✝️St. Marcellus I, born in Rome at the end of the 3rd century, was elected Pope in 308, during the turbulent period of the persecutions under Diocletian. His brief leadership was marked by an intense dedication to the restoration of the Church. He focused on reorganizing the Christian communities and establishing a just discipline for the lapsi - those who had renounced the faith under threat of death. His firmness in requiring penance before readmission generated controversy and opposition, leading Emperor Maxentius to exile him. In exile, he was forced to work as a slave in stables, where he faced great suffering and humiliation. He died in 309, not by a direct execution, but as a consequence of the mistreatment he endured, and is therefore venerated as a martyr. His life is a testament to pastoral courage, zeal for discipline, and unwavering fidelity to Christ amidst adversity.
🎶Introit (Jn 21:15-17; Ps 29:2)
Si díligis me, Simon Petre, pasce agnos meos, pasce oves meas. Allelúia, allelúia. Ps. Exaltábo te, Dómine, quóniam suscepísti me, nec delectásti inimícos meos super me.
If you love me, Simon Peter, feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Alleluia, alleluia. I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast upheld me: and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me.
📜Epistle (I Pet 5:1-4, 10-11)
Dearly beloved: The elders who are among you, I beseech, who am myself also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ: as also a partaker of that glory which is to be revealed in time to come: feed the flock of God which is among you, taking care of it, not by constraint, but willingly, according to God: not for filthy lucre’s sake, but voluntarily: neither as lording it over the clergy, but being made a pattern of the flock from the heart. And when the prince of pastors shall appear, you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory. But the God of all grace, who hath called us into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will himself perfect you, and confirm you, and establish you. To him be glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen.
📖Gospel (Mt 16:13-19)
At that time: Jesus came into the quarters of Caesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of man is? But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.
🗝️The Rock of Faith and the Service of the Shepherd
🕊️Today's liturgy presents us with the archetype of the Papacy in the confession of Peter and its heroic incarnation in the life of St. Marcellus I. The Gospel of Matthew is the birth certificate of Petrine authority: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church." St. Augustine, in his Sermon 295, delves into this truth by explaining that Peter, in making his confession, represented the entire Church. The rock is not the person of Simon in his frailties, but the faith he professed: faith in Christ, the Son of the living God. "Upon this rock, which you have confessed, [...] I will build my Church" (St. Augustine, Sermon 295, 1). It is upon this profession of faith that the Church is sustained, and the Pope, as the successor of Peter, is the guardian and visible rock of this same faith. St. Marcellus I lived this dramatically. By reorganizing the Church and imposing discipline on those who had faltered, he did not act with authoritarianism but exercised the power of the keys - "whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" - for the salvation of souls, showing that pastoral love sometimes demands the firmness of correction. The Epistle of St. Peter serves as a manual for this ministry, exhorting shepherds to care for the flock "willingly" and to become "models," not dominators. Marcellus was that model, trading the pontifical throne for forced labor, uniting his suffering with that of Christ, the "Supreme Pastor." His life confirms what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about the Petrine ministry: he is the "perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity" (CCC 882), a unity sealed not by temporal power, but by the witness of love to the very end, thus receiving the "never-fading crown of glory."
🔗See English version of the critical articles here.
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