Marcellus was a centurion in the Roman army, serving in the city of Tangier in North Africa. During a feast in honor of the emperor’s birthday, he suddenly threw down his soldier’s belt, his sword, and his military insignia and proclaimed, “I serve Jesus Christ the eternal king. I will no longer serve your emperors, and I scorn to worship your gods of wood and stone, which are deaf and dumb idols.”  

Nothing is known of Marcellus’s earlier life, of what prompted his conversion, or his conviction that military service was incompatible with profession of the Christian faith. Both his fellow soldiers and the authorities who hastened to arrest him evidently thought him “insane.” Nevertheless, he repeated his statements in court. Asked if it was true that he had cast away his arms, he stated: “I did. For it was not right for a Christian man, who serves the Lord Christ, to serve in the armies of the world.” He was henceforth sentenced to death by the sword. As he was led away to execution, he addressed his last words to his judge: “May God be good to you.”  

“On July 21, in the presence of the standards of your legion, when you celebrated the festival of the emperor I made answer openly and clearly that I was a Christian and that I could not accept this allegiance, but could serve only Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father Almighty.”

—St. Marcellus