Today is the Feast of the great Successor of St. Peter, Pope St. Clement I (Bishop of Rome around the years AD92-99). He was the third successor of St. Peter, and he is often pictured with an anchor, a reminder of his manner of death.
You can read more about St. Clement at these sites:
Old Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope St. Clement I
Catholic Saints Info: Pope St. Clement I
[By Sixtus - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=707711]
St. Clement is buried in the Romanesque Basilica named for his in Rome -- sitting between the Coloseum and St. John Lateran. The Basilica is remarkable for its multiple layers: the Basilica built around AD1100 on top of a 4th century Church which sits on first century structure. San Clemente's official website is here: Basilica of San Clemente
Finally, the letter of Pope St. Clement to the Corinthians is worthy of note. This authentic letter, one of the oldest extant Christian writings aside from the New Testament, is a remarkable witness to the Apostolic origin of the structure of the Catholic Church and her hierarchy. St. Clement I addressed the Corinthians, with authority, while St. John the Apostle was yet alive, and makes direct mention of the different Orders. I present the letter here part, with those aspects, authority, and succession, as highlights. For the full text, follow the link at the end:
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Pope St. Clement I of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians
Chapter 1. The Salutation. Praise of the Corinthians Before the Breaking Forth of Schism Among Them.
Chapter 1. The Salutation. Praise of the Corinthians Before the Breaking Forth of Schism Among Them.
The
church of God which sojourns at Rome, to the church of God sojourning at
Corinth, to them that are called and sanctified by the will of God, through our
Lord Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, from Almighty God through Jesus
Christ, be multiplied.
Owing,
dear brethren, to the sudden and successive calamitous events which have
happened to ourselves, we feel that we have been somewhat tardy in turning our
attention to the points respecting which you consulted us; and especially to
that shameful and detestable sedition, utterly abhorrent to the elect of God,
which a few rash and self-confident persons have kindled to such a pitch of
frenzy, that your venerable and illustrious name, worthy to be universally
loved, has suffered grievous injury. For who ever dwelt even for a short time
among you, and did not find your faith to be as fruitful of virtue as it was
firmly established? Who did not admire the sobriety and moderation of your
godliness in Christ? Who did not proclaim the magnificence of your habitual
hospitality? And who did not rejoice over your perfect and well-grounded
knowledge? For you did all things without respect of persons, and walked in the
commandments of God, being obedient to those who had the rule over you, and
giving all fitting honour to the presbyters among you. You enjoined young men
to be of a sober and serious mind, you instructed your wives to do all things
with a blameless, becoming, and pure conscience, loving their husbands as in
duty bound; and you taught them that, living in the rule of obedience, they
should manage their household affairs becomingly, and be in every respect
marked by discretion.
Chapter
2. Praise of the Corinthians Continued.
Moreover,
you were all distinguished by humility, and were in no respect puffed up with
pride, but yielded obedience rather than extorted it, and were more willing to
give than to receive. Acts 20:35 Content with the provision which God had made
for you, and carefully attending to His words, you were inwardly filled with
His doctrine, and His sufferings were before your eyes. Thus a profound and
abundant peace was given to you all, and you had an insatiable desire for doing
good, while a full outpouring of the Holy Spirit was upon you all. Full of holy
designs, you did, with true earnestness of mind and a godly confidence, stretch
forth your hands to God Almighty, beseeching Him to be merciful unto you, if
you had been guilty of any involuntary transgression. Day and night ye were
anxious for the whole brotherhood, 1 Peter 2:17 that the number of God's elect
might be saved with mercy and a good conscience. You were sincere and
uncorrupted, and forgetful of injuries between one another. Every kind of
faction and schism was abominable in your sight. You mourned over the
transgressions of your neighbours: their deficiencies you deemed your own. You
never grudged any act of kindness, being "ready to every good work."
Titus 3:1 Adorned by a thoroughly virtuous and religious life, you did all
things in the fear of God. The commandments and ordinances of the Lord were
written upon the tablets of your hearts. Proverbs 7:3
Chapter
3. The Sad State of the Corinthian Church After Sedition Arose in It from Envy
and Emulation.
Every
kind of honour and happiness was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that
which is written, "My beloved did eat and drink, and was enlarged and
became fat, and kicked." Deuteronomy 32:15 Hence flowed emulation and
envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the
worthless rose up against the honoured, those of no reputation against such as
were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced
in years. For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from
you, inasmuch as every one abandons the fear of God, and is become blind in His
faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part
becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the
practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into
the world. Wisdom 2:24
Chapter
5. No Less Evils Have Arisen from the Same Source in the Most Recent Times. The
Martyrdom of Peter and Paul.
But
not to dwell upon ancient examples, let us come to the most recent spiritual
heroes. Let us take the noble examples furnished in our own generation. Through
envy and jealousy the greatest and most righteous pillars [of the church] have
been persecuted and put to death. Let us set before our eyes the illustrious
apostles. Peter, through unrighteous envy, endured not one or two, but numerous
labours; and when he had at length suffered martyrdom, departed to the place of
glory due to him. Owing to envy, Paul also obtained the reward of patient
endurance, after being seven times thrown into captivity, compelled to flee,
and stoned. After preaching both in the east and west, he gained the
illustrious reputation due to his faith, having taught righteousness to the
whole world, and come to the extreme limit of the west, and suffered martyrdom
under the prefects. Thus was he removed from the world, and went into the holy
place, having proved himself a striking example of patience.
Chapter
7. An Exhortation to Repentance.
These
things, beloved, we write unto you, not merely to admonish you of your duty,
but also to remind ourselves. For we are struggling on the same arena, and the
same conflict is assigned to both of us. Wherefore let us give up vain and
fruitless cares, and approach to the glorious and venerable rule of our holy
calling. Let us attend to what is good, pleasing, and acceptable in the sight
of Him who formed us. Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see
how precious that blood is to God which, having been shed for our salvation,
has set the grace of repentance before the whole world. Let us turn to every
age that has passed, and learn that, from generation to generation, the Lord
has granted a place of repentance to all such as would be converted unto Him.
Noah preached repentance, and as many as listened to him were saved. Jonah
proclaimed destruction to the Ninevites; Jonah iii but they, repenting of their
sins, propitiated God by prayer, and obtained salvation, although they were
aliens [to the covenant] of God.
Chapter
42. The Order of Ministers in the Church.
The
apostles have preached the gospel to us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus
Christ [has done so] from God. Christ therefore was sent forth by God, and the
apostles by Christ. Both these appointments, then, were made in an orderly way,
according to the will of God. Having therefore received their orders, and being
fully assured by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and established in
the word of God, with full assurance of the Holy Ghost, they went forth
proclaiming that the kingdom of God was at hand. And thus preaching through countries
and cities, they appointed the first fruits [of their labours], having first
proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons of those who should
afterwards believe. Nor was this any new thing, since indeed many ages before
it was written concerning bishops and deacons. For thus says the Scripture in a
certain place, "I will appoint their bishops in righteousness, and their
deacons in faith."
Chapter
57. Let the Authors of Sedition Submit Themselves.
You
therefore, who laid the foundation of this sedition, submit yourselves to the
presbyters, and receive correction so as to repent, bending the knees of your
hearts. Learn to be subject, laying aside the proud and arrogant
self-confidence of your tongue. For it is better for you that you should occupy
a humble but honourable place in the flock of Christ, than that, being highly
exalted, you should be cast out from the hope of His people. For thus speaks
all-virtuous Wisdom: "Behold, I will bring forth to you the words of my
Spirit, and I will teach you my speech. Since I called, and you did not hear; I
held forth my words, and you regarded not, but set at naught my counsels, and
yielded not at my reproofs; therefore I too will laugh at your destruction;
yea, I will rejoice when ruin comes upon you, and when sudden confusion
overtakes you, when overturning presents itself like a tempest, or when
tribulation and oppression fall upon you. For it shall come to pass, that when
you call upon me, I will not hear you; the wicked shall seek me, and they shall
not find me. For they hated wisdom, and did not choose the fear of the Lord;
nor would they listen to my counsels, but despised my reproofs. Wherefore they
shall eat the fruits of their own way, and they shall be filled with their own
ungodliness. Proverbs 1:22-33 …For, in punishment for the wrongs which they
practised upon babes, shall they be slain, and inquiry will be death to the
ungodly; but he that hears me shall rest in hope and be undisturbed by the fear
of any evil."
Chapter
59. Warning Against Disobedience. Prayer.
If,
however, any shall disobey the words spoken by Him through us, let them know
that they will involve themselves in transgression and serious danger; but we
shall be innocent of this sin, and, instant in prayer and supplication, shall desire
that the Creator of all preserve unbroken the computed number of His elect in
the whole world through His beloved Son Jesus Christ, through whom He called us
from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge of the glory of His name,
our hope resting on Your name which is primal cause of every creature,—having
opened the eyes of our heart to the knowledge of You, who alone "dost rest
highest among the highest, holy among the holy," Isaiah 57:15 who
"layest low the insolence of the haughty," Isaiah 13:11 who
"destroyest the calculations of the heathen," who "settest the
low on high and bringest low the exalted;" who "makest rich and
makest poor," 1 Samuel 2:7 who "killest and makest to live,"
Deuteronomy 32:39 only Benefactor of spirits and God of all flesh, who
beholdest the depths, the eye-witness of human works, the help of those in
danger, the Saviour of those in despair, the Creator and Guardian of every
spirit, who multipliest nations upon earth, and from all made choice of those
who love You through Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, through whom You
instructed, sanctify, honour us. We would have You, Lord, to prove our help and
succour. Those of us in affliction save, on the lowly take pity; the fallen
raise; upon those in need arise; the sick heal; the wandering ones of Your
people turn; fill the hungry; redeem those of us in bonds; raise up those that
are weak; comfort the faint-hearted; let all the nations know that You are God
alone and Jesus Christ Your Son, and we are Your people and the sheep of Your
pasture.
Chapter
64. Blessings Sought for All that Call Upon God.
May
God, who sees all things, and who is the Ruler of all spirits and the Lord of
all flesh—who chose our Lord Jesus Christ and us through Him to be a peculiar
Titus 2:14 people—grant to every soul that calls upon His glorious and holy
name, faith, fear, peace, patience, long-suffering, self-control, purity, and
sobriety, to the well-pleasing of His name, through our High Priest and
Protector, Jesus Christ, by whom be to Him glory, and majesty, and power, and
honour, both now and for evermore. Amen.
Chapter
65. The Corinthians are Exhorted Speedily to Send Back Word that Peace Has Been
Restored. The Benediction.
Send
back speedily to us in peace and with joy these our messengers to you: Claudius
Ephebus and Valerius Bito, with Fortunatus; that they may the sooner announce
to us the peace and harmony we so earnestly desire and long for [among you],
and that we may the more quickly rejoice over the good order re-established
among you. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, and with all
everywhere that are the called of God through Him, by whom be to Him glory,
honour, power, majesty, and eternal dominion, from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen.
Source. Translated by John Keith. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 9. Edited by Allan Menzies. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1896.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.
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For the full text, follow this link: New Advent: Letter of St. Clement to the Corinthians
Live well!
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