[Officium]
St. Clement, Pope and Martyr

[Name]
Clement

[Ant Vespera]
While St. Clement prayed, * there appeared unto him the Lamb of God.;;109
Not for my own merits * hath the Lord sent me unto you, that I may share your crowns.;;110
I saw on the mountain * the Lamb standing, from beneath whose foot flowed a fountain of living waters.;;111
From beneath whose foot * a fountain of living waters flowed forth: the stream of the river that maketh glad the city of God.;;112
All the nations * round about believed in Christ the Lord.;;116

[Ant 1]
Let us all * pray Our Lord Jesus Christ to open a spring for those that own His Name.

[Oratio] (nisi communi Summorum Pontificum)
O God, Who dost gladden us by the yearly Feast-day of thine holy Martyr, Clement mercifully grant unto us who keep their birthday, the strength to imitate their patience under suffering.
$Per Dominum

[Responsory1o]
R. While Holy Clement was at prayer, there appeared unto him the Lamb of God;
* With the river of the water of life proceeding from under His Feet, even that river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God.
V. And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount.
R. With the river of the water of life proceeding from under His Feet, even that river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God.

[Responsory2o]
R. They all said with one voice Holy Clement, pray for us;
* That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
V. For no worthiness of mine own hath the Lord sent me unto you, to become a partaker in your crowns.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

[Responsory3o]
R. Lord, Thou hast given unto thy Martyr Clement a tabernacle in the sea, after the fashion of a temple of marble, builded by the hands of Angels.
* And Thou givest a way thither unto the people on the land, that they may tell of thy marvellous works.
V. Lord, Thou didst give unto thy Saints a way in the sea, and a path through the mighty waters.
R. And Thou gavest a way thither unto the people on the land, that they may tell of thy marvellous works.
&Gloria
R. And Thou gavest a way thither unto the people on the land, that they may tell of thy marvellous works.

[Lectio4]
Clement, the son of Faustinus, was a Roman, from the quarter of the Coelian Mount. He was a disciple of the blessed Peter, and is the same concerning whom Paul saith, writing to the Philippians And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the Gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow-labourers, whose names are written in the book of life. ~(iv. 3.) (He succeeded Cletus as Bishop of Rome.) He it was who divided the seven quarters of the city among seven scribes, one to each, whose duty it was to search out most carefully, and record in writing the sufferings and acts of the Martyrs. He himself also wrote much, and that most orthodox and healthy, whereby he clearly explained the Christian Religion.

[Lectio5]
His teaching and the holiness of his life brought many to believe in Christ, and he was therefore exiled by the Emperor Trajan to Kherson, in the Crimea, where he found two thousand Christians, who had been condemned by the same Trajan. There they all worked in the marble quarries. During their labour they suffered for want of water, and Clement prayed, and then went up an hill hard by, on the top whereof he saw a Lamb standing, touching with its right foot a flowing spring of sweet waters. Therewith they all quenched their thirst, and by this miracle many unbelievers were brought to believe in Christ, and began to honour the holiness of Clement.

[Lectio6]
These things moved Trajan to send a messenger to the Crimea, who tied an anchor about Clement's neck, and cast him into the deep of the sea. After it had been done, while the Christians were praying on the shore, the sea went back three miles, and when they followed it, they found a grotto of marble, in form like a temple, and therein a stone coffin wherein was laid the body of the Martyr, and, hard by, the anchor wherewith he had been sunk. Then were the country people moved to receive the faith of Christ. The body of Clement was afterwards brought to Rome, in the time of Pope Nicholas I, and buried in his own Church. A Church was also built in the Crimea, in the place where God had made the water to break forth. Clement lived as Pope nine years, six months, and six days. He held two Ordinations in the month of December, wherein he made ten Priests, two Deacons, and fifteen Bishops for diverse places.

[Lectio94]
Clement, a Roman and disciple of blessed Peter, assigned each of the seven districts of the City to a notary who was to investigate carefully the sufferings of the Martyrs and their deeds and to write them down. He himself wrote a great deal to explain the Christian religion rightly for the salvation of others. Because he was converting many to the faith of Christ by his teaching, and the holiness of his life, he was exiled by the emperor Trajan to the wilderness near the city of Cherson across the Black Sea. There, he found two thousand Christians who had been similarly condemned by the emperor. When he had converted many nonbelievers in that region to the faith of Christ, at the command of the same emperor he was cast into the sea with an anchor tied to his neck, and won the crown of martyrdom. His body was later brought to Rome by Pope Nicholas I and honorably buried in the Church which had already been dedicated to him.
&teDeum

[Lectio7] (rubrica tridentina)
The Lesson is taken from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew (xxiv, 42)
At that time, Jesus said unto His disciples: Watch, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. And so on.
_
Homily by St. Hilary, Bishop (of Poitiers)
!Comment. on Matth. chap. 26
To the end that we may know that our ignorance of that day whereof no man knoweth is not without use, the Lord moveth us to watch for the coming of the thief, to be ever instant in prayer, and ever busy in such works as He commandeth. He showeth how that the devil is that thief who watcheth ever how he may spoil our goods, breaking into the house of our body; that, while we are dwelling therein careless and heavy with sleep, he may dig through our walls with the arms of his craft and temptations. Us, therefore, it behoveth to be ready, who have ever our ignorance concerning that day to be unto us a reason of watchfulness.

[Lectio8] (rubrica tridentina)
!Chap. 27
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over His household?” Although the Lord doth move us all in common to weary not in carefulness and watching, He layeth more especially upon the rulers of His people, that is, the Bishops, this duty, to look always for His coming. For such an one is that faithful and wise servant, made ruler over his Lord's household, who ever seeketh such things as be convenient and useful for the people unto him committed. Such an one, if he hear this word, and do that which he is commanded, that is, if he strengthen by seasonable and sound doctrine such things as be weak, if he bind together that which is sundered, if he make straight again what is become crooked, and give to the household the lively Word which is able to feed them unto life eternal, if such an one do thus, and meanwhile the hour which he knoweth not come upon him, he shall obtain glory of the Lord, as a faithful steward and an useful overseer: that is, he shall have glory with God, for in all things he shall have of that which is best.

[Ant 2]
As he began to move toward the sea * the people cried out with a loud voice: O Lord Jesus Christ, deliver him! And Clement wept, and said: Father, receive my spirit!

[Ant 3]
Lord, * Thou hast given unto thy Martyr Clement a tabernacle in the sea, after the fashion of a temple of marble, builded by the hands of Angels. And Thou givest a way thither unto the people on the land, that they may tell of thy marvellous works.