Free English Translation
Poem on Saint Marcellus the Martyr
Carmen de Sancto Marcello Martyre
~1 min read · by Pope Damasus I
About Poem on Saint Marcellus the Martyr
This short verse epitaph, transmitted among the epigrams of Pope Damasus I, commemorates Pope Marcellus, who held the Roman see briefly around 308 to 309 AD. The poem recalls that Marcellus, a truthful ruler, insisted that those who had denied Christ during persecution must weep for their sin, a stance that turned the fallen against him and set off fury, hatred, discord, strife, sedition, and bloodshed, breaking the bonds of peace. On account of another's crime, it says, he was driven from his homeland by the savagery of a tyrant. Damasus states that he set these things down briefly, as facts already well known, so that the people might learn the merit of Marcellus.
By Pope Damasus I. Collected in Patrologia Latina, Volume 6.
A Poem of Pope Damasus on Saint Marcellus the Martyr
A truthful ruler, because he foretold that the fallen must weep for their sins, was a bitter enemy to all the wretched.
Hence fury, hence hatred follows, discord, strife, sedition, slaughter;
the bonds of peace are broken.
On account of another's crime, he who had denied Christ in time of peace was driven from the borders of his homeland by the savagery of a tyrant.
These things Damasus wished briefly to set forth as things well known, so that the people might be able to learn the merit of Marcellus.
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