Pope Clement I

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Saint Clement I
Image:StClement1.jpg
Birth name	Unknown
Papacy began	circa 88
Papacy ended	99
Predecessor	Anacletus
Successor	Evaristus
Born	Unknown Rome, Italy
Died	circa 99 Crimea
Other popes named Clement

Styles of Pope Clement I
Image:Emblem of the Papacy SE.svg
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	Saint

Saint Clement I was the Bishop of Rome from 88 to 99 AD. Also called Clement of Rome and Clemens Romanus, he was the fourth pope according to Catholic tradition. In his own lifetime, however, the term "Pope" itself and the attributes presently associated with the term did not yet exist.

Saint Clement I is considered one of the Apostolic Fathers, and his name is in the Roman Canon of the Mass. Saint Clement I is commemorated on November 23 as pope and martyr in the Roman Catholic Churchas well as the Anglican Communion and the Lutheran church. The Syriac Orthodox, Malankara Orthodox Church and Greek Orthodox Church, as well as the Syriac Catholic and Syro-Malankara Catholic Churches commemorate St. Clement of Rome (called in Syriac Mor Clemis) on November 24. The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates his feast day on November 25. The Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates his feast day on December 8.

Contents 1 Identity 2 Martyrdom 3 Symbolism 4 Writings 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Identity

Tradition identifies him as the Clement mentioned in Philippians 4:3 ^[1]. He may have been a freedman of Titus Flavius Clemens, who was consul with his cousin, the Emperor Domitian. The Shepherd of Hermas (Vision II. 4. 3) mentions a Clement whose office it is to communicate with other churches; this function has been adduced to support Clement's authorship of the letter to the church at Corinth, Greece, ascribed to him: full details are at the entry Epistles of Clement.

The Liber Pontificalis documents the fact that Clement of Rome had personally known Saint Peter, and states that he wrote two letters (the second letter, 2 Clement is no longer ascribed to Clement) and that he died in Greece in the third year of Trajan's reign, or 100 AD. Earlier sources say he died a natural death. The Holy See's Annuario Pontificio (2003) cites a reign from 92 to 99.

[edit] Martyrdom

According to tradition, Saint Clement was banished from Rome during the reign of the Emperor Trajan. He was sent to Chersonesus where he was sentenced to work with other prisoners in a stone quarry. Saint Clement arrived to find the prisoners suffering from a great lack of water. After kneeling down in prayer, the saint looked up to see a lamb standing upon a hill. Taking his pickaxe, Saint Clement went to where the lamb had stood and struck the ground, revealing a gushing stream of clear water.

In retaliation for this miracle and for having converted large numbers of the local pagans and his fellow prisoners to Christianity, Saint Clement was martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown from a boat into the Black Sea.

According to a 9th-century tradition St. Cyril brought the relics of Saint Clement to Rome where they are now enshrined at the Basilica di San Clemente. Other relics of Saint Clement, including his head, are claimed by the Kiev Monastery of the Caves in the Ukraine.

[edit] Symbolism

In works of art, Saint Clement can be recognized by having an anchor at his side or tied to his neck. He is most often depicted wearing the Papal vestments, including the pallium, and sometimes with the Papal tiara but more often with the mitre. He is also sometimes shown with symbols of his office as Pope and Bishop of Rome such as the Papal Cross and the Keys of Heaven. In reference to his martyrdom, he often holds the palm of martyrdom. Saint Clement can be seen depicted near a fountain or spring, relating to the incident from his hagiography, or lying in a temple in the sea. The Mariner's Cross is also referred to as St. Clement's Cross in reference to the way he was martyred.

[edit] Writings

Clement is perhaps best known by a letter to the Catholic Church in Corinth, often called 1 Clement. The history of 1 Clement clearly and continuously shows Pope Clement I as the author of this letter.

A second epistle, better described as a homily and written in the second century, has been traditionally ascribed to Clement. However recent, albeit in some cases questionable scholarship suggests someone else wrote this letter.^[2]

Clement is also the hero of an early Christian romance or novel that has survived in at least two different versions, known as the Clementine literature, where he is identified with Domitian's cousin Titus Flavius Clemens.

[edit] References

1. ^ "Writers of the 3rd and 4th cents., like Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome, equate him [St. Clement I], perhaps, correctly, with the Clement whom St. Paul mentions (Phil. 4:3) as a fellow worker." — Kelly (1985). The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford University Press, p. 7. 
2. ^ "A second letter attributed to him (2 Clement) is not authentic" — based on the opinion of one questionable source. McBrien (2000). Lives of The Popes. Harper, p. 35. 

[edit] External links

• Image:Wikisource-logo.svg Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope St. Clement I.
• Two Epistles Concerning Virginity .
• Opera Omnia
• Hieromartyr Clement the Pope of Rome Eastern Orthodox icon and synaxarion

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Anacletus	Bishop of Rome Pope 88–98	Succeeded by Evaristus

v • d • e Popes of the Catholic Church (chronologically)
Peter Linus Anacletus Clement I Evaristus Alexander I Sixtus I Telesphorus Hyginus Pius I Anicetus Soter Eleuterus Victor I Zephyrinus Callixtus I Urban I Pontian Anterus Fabian Cornelius Lucius I Stephen I Sixtus II Dionysius Felix I Eutychian Caius Marcellinus Marcellus I Eusebius Miltiades Sylvester I Mark Julius I Liberius Damasus I Siricius Anastasius I Innocent I Zosimus Boniface I Celestine I Sixtus III Leo I Hilarius Simplicius Felix III Gelasius I Anastasius II Symmachus Hormisdas John I Felix IV Boniface II John II Agapetus I Silverius Vigilius Pelagius I John III Benedict I Pelagius II Gregory I Sabinian Boniface III Boniface IV Adeodatus I Boniface V Honorius I Severinus John IV Theodore I Martin I Eugene I Vitalian Adeodatus II Donus Agatho Leo II Benedict II John V Conon Sergius I John VI John VII Sisinnius Constantine Gregory II Gregory III Zachary Stephen II Paul I Stephen III Adrian I Leo III Stephen IV Paschal I Eugene II Valentine Gregory IV Sergius II Leo IV Benedict III Nicholas I Adrian II John VIII Marinus I Adrian III Stephen V Formosus Boniface VI Stephen VI Romanus Theodore II John IX Benedict IV Leo V Sergius III Anastasius III Lando John X Leo VI Stephen VII John XI Leo VII Stephen VIII Marinus II Agapetus II John XII Leo VIII Benedict V John XIII Benedict VI Benedict VII John XIV John XV Gregory V Sylvester II John XVII John XVIII Sergius IV Benedict VIII John XIX Benedict IX Sylvester III Benedict IX Gregory VI Clement II Benedict IX Damasus II Leo IX Victor II Stephen IX Nicholas II Alexander II Gregory VII Victor III Urban II Paschal II Gelasius II Callixtus II Honorius II Innocent II Celestine II Lucius II Eugene III Anastasius IV Adrian IV Alexander III Lucius III Urban III Gregory VIII Clement III Celestine III Innocent III Honorius III Gregory IX Celestine IV Innocent IV Alexander IV Urban IV Clement IV Gregory X Innocent V Adrian V John XXI Nicholas III Martin IV Honorius IV Nicholas IV Celestine V Boniface VIII Benedict XI Clement V John XXII Benedict XII Clement VI Innocent VI Urban V Gregory XI Urban VI Boniface IX Innocent VII Gregory XII Martin V Eugene IV Nicholas V Callixtus III Pius II Paul II Sixtus IV Innocent VIII Alexander VI Pius III Julius II Leo X Adrian VI Clement VII Paul III Julius III Marcellus II Paul IV Pius IV Pius V Gregory XIII Sixtus V Urban VII Gregory XIV Innocent IX Clement VIII Leo XI Paul V Gregory XV Urban VIII Innocent X Alexander VII Clement IX Clement X Innocent XI Alexander VIII Innocent XII Clement XI Innocent XIII Benedict XIII Clement XII Benedict XIV Clement XIII Clement XIV Pius VI Pius VII Leo XII Pius VIII Gregory XVI Pius IX Leo XIII Pius X Benedict XV Pius XI Pius XII John XXIII Paul VI John Paul I John Paul II
Currently: Benedict XVI

af:Pous Clemens I

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