MARTYRDOM OF SAINT CLEMENT, POPE OF ROME
(Cotelier, *Patres apostolici*, I, 808, from Simeon Metaphrastes, November 24th.)
I. The third to preside over the Church of the Romans was Clement, who, having followed the teaching of the apostle Peter, excelled in the ornaments of character in such a way as to be pleasing and acceptable to Jews, Gentiles, and the entire Christian people. A The Gentiles loved him, because he did not treat them with contempt, but offered a reasoned account, and from their own books, mysteries, and ceremonies, showed where those whom they considered and worshipped as gods were born, and whence they had originated. By setting forth most evident proofs, he taught what they had done and how they eventually died; and he taught the Gentiles themselves that they would obtain pardon from God if they abstained from their worship.
II. Among the Jews, however, he gained favor in this way: he demonstrated that their fathers had been friends of God, and he declared their law to be holy and most sacred. B Furthermore, he showed that they would receive the first place before God if they observed the sacraments of their own law, by no means denying that the promise made to Abraham had been fulfilled in Christ, since God had promised to bestow the inheritance of all nations upon the seed of Abraham; and as He said to David:
A *Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne* (Ps. cxxxi, 11). And again through the prophet Isaiah: *That the virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel* (Isa. vii, 14).
III. Furthermore, he was more greatly loved by the Christians because he had the poor of each individual region inscribed by name; and those whom he had enlightened with the holiness of baptism, he did not allow to undergo public beggary. By his daily preaching, he admonished the middle-class and the rich not to permit the poor who had been enlightened by baptism to receive public alms from Jews or Gentiles, and not to allow life, purified by the consecration of baptism, to be defiled by the gifts of the Gentiles.
IV. By these and by more abundant flowers of virtue than these, he found favor both with God and with all men of sound mind; for it is impossible to please those who are bereft of reason, which is what is proven to be pleasing to God. For this reason, therefore, those in whose heart it was firmly set did not fear the insults of irrational men, nor did they tremble at those who are displeasing to many. Whence it came to pass that the most blessed Clement, bishop of the Roman see, did not fear Sisinnius, a friend of the Emperor Nerva B.
V. Therefore, when Theodora, the wife of Sisinnius, had been converted to God through his teaching and was rendering diligent service to God, her husband, led by jealousy, strove to ensnare her as she hastened toward the church. And indeed, as she was entering, he, arriving through another entrance, began to pry curiously; and when the prayer had been made by Saint Clement, and the people said, *Amen*, at that time Sisinnius was struck blind and deaf, so that he could neither see nor hear. Therefore he said to his servants: "Take me into your hands and lead me out, C because my eyes have become blind, and my ears have become so deaf that I am able to hear nothing at all."
VI. Then his servants began to lead him around with them through the entire church, in the midst of the praying people, of men and women alike, nor could they find the doors by which they had entered. Whence, while they were wandering about aimlessly and going in circles again, they arrived at their mistress Theodora, where she was pouring out prayers to God, along with their master. When she saw her servants leading their master around, stricken with blindness, D she first turned away her gaze, thinking that he might behold her with opened eyes. Then she sent one of her servants to find out what they wanted while going about with their master. They said: "Our master, seeking to see that which is not lawful for him, and to hear a foreign mystery, has been struck blind and has become deaf; but he has commanded us to lead him out of here by any means possible."
B VII. When Theodora heard this narrative from the boy, she prostrated herself in prayer, and with tears besought God that her husband might be able to depart from there. And turning to the servants who were with her, she said: “Go, lead your master by the hand and bring him home; for I will not forsake the prayer which I have begun, but I will offer my sacrifice to the Lord, and when the mysteries are completed, I will overtake you.” So then the servants went away, leading him by the hand, and leaving, they brought him home; and returning to their mistress, they reported that he had remained blind and deaf. But Theodora shed more abundant supplications and tears to God, so that His mercy might aid her husband. And when the dismissal had taken place, Theodora fell before blessed Clement, saying that her husband, while prying into the hidden mysteries of the Lord Jesus Christ, had fallen into the privation of both his eyes, and had immediately lost the power of hearing in both ears.
VIII. Then, therefore, blessed Clement, shedding tears, began to urge those who were present to petition the Lord unanimously, so that He might restore both hearing and sight to her husband. Therefore, blessed Clement, after prayer, boldly set out with the woman C to her husband; and he found him, with open eyes, seeing nothing, nor even hearing speech of any kind, or any sound; where also all were crying out with mingled wails; nor did Sisinnius hear in any way.
IX. Then, therefore, bending his knees to God, blessed Clement said: “Lord Jesus Christ, who hast given the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Thy apostle, and my teacher Peter, and hast said, ‘Whatsoever thou shalt open, it is opened, and whatsoever thou shalt shut, it is shut,’ do Thou command that the ears and eyes of this man be opened; for Thou hast said: ‘Whatsoever you ask believing, you shall receive.’ And this promise of Thine remaineth for ever and ever.” And when all answered: “Amen,” the eyes of Sisinnius were opened, and likewise his ears. And seeing holy Clement standing with his own wife, he was beside himself in his mind, D reflecting on what this could be; and thinking that this very thing had been brought about by juggling arts and illusions, he began to shout to his servants: “Seize Clement the bishop: for in order to enter in to my wife, he has brought this blindness upon me by his magic art.”
A X. Those, however, whom he had ordered to bind and drag Clement, were themselves binding and dragging the columns that were lying there; sometimes from the inside to the outside, and sometimes from the outside to the inside: and this seemed even to Sisinnius himself to be the truth, that they were dragging and holding the holy Clement bound. To whom the holy Clement said: "The hardness of your heart has been turned into stones: for because you think that stones are gods, you have been allotted to drag stones."
XI. But he, insulting him as if he were bound, said: "I will make you an example for all sorcerers to be destroyed." Then the holy Clement, having offered prayer and blessed his wife, departed; commanding her not to cease from prayer at all, until the Lord should deem it worthy to reveal His visitation to her husband. Therefore, to Theodora as she was weeping and praying, there appeared at evening a certain man venerable for his grey hair, and he said: "Because of you, Sisinnius will be healthy; so that what my brother Paul the apostle said may be fulfilled: The unbelieving husband shall be sanctified by the believing wife (a)." And having said these things, he departed from her sight. Whence it is B undoubted and clear that the blessed apostle Peter appeared there.
XII. And indeed immediately Sisinnius called Theodora to him, and said to her: "I beseech you to ask your God not to be angry with me. For moved by jealousy of you, I had come and followed behind you into the church; and because I wanted to see what was being celebrated, and to be a listener to those things which were being spoken, I lost both sight and hearing. But now, since the arrival of Clement has caused me to recover these, pray him to come to me, and make me recognize the truth. For it was thought as a certainty by me and my servants that they were binding Clement with his clerics, and dragging him away; but they are seen to have been binding bricks and columns, and dragging them here and there."
XIII. Then Theodora departed, and related to the holy Clement everything she had seen, and what had been said by her husband. The holy man therefore came to Sisinnius, and was received with honor. From him he heard whatever pertained to the C edification of the soul; and he believed in God, and was strengthened, and began to throw himself at the knees of Clement, and to cry out:
XIV. "I give thanks to the true and almighty God, who therefore blinded me so that I might see, and therefore took away my hearing so that I might perceive with my ears the truth, which I once mocked through ignorance; and this indeed
(a) I Cor. VII, 14. D
used to think of as false, which was true; and I used to think the opposite was true, which happened to be false. I thought darkness was light, and I took light for darkness. But my mind was cleansed from the pollution of the madness of idols. For I truly recognized that the demons deceived men, so that stones and rocks, deaf and speechless—just as they had prevailed over me up until this day—might rule over those who do not believe Christ to be God. As Sisinnios was saying these and similar things, great joy arose. For he believed with his whole household; and, his name having been given in as the Pasch approached, he was baptized. Those who were baptized from his house were numbered, and they were all together, men and women with infants, four hundred and twenty-three. And because of this Sisinnios, many of the illustrious and of the friends of the emperor Nerva were turned to God. B
XV. At that time, the count of the sacred offices, Publius Tarquitianus, seeing an innumerable multitude believing in Christ, summoned the prefects of the regions, and giving them money, persuaded them to stir up a tumult against the Christian name.
XVI. While Mamertinus, therefore, was administering the prefecture of the City, a sedition of the Roman people arose in the name of Clement; and being confused among themselves, some indeed said: "For what evil has he done, or what good thing has he not accomplished? For whoever was sick and was visited by him obtained health; whoever went to him affected by sadness returned rejoicing: he never harmed anyone, but rather helped all." But others, inflamed by a diabolical spirit, shouted: "By magical arts he does these things! He overturns the worship of our gods; he says that Jupiter is not a god. He says that Hercules, our guardian, is an unclean spirit; he C assumes that Venus, the holy goddess, was a harlot; and he blasphemes that Vesta, the great goddess, was consumed by fire. In the same way, he also defames the most holy goddess Minerva, likewise Diana, Mercury, and at the same time Saturn and Mars. And he treats all the names of our gods and their temples with insults. Either let him sacrifice to our gods, or let him himself be destroyed."
XVII. Then Mamertinus, the prefect of the city, not enduring the sedition of the people, ordered the most blessed Clement to be brought to him; whom, when he beheld, he began to say: "You have come from a noble root; as the Roman populace testifies to us. But you have fallen into error, D and for this reason they do not endure it; because you worship I know not what Christ, and you take up matters contrary to the gods who are honored in the temples. Therefore, it is necessary that you put aside all superfluous
superstition and worship the extraordinary gods. A Then blessed Clement said: I would have wished, he said, that your Excellency’s prudence would attend to my defense and not accuse me on account of the sedition of the ignorant, but rather on account of my teaching. For if many dogs bay at us and tear at us, they cannot take away the fact that we are rational human beings, while they remain dogs barking without reason. For sedition is always shown to proceed from the uneducated, so that it has nothing secure about it, nor even anything true and right. Therefore, let an opportunity for silence be sought, in which a human being who partakes of reason may begin to consult with himself and to discourse for his own salvation, so that he may find the true God, to whom he may worthily entrust his faith.
XVIII. Then Publius Tarquitianus, B having sent a report to the Emperor Trajan, brought a charge concerning the name of blessed Clement, saying: The populace does not cease to seek after this Clement with seditious clamors; and a credible proof cannot be found against his deeds. Then the Emperor Trajan wrote back that he must either consent by sacrificing, or be relegated beyond the sea and the Pontus to a desert city adjacent to Cherson.
XIX. And when the matter was confirmed by Trajan’s decree, Mamertinus C was considering how Clement might not ask for voluntary exile, but rather offer libations to the gods. But the blessed Clement was contending [to see] if he might also lead the soul of the judge himself to the faith of Christ, and show that he himself chose exile rather than fearing it. The Lord, therefore, granted such grace to Clement that Mamertinus the Prefect lamented, and said: The God whom you sincerely worship, He Himself will bring you aid in this judgment of exile; and he provided a ship, and having placed all things necessary upon it, he sent him away. The ship was loaded. D Moreover, religious men from the people, indeed many, followed him.
XX. When they reached the place of exile, at the work of the marble quarry, he found two thousand Christians there, having already long since been condemned by the sentence of a judge. They, having seen the holy and celebrated bishop Clement, all with one accord approaching with groaning and weeping, said: Pray for us, holy pontiff, that we may be made worthy of the promises.
A When Saint Clement learned that they had been deported for the sake of God, he said: “The Lord has not led me here without purpose; that having become a sharer in your sufferings, I might also offer an example of consolation and patience.”
XXI. He learned from them that they were carrying water on their own shoulders from a distance of six miles. Immediately, therefore, Saint Clement exhorted them, saying: “Let us pray to our Lord Jesus Christ, that He may open a vein of water for the confessors of His faith; and may He who struck the rock in the desert of Sinai, and waters flowed out in abundance, provide us with a refreshing stream, that we may be gladdened by His provision.” And indeed, the prayer being completed, he looked around hither and thither; and he saw a lamb standing, which lifted its right foot, as if showing the place to the holy Clement. Then Saint Clement, considering it to be the Lord, whom he alone beheld and no one else at all, went to the place, and said: “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, strike in this place.” And when all had dug in a circle with their spades, but not at the very spot where the lamb had stood, the saint, having taken a small trowel, struck the spot under the foot of the lamb with a light blow: whence suddenly a very beautiful spring appeared with overflowing veins; which, having poured forth with force, created a river. Then the holy man, with all rejoicing, said in response: B “The streams of the river make glad the city of God” (Ps. XLV, 5).
XXII. Because of this fame, therefore, the whole province ran together; and all who came to the teaching of Saint Clement were converted to the Lord; so that daily five hundred and more went away baptized. Within one year, seventy-five churches were built there by the faithful, and all the idols were broken, all the temples of the surrounding region were pulled down, and all the groves for three hundred miles around were cut down and leveled to the ground.
XXIII. At that time an invidious report reached the Emperor Trajan, that the people of the Christians there had grown to an innumerable multitude; and Aufidianus the governor was sent, who, having killed very many of the Christians with various tortures, and seeing all approaching martyrdom with joy, yielded to the multitude, compelling only Saint Clement to sacrifice. C And seeing him so steadfast in the Lord, and that he could not be removed at all from his conviction, he said to his own men: “Let him be led into the midst of the
sea, and bind an anchor to his neck, and let him be thrown into the deep, that the Christians may not be able to worship him instead of God.” A
XXIV. This having been done, the whole multitude of the Christians was present at the shore and lamented. And at this, Cornelius and Phoebus, his disciples, said: “Let us all with one accord pray that the Lord may show us the relics of His martyr.” As the people were praying, therefore, the sea receded into its own bosom for nearly three miles; and the people, having entered on dry land, found a dwelling-place prepared by God in the form of a marble temple, and there in a stone sarcophagus was placed the body of holy Clement, the disciple of Peter the apostle; so that the anchor with which he had been cast down lay near him. B
XXV. It was therefore revealed to his disciples not to remove him; to whom this oracle was also given, that in each year on the day of his contest the sea would recede for seven days, making a dry path for those coming. This, indeed, it pleased the Lord to have happen to the praise of His name even to this day. When this had occurred, all the surrounding nations believed in Christ. Where no Gentile, no Jew, no heretic at all is found. And many benefits are granted there: the blind are enlightened on his feast day, demons are expelled, all who are sick are healed; and his praise continues forever, through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom and with whom, to God and the Father, be glory, with His most holy, immaculate, and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. C