By Fr. George Dorbarakis
The blessed and wise Clement was a Roman, descended from a royal lineage, the son of Faustus and Matthidia, and he acquired all the education of Greek knowledge. When he was once saved in a paradoxical way from a shipwreck and happened to meet the foremost of the Apostles, Peter, he was catechized by him in the true faith of Christ. He became a preacher of the gospel and wrote down the Constitutions of the Apostles, at which time he was made Bishop of Rome. However, he was arrested by Domitian and tortured. And because he did not obey his orders, he was exiled to a deserted city, near Kherson. From there again, after they tied an iron anchor to his neck, they threw him into the bottom of the sea and thus came his end.
The God of miraculous things, however, glorifying His own servant even after death, performed a great and enormous supernatural miracle. That is, from the time he was thrown into the sea, the water of the sea receded three miles every year on his commemoration day and became dry land, which welcomed those who went there for seven days, at the specific point where he was cast. This miracle created joy in those who hoped in the Lord. Once, when the sea receded again and the people entered the revealed dry land, it happened that a little child was abandoned in that place, as his parents forgot him. As soon as they realized it, the waters of the sea had returned to their place, so they raised lamentations and wailing throughout the city. The following year, when the wave had subsided again, the parents went and found their child healthy, sitting by the larnax of the Saint. When they asked what and how it had happened, they learned from their child that he was being fed by the Saint who was there, who also protected him from the harm of the fish. Full of joy, they took their child, thanked the Saint in the appropriate way and departed for their home, praising God for this miracle of His.
With Saint Clement (92-101 AD) we are transported to the climate of the apostolic era. A disciple and successor of the Apostle Peter, Clement is considered one of the Apostolic Fathers of the Church, those who were fortunate enough to learn at their feet and even become the continuers of their work and ministry. Although the dominant tradition of our Church is that he was the third Bishop of Rome, after Saints Linus and Anecletus (this is what Saint Irenaeus of Lyons tells us), the Hymnographer of the Service, Saint Joseph, follows another tradition, based on the ecclesiastical writer Tertullian, who claims that Clement succeeded the Apostle Peter in Rome, therefore he was its first bishop. “As a disciple of the foremost Peter, Father, upon this rock you have built a stone, honorable like yourself.” “Peter the Apostle was initiated into the divine mysteries and left a worthy successor."
Whatever the case, however, what is important is the fact that there is indeed a special and close relationship between the Apostle Peter and Saint Clement, which the Hymnographer proclaims with great force, to the extent that he even uses mathematical thought in order to project it. What does Saint Joseph do? Based on the principle of logic that says "things which are equal to the same third thing are also equal to one another," he applies this principle to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostle Peter and Saint Clement, in order to say how blessed by the Lord Himself Saint Clement is. “You were genuinely blessed, O all-wise one, having been a disciple of the Preacher, who in turn was discipled by the Word and who blessed this same one (Peter), because he worthily received a revelation from the Heavenly Father." In other words: Peter was a disciple of the Lord; Clement was a disciple of Peter; the Lord blessed Peter; therefore, the Lord blessed Clement by extension.
However, Saint Clement's acquaintance with the Apostle Peter is not the only evidence, according to the Hymnographer, of his important position in the ecclesiastical firmament. Such a thing would take us outside the Christian tradition. If someone is considered known to the Apostles and therefore important, it is because he also struggled to live according to the faith and life of the Apostles. And this is also established by Saint Joseph: Clement became Bishop of Rome, because his life led him there; he was guided by the Holy Spirit, he entered into the life of the Spirit and thus he understood the Lord Himself, Whom he preached in word and deed constantly, and for Whom he gave his own life. “Into the depths of the Spirit, together with the spirit, O venerable one, you venerably delved, and you understood — insofar as you were capable — the Lord, Who is comprehended only through incomprehensibility, O Most Blessed." And that which confirmed that he was indeed in a sacred way initiated into the things of the Spirit of God, is also his martyrdom: to give his life for the faith of the Lord. As a vine, literally (Clemis is the Greek word for vine), in the vineyard of Christ, which has the grapes of the knowledge of God, after being trodden in the winepress of martyrdom, produced good wine that gladdens the hearts of the faithful. “Jesus the fruitful vine, like a branch, sprouts you forth, O all-blessed one, bearing clusters of knowledge, which in the winepresses of martyrdom gush forth wine that gladdens the hearts of all the faithful."
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
The God of miraculous things, however, glorifying His own servant even after death, performed a great and enormous supernatural miracle. That is, from the time he was thrown into the sea, the water of the sea receded three miles every year on his commemoration day and became dry land, which welcomed those who went there for seven days, at the specific point where he was cast. This miracle created joy in those who hoped in the Lord. Once, when the sea receded again and the people entered the revealed dry land, it happened that a little child was abandoned in that place, as his parents forgot him. As soon as they realized it, the waters of the sea had returned to their place, so they raised lamentations and wailing throughout the city. The following year, when the wave had subsided again, the parents went and found their child healthy, sitting by the larnax of the Saint. When they asked what and how it had happened, they learned from their child that he was being fed by the Saint who was there, who also protected him from the harm of the fish. Full of joy, they took their child, thanked the Saint in the appropriate way and departed for their home, praising God for this miracle of His.
With Saint Clement (92-101 AD) we are transported to the climate of the apostolic era. A disciple and successor of the Apostle Peter, Clement is considered one of the Apostolic Fathers of the Church, those who were fortunate enough to learn at their feet and even become the continuers of their work and ministry. Although the dominant tradition of our Church is that he was the third Bishop of Rome, after Saints Linus and Anecletus (this is what Saint Irenaeus of Lyons tells us), the Hymnographer of the Service, Saint Joseph, follows another tradition, based on the ecclesiastical writer Tertullian, who claims that Clement succeeded the Apostle Peter in Rome, therefore he was its first bishop. “As a disciple of the foremost Peter, Father, upon this rock you have built a stone, honorable like yourself.” “Peter the Apostle was initiated into the divine mysteries and left a worthy successor."
Whatever the case, however, what is important is the fact that there is indeed a special and close relationship between the Apostle Peter and Saint Clement, which the Hymnographer proclaims with great force, to the extent that he even uses mathematical thought in order to project it. What does Saint Joseph do? Based on the principle of logic that says "things which are equal to the same third thing are also equal to one another," he applies this principle to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostle Peter and Saint Clement, in order to say how blessed by the Lord Himself Saint Clement is. “You were genuinely blessed, O all-wise one, having been a disciple of the Preacher, who in turn was discipled by the Word and who blessed this same one (Peter), because he worthily received a revelation from the Heavenly Father." In other words: Peter was a disciple of the Lord; Clement was a disciple of Peter; the Lord blessed Peter; therefore, the Lord blessed Clement by extension.
However, Saint Clement's acquaintance with the Apostle Peter is not the only evidence, according to the Hymnographer, of his important position in the ecclesiastical firmament. Such a thing would take us outside the Christian tradition. If someone is considered known to the Apostles and therefore important, it is because he also struggled to live according to the faith and life of the Apostles. And this is also established by Saint Joseph: Clement became Bishop of Rome, because his life led him there; he was guided by the Holy Spirit, he entered into the life of the Spirit and thus he understood the Lord Himself, Whom he preached in word and deed constantly, and for Whom he gave his own life. “Into the depths of the Spirit, together with the spirit, O venerable one, you venerably delved, and you understood — insofar as you were capable — the Lord, Who is comprehended only through incomprehensibility, O Most Blessed." And that which confirmed that he was indeed in a sacred way initiated into the things of the Spirit of God, is also his martyrdom: to give his life for the faith of the Lord. As a vine, literally (Clemis is the Greek word for vine), in the vineyard of Christ, which has the grapes of the knowledge of God, after being trodden in the winepress of martyrdom, produced good wine that gladdens the hearts of the faithful. “Jesus the fruitful vine, like a branch, sprouts you forth, O all-blessed one, bearing clusters of knowledge, which in the winepresses of martyrdom gush forth wine that gladdens the hearts of all the faithful."
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
