Feast of St. Clement I of Rome (November 23)

Above:  St. Clement I of Rome

Image in the Public Domain

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SAINT CLEMENT I OF ROME

Bishop of Rome, 88/91-97/101

Alternative feast days = November 24 and 25

++++++++++++++++++++++

Think, my friends, how the Lord offers us proof after proof that there is going to be a resurrection, of which He has made Jesus Christ the first-fruits by raising Him from the dead.  My friends, look how regularly there are processes of resurrection going on at this very moment.  The day and the night show us an example of it; for night sinks to rest, and day arises; day passes away, and night comes again.  Or take the fruits of the earth; how, and in what way, does a crop come into being?  When the sower goes out and drops each seed into the ground, it falls to the earth shriveled and bare, and decays; but presently the power of the Lord’s providence raises it from decay, and from that single grain a host of others spring up and yield their fruit.

–1 Clement 24 (Staniforth/Louth, 1987)

++++++++++++++++++++++

We know little about the life of St. Clement I of Rome.  Ancient traditions contradict each other on many details, including whether he was the third or fourth Bishop of Rome and whether he became a martyr.  Certain ancient texts are allegedly of his authorship, but the (First) Epistle to the Corinthians, a.k.a. First Clement, composed via 96 C.E., is genuine.

St. Clement I, who apparently knew some of the Apostles, was one of a group of presbyters of house churches in the imperial capital city at the end of the first century C.E.  He had the duty of writing to churches in other cities.  In his (First) Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Clement I urged that church to restore its fired presbyters to their rightful positions.  This letter was an early example of the church at Rome involving itself in the matters of churches in other cities.  St. Clement I’s claim to ecclesiastical authority related to Rome being the imperial capital, not the Bishop of Rome being a Supreme Pontiff, for the monarchical Papacy had not yet emerged.

St. Clement I emphasized two primary themes in the epistle.  He stressed obedience to proper leaders–respect for the ecclesiastical hierarchy.  Our saint also emphasized respect for the liturgy and sacraments.  He placed these concerns in the context of Christ and love for God:

Love knows no divisions, promotes no discord; all the works of love are done in perfect fellowship.

–1 Clement 49; from Early Christian Writings (1987), translated by Maxwell Staniforth and Andrew Louth

St. Clement I’s epistle is an intriguing follow-up to the Pauline epistles to that church.

We Christians of today live in a different world than St. Clement I did.  We dare not dismiss him and his concerns, for we own him and many like him a great debt of gratitude; a chain of faith links him and them to us.  Furthermore, his advice in his epistle to the Corinthians retains much of value in contemporary settings.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 17, 2019 COMMON ERA

WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK

THE FEAST OF DANIEL SYLVESTER TUTTLE, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

THE FEAST OF EMILY COOPER, EPISCOPAL DEACONESS

THE FEAST OF MAX JOSEF METZGER, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF WILBUR KENNETH HOWARD, MODERATOR OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Almighty God, you chose your servant Clement of Rome

to recall the Church in Corinth to obedience and stability:

Grant that your Church may be grounded and settled

in your truth by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit;

reveal to it what is not yet known;

fill up what is lacking;

confirm what has already been revealed;

and keep it blameless in your service;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with

you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

1 Chronicles 23:28-32

Psalm 78:3-7

2 Timothy 2:1-7

Luke 6:37-45

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 699

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++