From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   November 23rd - St. Clement I, Pope M (RM)   
      
   Died c. 100.   
      
   "O God, make us children of quietness, and heirs of peace" -Saint Clement.   
      
   "The strong must make sure that they care for the weak. The rich must be   
   certain   
   to give enough to supply all the needs of the poor. The poor must thank God   
   for   
   supplying their needs . . . We all need each other: the great need the   
   small,   
   the small need the great. In our body, the head is useless without the feet   
   and   
   the feet without the head. The tiniest limbs of our body are useful and   
   necessary to the whole" -St. Clement.   
      
   Details of Saint Clement's life are unknown. He may have been an ex-slave to   
   the   
   family of T. Flavius Clemens, the cousin of Emperor Domitian, and he may   
   have   
   been of Jewish descent. He is said to have been baptized by Saint Peter.   
   Clement   
   was the third successor of Saint Peter (following Cletus) and governed the   
   Church for about ten years (AD 88-97). Origen and others refer to him as the   
   Clement whom Paul calls a fellow laborer (Phil. 4:3), but this is uncertain.   
   Saint Irenaeus (c. 125-c. 203) says that Clement "had seen and consorted   
   with   
   the blessed apostles."   
      
   His acta states that, after converting a patrician named Theodora and her   
   husband Sisinnius and 423 others, the people raised an opposition against   
   him.   
   He was banished by Emperor Trajan to the Crimea where he was made to work in   
   the   
   quarries. The nearest drinking water was six miles away, but Clement found a   
   nearer spring for the use of the Christian captives. It is said that he   
   preached   
   so zealously among the prisoners working in the mines, that soon 75 churches   
   were needed to serve the converts.  Unfortunately, his success drew further   
   unwonted attention causing him to be condemned for his faith.    He was said   
   to   
   have been thrown into the Black Sea with an anchor tied around his neck, and   
   that angels came and built him a tomb beneath the waves, which once a year   
   became visible by a miraculous ebbing of the waves.  It was Clement's   
   Epistle to   
   the fractious Corinthians that made him so famous. "Under this Clement,"   
   says   
   St. Irenaeus, "no small sedition took place among the brethren at Corinth,   
   and   
   the church of Rome sent a most sufficient letter to the Corinthians,   
   establishing them in peace and renewing their faith, and announcing the   
   tradition it had recently received from the apostles."   
      
   In the letter Clement wrote:   
      
   "Through jealousy and envy the greatest and most righteous pillars of the   
   church   
   were persecuted and contended unto death. Look to the heroic apostles: Peter   
   through unrighteous jealousy endured not one or two, but many labors, and   
   having   
   thus borne witness went on to his true place of glory. Paul through jealousy   
   and   
   strife, displayed the prize of endurance: seven times in bonds, driven into   
   exile, stoned, a herald for the faith in east and west. . . . Associated   
   with   
   these great men of holy life is a great multitude of believers, suffering   
   many   
   tortures because of jealousy, some of them women who, though weak in body,   
   completed the race of faith."   
      
   Clement's constant references to jealousy are to rebuke the church at   
   Corinth,   
   where hotheads had overthrown the lawful Christian leaders and unbelievers   
   were   
   mocking the Christian faith. Written in AD 95, the letter is even older than   
   some parts of the New Testament. Using Old Testament stories he demonstrates   
   the   
   evil resulting from jealousy. He begs the Christians to show mutual   
   tolerance   
   and love and to respect those set in authority over them. He said that peace   
   must be the aim of all who follow Jesus. The letter is important not only   
   for   
   its eloquence, historical allusions, and its evidence of Roman prestige and   
   authority at the end of the first century, but also as a model of the   
   pastoral   
   letter and a homily on Christian life. It established the instance of the   
   bishop   
   of Rome intervening authoritatively this early in the life of the Church as   
   the   
   pre-eminent authority in the affairs of another apostolic church to settle a   
   dispute. It also provides evidence for the residence and martyrdom of Peter   
   and   
   Paul at Rome.   
      
   The letter was well-received by the Corinthians, who for many years used to   
   have   
   it read out in their religious assemblies. Another letter (really a sermon)   
   and   
   other writings bore Clement's name, but it is now known that they are not   
   his.   
   On the strength of the authentic letter to the Corinthians, Clement is   
   accounted   
   the first of the Apostolic Fathers.   
      
   Nothing of his martyrdom or place of death are known. His death may have   
   occurred in exile in the Crimea, but the relics that Saint Cyril brought   
   from   
   there to Rome, after having supposedly miraculously recovered them piece by   
   piece, with the anchor, are unlikely to have been his. These were deposited   
   below the altar of San Clemente on the Coelian.   
      
   He is the patron saint of the Guild, Fraternity, and Brotherhood of the Most   
   Glorious and Undivided Trinity of London, i.e., "Trinity House," which was   
   formerly called St. Clement's, and is the authority responsible for   
   lighthouses   
   and lightships. The legend of his watery martyrdom has also led to such   
   marine   
   dedications as St. Clement's Isle in Mount's Bay (Attwater, Benedictines,   
   Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, White).   
      
   In art, Saint Clement can be recognized as a pope with an anchor and fish.   
   Sometimes there is an addition of (1) a millstone; (2) keys; (3) a fountain   
   that   
   sprung forth at his prayers; or (4) with a book. He might be shown lying in   
   a   
   temple in the sea (Roeder).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Do not desire crosses, unless you have borne well those laid on you; it is   
   an   
   abuse to long after martyrdom while unable to bear an insult patiently.   
   - François de Sales   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   19 And the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into   
   heaven,   
   and sitteth on the right hand of God. 20 But they going forth preached every   
   where: the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that   
   followed.  (Mark 16:14-20)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Daily Renewal of Our Pledge of Love and Loyalty To Christ Our King   
      
      
   Dear Sacred Heart of Jesus, we renew our pledge of love and loyalty to Thee.   
   Keep us always close to Thy loving Heart, and to the most pure Heart of Thy   
   Mother.   
      
   May we love one another more and more each day, forgiving each other's   
   faults as   
   Thou forgivest us our sins. Teach us to see Thee in the members of our   
   family   
   and those we meet outside our home. Please help us keep our love for Thee   
   always   
   strong by frequent Mass and Communion.   
      
   Thank Thee, dear Jesus, King and Friend of our family, for all the blessings   
   of   
   today. Protect us during this night. Help us all to get to Heaven!   
      
   Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come!   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)