Saint Clement of Rome

Clement was the third successor of Saint Peter to the See of Rome, following the less prominent pontificates of Linus and Cletus, both of whom also died as martyrs. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons said of him that he had “seen the Apostles”: “their preaching rang in his ears, their tradition was still before his eyes.” Saint Clement is best known for his Letter to the Corinthians, written around 95 AD, a gentle yet firm exhortation to unity and charity that was read in the Christian assemblies of the early centuries alongside the letters of Saint Paul. This letter concludes with the famous “Great Prayer,” one of the major documents on the liturgy of Antiquity. Saint Clement’s name is mentioned in the Roman Canon at Mass.
On this icon, the holy martyr pope is clothed in episcopal vestments, a white chasuble scattered with blue crosses, and the omophorion, a kind of long wool scarf adorned with crosses, the distinctive sign of bishops. He wears a gray beard and the clerical tonsure. In his left hand, he holds the book of the