Christian feast day: Pope Marcellus I

Pope Marcellus I was the bishop of Rome from May or June 308 to his death on 16 January 309. He succeeded Marcellinus after a considerable interval. Under Maxentius, he was banished from Rome in 309, on account of the tumult caused by the severity of the penances he had imposed on Christians who had lapsed under the recent persecution. He died the same year, being succeeded by Eusebius. His relics are under the altar of San Marcello al Corso in Rome. Since 1969 his feast day, traditionally kept on 16 January by the Catholic Church, is left to local calendars and is no longer inscribed in the General Roman Calendar.