Saint Clement I of Rome

Clement was the fourth bishop of Rome, at the end of the first century, and he left us something of incalculable value: an authentic letter. He wrote the *Letter to the Corinthians* around the year 96. In the community of Corinth some young men had deposed the presbyters, and the Church of Rome wrote to restore peace. It is the oldest Christian document we have after the New Testament, and it’s the first time the Church of Rome stepped into the affairs of another community — which is why that text has been debated for centuries. Origen, Eusebius, Epiphanius and Jerome identified him with the co-worker of Paul named in the Letter to the Philippians; today that is believed to have been someone else. Some have also identified him with Titus Flavius Clemens, the consul executed by Domitian, husband of Flavia Domitilla: this too is a hypothesis scholars no longer accept. Tradition has him exiled to Crimea, to the mines, and killed by being thrown into the sea with an anchor around his neck — which is why he is always shown with an anchor. In the ninth century Cyril and Methodius, traveling to Crimea, brought back to Rome some relics they said were his, and laid them in the basilica of San Clemente on the Caelian Hill. Cyril is buried there beside them. If your name is Clement, today is your name day.