Marcellus of Tangier
saint martyred 298 AD
Feast: 30 October (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
At Tangier in Mauretania, in present-day Morocco, the passion of Saint Marcellus, centurion, who on the emperor's feast day, while all were sacrificing to the gods, threw down his military belt, his weapons and his very life before the standards, professing that he was a Christian and could no longer rightly obey the military oath, but only Jesus Christ, and for this suffered martyrdom by beheading.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
The Roman Martyrology remembers him on 30 October as a centurion beheaded at Tangier for renouncing his military oath to obey Christ alone.
Connected on this site
- Cassian of Tangier Saint“The Passion of Saint Cassian is appended to that of Saint Marcellus of Tangier and his saint day is celebrated on 3 December.” — Wikipedia
- Luperculus Saint“Another saint Lupercus was said to have been a son of Marcellus of Tangier, and was martyred at León, Spain with his brothers Claudius and Victoricus.” — Wikipedia
- Roman Martyrology, 30 October (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Q16509164 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Marcellus of Tangier (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.