Marcellus, Philagrius, and Pancratius are commemorated together on February 9 as three bishop-martyrs counted among the disciples of the Apostle Peter, who ordained them and sent them to preach the Gospel in the western and eastern Mediterranean. According to the tradition, Marcellus became Bishop of Sicily, Philagrius Bishop of Cyprus, and Pancratius Bishop of Taormina (the ancient Tauromenium) in Sicily. All three labored to spread the Christian faith among the pagans of their regions.
The fullest narrative attaches to Pancratius, whom the tradition describes as a native of Antioch who, as a youth, traveled with his parents to Jerusalem during the earthly ministry of Christ and whose family was afterward baptized. The Apostle Peter is said to have consecrated him bishop of the Sicilian city of Taormina, where he preached the word of Christ. Marcellus, ordained Bishop of Sicily, is said to have converted many of the pagan Greeks of the island, and Philagrius to have endured many trials in his ministry as Bishop of Cyprus.
The accounts of how each met his end diverge in the sources. The synaxarion tradition counts all three as hieromartyrs put to death for their preaching; one Greek recension, however, relates that Marcellus completed his life in peace and that Pancratius was secretly killed, while a Western tradition records that Pancratius died by stoning at the hands of pagan opponents. Pancratius is also commemorated separately on July 9 (and in the West on July 8), reflecting his standing as the first bishop and patron of Taormina.
