Pope St. Marcellus I

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Hisdate of birth unknown; electedpope in May or June, 308; died in 309. For some time after the death of Marcellinus in 304 theDiocletianpersecution continued with unabated severity. After the abdication ofDiocletian in 305, and the accession inRome ofMaxentius to the throne of the Caesars in October of the following year, theChristians of the capital again enjoyed comparative peace. Nevertheless, nearly two years passed before a newBishop of Rome was elected. Then in 308, according to the "Catalogus Liberianus", Pope Marcellus first entered on his office: "Fuit temporibus Maxenti a cons. X et Maximiano usque post consulatum X et septimum" ("Liber Pontificalis", ed. Duchesne, I, 6-7). This abbreviated notice is to be read: "A cons. Maximiano Herculio X et Maximiano Galerio VII [308] usque post cons. Maxim. Herc. X et Maxim. Galer. VII [309]" (cf. de Rossi, "Inscriptiones christ. urbis Romæ", I, 30). AtRome, Marcellus found theChurch in the greatest confusion. The meeting-places and some of the burial-places of the faithful had been confiscated, and the ordinary life and activity of theChurch was interrupted. Added to this were the dissensions within theChurch itself, caused by the large number of weaker members who had fallen away during the long period of activepersecution and later, under the leadership of anapostate,violently demanded that they should be readmitted to communion without doing penance. According to the"Liber Pontificalis" Marcellus divided the territorial administration of theChurch into twenty-five districts (tituli), appointing over each apresbyter, who saw to the preparation of thecatechumens forbaptism and directed the performance of public penances. Thepresbyter was also made responsible for the burial of the dead and for the celebrations commemorating the deaths of themartyrs. Thepope also had a new burial-place, theCœmeterium Novellœ on the Via Salaria (opposite theCatacomb of St. Priscilla), laid out. The"Liber Pontificalis" (ed. Duchesne, I, 164) says: "Hic fecit cymiterium Novellae via Salaria et XXV titulos in urbe Roma constituit quasi diœcesis propter baptismum et pœnitentiam multorum qui convertebantur ex paganis et propter sepulturas martyrum". At the beginning of the seventh century there were probably twenty-five titular churches inRome; even granting that, perhaps, the compiler of the"Liber Pontificalis" referred this number to the time of Marcellus, there is still a clear historical tradition in support of his declaration that theecclesiastical administration inRome was reorganized by thispope after the greatpersecution.

The work of thepope was, however, quickly interrupted by the controversies to which the question of the readmittance of thelapsi into theChurch gave rise. As to this, we gather some light from the poetic tribute composed by Damasus in memory of his predecessor and placed over his grave (De Rossi, "Inscr. christ. urbis Romæ", II, 62, 103, 138; cf. Idem, "Roma sotterranea", II, 204-5). Damasus relates that the truth-loving leader of theRoman Church was looked upon as a wicked enemy by all the lapsed, because he insisted that they should perform the prescribed penance for their guilt. As a result serious conflicts arose, some of which ended in bloodshed, and every bond of peace was broken. At the head of this band of the unfaithful and rebellious stood anapostate who had denied the Faith even before the outbreak ofpersecution. The tyrannicalMaxentius had thepope seized and sent into exile. This took place at the end of 308 or the beginning of 309 according to the passages cited above from the "Catalogus Liberianus", which gives the length of the pontificate as no more than one year, six (or seven) months, and twenty days. Marcellus died shortly after leavingRome, and wasvenerated as a saint. Hisfeast-day was 16 January, according to the "Depositio episcoporum" of the "Chronography" of 354 and every other Roman authority. Nevertheless, it is not known whether this is thedate of his death or that of the burial of his remains, after these had been brought back from the unknown quarter to which he had been exiled. He wasburied in thecatacomb of St. Priscilla where his grave is mentioned by the itineraries to the graves of the Romanmartyrs as existing in the basilica of St. Silvester (De Rossi, "Roma sotterranea", I, 176)

A fifth-century "Passio Marcelli", which is included in the legendary account of themartyrdom of St. Cyriacus (cf. Acta Sanct., Jan., II, 369) and is followed by the"Liber Pontificalis", gives a different account of the end of Marcellus. According to this version, thepope was required byMaxentius, who was enraged at his reorganization of theChurch, to lay aside his episcopal dignity and make an offering to the gods. On his refusal, he was condemned to work as a slave at a station on the public highway (catabulum). At the end of nine months he was set free by theclergy; but a matron named Lucina having had her house on the Via Lataconsecrated by him as "titulus Marcelli" he was again condemned to the work of attending to the horses brought into the station, in which menial occupation he died. All this is probably legendary, the reference to the restoration ofecclesiastical activity by Marcellus alone having an historical basis. The tradition related in the verses of Damasus seems much more worthy ofbelief. The feast of St. Marcellus, whose name is to this day borne by the church atRome mentioned in the above legend, is still celebrated on 16 January. There still remains to be mentioned Mommsen's peculiar view that Marcellus was not really abishop, but a simple Romanpresbyter to whom was committed theecclesiastical administration during the latter part of the period of vacancy of thepapal chair. According to this view, 16 January was really thedate of Marcellunus's death, the next occupant of the chair beingEusebius (Neues Archiv, 1896, XXI, 350-3). This hypothesis has, however, found no support.

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