January 16 | Pope Saint Marcellus

Welcome, young history buffs and curious minds, to My Daily Saint, the podcast that digs deep into the incredible lives of the saints, those remarkable people who shaped history and continue to inspire us today. Forget dusty old portraits and boring stories. Today, the year is 308 A.D. You are in Rome. But this isn't the Rome of glorious parades and cheering crowds. This is a Rome recovering from a nightmare.

For years, the Emperor Diocletian tried to wipe Christianity off the face of the earth. Churches were smashed, Bibles were burned, and the leaders? They were hunted down. In fact, the violence was so intense that after the last pope died, the chair of St. Peter sat empty. For several years, the greatest city in the world had no bishop. The church was decapitated, but then, out of the shadows, a man steps forward. He is wearing Roman robes and a stole. He looks at the wreckage of his community, the scattered families, the broken buildings, and he decides to take the job that nobody else could safely do.

Who is this man? Pope Saint Marcellus. Here is the fascinating thing about Marcellus. Nothing is known of his life before he became pope. And what a mess he stepped into. When Marcellus was elected pope in 308, the persecution by Diocletian had just ended, but the damage was done. The church was in great confusion. The priests and clergy had been scattered, because they had only been able to practice their faith in hiding.

Bricks and mortar are easy to fix. People? People are harder. And this is where the real drama of Marcellus' life begins. It wasn't the Romans who caused him the most trouble. It was his own people. During the terror of the persecutions, many Christians were given a choice, deny Jesus or die. Terrified, many people chose to deny their faith to save their lives. These people were called apostates. Once the killing stopped, these people wanted to come back. They wanted to walk right back into the churches they had abandoned.

They were known as the Lapsi. And the Lapsi wanted to return to the church without doing any sort of penance for their sin of denial. They wanted to act like nothing happened. Marcellus had to make a tough call. He was the shepherd of the flock, and sometimes a shepherd has to be strict for the sheep's own good. Pope Marcellus refused them entrance. Why? Was he being mean? No, he believed that a lack of penance reflected their lack of remorse for their sin.

He demanded they show they were serious before coming back. This did not go over well. The Lapsi were powerful, connected politically to the current emperor, Maxentius. They went to the emperor and complained about the new pope. Emperor Maxentius didn't care about theology. He just wanted peace and quiet. He saw Marcellus causing conflict by demanding penance, and he decided to end it. Only a year into his papacy, Pope Marcellus was arrested. Maxentius exiled the pope to get him out of the city.

The end of Marcellus' life is tragic but heroic. He died on January 16, 309, shortly after leaving Rome due to the harsh conditions and persecution he received. Because of that, the church honors him with the title of martyr. Today, if you go to Rome, you can visit his relics beneath the altar of San Marcello Alcorso Church.

Marcellus taught us that saying, I'm sorry, is more than just words. It requires action. The Lapsi wanted cheap forgiveness. Marcellus reminded them that penance is how we show we are truly changed. Think about a mistake you've made recently. Do an act of penance for it. If you were mean to a friend, make it up to them. If you broke something, work to fix it. Like St. Marcellus, let's make sure our actions match our words. Thank you for joining us on My Daily Saint. We look forward to sharing another incredible story of faith and courage with you tomorrow.