] sometimes they hold a crown each. In thecatacombs named after them, afresco dating from the 4th or 5th centuries, represents them withoutaureolae, with short beards, next to theLamb of Christ.[1] In another fresco from the 5th or 6th centuries, in thecatacombs of Pontian, they are beardless and depicted alongsideSaint Pollio.[1]
There is a church dedicated to them atImbersago.[8]
