Sts. Cletus and Marcellinus, Popes, Martyrs Lives of saints (Catholic)
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you                Pray without ceasing                For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you                And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him                Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God                Verily I say unto you, Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven                Verily I say unto you, It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven                It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God               
English versionChristian Portal

Christian Resources

Vote!

 
Sts. Cletus and Marcellinus, Popes, Martyrs
   

April 26

ST. CLETUS was the third Bishop of Rome, and succeeded St. Linus, which circumstance alone shows his eminent virtue among the first disciples of St. Peter in the West. He sat twelve years, from 76 to 89. The canon of the Roman Mass, Bede, and other martyrologists, style him a martyr. He was buried near St. Linus, in the Vatican, and his relics still remain in that church.

St. Marcellinus succeeded St. Coins in the bishopric of Rome in 296, about the time that Diocletian set himself up for a deity, and impiously claimed divine honors. In those stormy times of persecution Marcellinus acquired great glory. He sat in St. Peter's chair eight years, three months, and twenty-five days, dying in 304, a year after the cruel persecution broke out, in which he gained much honor. He has been styled a martyr, though his blood was not shed in the cause of religion.

Reflection.—It is a fundamental maxim of the Christian morality, and a truth which Christ has established in the clearest terms and in innumerable passages of the Gospel, that the cross or sufferings and mortification are the road to eternal bliss. They, therefore, who lead not here a crucified and mortified life are unworthy ever to possess the unspeakable joys of His kingdom. Our Lord Himself, our model and our he-ad, walked in this path, and His great Apostle puts us in mind that He entered into bliss only by His blood and by the cross.



Source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/lots/





The above text was published in February 2017.



Read about lives of other saints




Top



Recommend this page to your friend!






Read also: