Saint Clement, Pope of Rome in Russia. Having received baptism from the supreme apostle Peter, Saint Clement became his disciple and constant companion

Holy-but-mu-che-nick Kli-ment - apo-table from 70, fourth bishop (pa-pa) of Ri-ma was born in a very noble world -mye, who is related to the im-pera-tor fa-mi-li-ey. Having been separated in childhood from his parents and brothers, he grew up among other people. Like all noble Roman youths, Clement received a brilliant education, but secular things did not captivate him -li. As soon as he became fully-fledged, he leaves for the Holy Land, in Pa-les-sti-nu, where Christ lived and suffered. and his apostles propagate - this is where the young Kli-ment is drawn.

Arriving in Aleksandriya, he listens to the teachings of the good news and the state of grief -We believe in the new teaching. After some time, Cli-ment in his country meets the apo-sto-la, at-ni-ma receives Holy Baptism from him, and becomes one of his closest disciples (). The Evangelical prophecy helped Kli-men miraculously re-establish his family, which he believed to be -Gib-shay: among the scholars at the top of the apo-sto-la there are two of his brothers-that-are-near, a little later he comes to ro-di-te-ley. Needless to say that after this the whole family adopted Christianity and began to promote spa-si- body teaching.

Not long before his demise, Apostle Peter ru-co-la-ga-et Kli-men-ta in the episcopate. After the death of St. Peter, and St. , from 92 to 101, the Apostle of Climent appears as the Roman bishop. The good life and holy deeds of Kli-men are a good example for the proud Roman citizens given, many of whom are hundred after Christ. Life ssch-mch. We have kept an example of how one day on the Easter holiday after the Apo-ve-di-apo-sto-la baptism was sra- zu 424 people, among whom were representatives of all Roman classes - from slaves to members of them pe-ra-tor's family.

Obsessed with success-ha-mi hri-sti-an-sko-go hierar-ha, the pagans did not-tell about him to them-per-ra-to-ru Tra- I-well, about-vi-niv the saint in disrespect for the Roman gods. The once-angry im-per-ra-tor orders Kli-men-t to be expelled from the capital, sending him into exile. Many of the scientists of the apo-sto-la followed him in the In-ker-man-skie ka-me-no-lom-ni, on-ho-dya-schi -e-not far from Kher-so-not-sa Ta-vri-che-skogo, before-reading a free link once-lu-ke with spiritual father.

In-ker-man-skie ka-me-no-lom-were not tra-di-tsi-on-the-place of exile Christian-sti-an. The difficult life of the movers was especially difficult because of the lack of drinking water. According to the prayer of the saint Kli-men-ta An-gel of the Lord, who appeared in the form of the Lamb, indicates the place is-exactly-nothing. This miracle attracted many people to Saint Kli-men. Listening to the zealous proclamation, hundreds of pagans turned to Christ. Every day five hundred or more people were baptized. There, in the rocks, there was a temple carved into which he built. In the year 101, the sacred name Cli-ment was killed by order of him-per-ra-to-ra; he was drowned, thrown into the sea with a load around his neck. Kli-ment pro-sla-sya many-gi-mi chu-de-sa-mi, some of which did not stop even after his end- us. According to the prayers of his faithful disciples - Cor-ni-liy and Thebes and all the Christians in the village of Kher-so-ne-sa the sea receded, and they found the imperishable body of their teacher at the bottom, in the uncreated “Angelic” church. After this, every year on the day of the mu-s-the-th-end of Kli-men-ta the sea from-stu-pa-lo and in that For days, people have been praying to the relics of the great lord.

This was how it was until the beginning of the 9th century. At this time, the powers became inaccessible, the sea did not move away. In the early 60s of the 9th century, the mighty ones miraculously appeared on the surface of the sea, this was before -she-stvo-va-la co-bor-naya mo-lit-va Her-so-ness-of-the-spirit-of-ven-ness and the scientists who came to the city -ved-ni-kov - and his brother. Kon-stan-tin-philosopher believed that sch-martyr. The cli-ment is based on his mis-si-o-ner-de-i-tel-no-sti and the cause of the enlightenment of the Slavic on -ro-dov. Some time ago, this really was the case. When, a few years later, the brothers brought to the papal throne translations into the Slavic language and pi-san famous Slavic letters, papa Adrien himself came out to meet them, having learned that they brought to Rome the relics of their holy fellow-father - the apostle Cli-ment. In many bla-go-da-rya with the not-saint relics, the mission of the Mo-Rav-brothers ended successfully: Slavic books were they sanctified by pa-sing, and in the holy city for the first time in divine service next to la-you-new for-the-sound -cha-la Slavic mo-lit-va. It would be just as much of a miracle! In the Western Church at that time there was a dis-pro-country of the so-called “three-lingual” heresy, when only Three languages ​​were considered to be God's servants: ancient non-Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Kon-stan-tin, having arrived in Rome, took his hair as a monk, taking the name Cyril, and soon died. Remembering the merits of the light before the Holy Table. Peter, according to his father Adri-a-na, he is being housed in the church of St. Kli-men-ta.

Having been baptized in Kher-so-nes-se, the prince transferred part of the relics of the martyr. Kli-men-ta (go-lo-wu) and the mighty, his disciples, with him in Ki-ev, living them in the Ten Church in pri-de-le in the name of ssch-martyr. Kli-men-ta. In this way, the power of ssh-mch. Kli-men was the first Christian saint to appear in Russia. This is what brought you to his exceptional popularity on Russian soil.

From the beginning of the process of ka-no-za-tion of the Russian holy-si-tu-a-tion from-me: the most- Nowadays, we are a hundred Russians in movement and mu-che-ni-ki.

After the closure of the Kli-men-tov-church in 1935, a branch of the Russian State Library was located there. those that, most likely, the same can be considered not a random coincidence. According to the kro-vi-tel-stvu-slav-slavic books, Cli-ment kept churches under his temples books from monastery and private collections. Haven't the years caused any significant damage to the building of the temple and its preserved for-bo-ta-mi with-work-ni-kov bib-lio-te-ki.

The reason for writing the Epistle to the Corinthians was the divisions and disputes that arose in the Corinthian church. Even in the time of the apostles, as can be seen from the 1st Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, a false direction appeared in this church among some of its members, who exalted themselves in their wisdom, who too highly valued extraordinary spiritual gifts and external deeds of piety at the expense of true Christian love and holiness...

In the glorious and great ancient city of Rome there lived a man of noble origin named Faustus, who came from a line of ancient Roman kings. He had a wife named Matthidia, also royal origin and was related to the Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius 1. The husband and wife were zealous pagans and worshiped idols. They first had two twin sons, one of whom was named Favstinus, and the other Favstinian; then a third son was born, who was given the name Clement.

Faustus had a brother, an evil and immoral man. Seeing the beauty of Matfidia, he was seduced by her and began to tempt her to sin; but she, being very chaste, did not want to violate her fidelity to her husband and dishonor the dignity of her noble family by desecrating the bed; Therefore, she tried with all her might to remove the seducer from herself.

Not wanting to clearly expose him, she did not tell anyone about this, not even her husband, fearing that bad rumors would spread about them and their house would be dishonored. But Favsta's brother for a long time with requests and threats he forced her to submit to his unclean desires. Matfidia, seeing that she was unable to get rid of his persecution unless she avoided meeting with him, decided on the following.

One morning she addressed her husband with the following speech: “I saw a wondrous dream this night, my lord: I saw a venerable and old husband, as if one of the gods, who said to me: if you and your twin sons do not leave Rome for ten years, then together with them you will die painfully and sudden death».

Hearing these words, Favst was surprised, thought a lot about it and decided to let her and her two sons leave Rome for ten years, reasoning: “It is better if my beloved wife and children live in a foreign country than die a sudden death here.”

Having equipped the ship and stocked up with everything necessary for food, he sent her with her two sons Favstin and Favstinian to the Greek country, to Athens. He sent with them many male and female slaves and provided them with large property, ordering Matthidia to send her sons to study Greek wisdom in Athens.

So they parted with each other with inexpressible regret and tears. Matthidia set sail with her two sons in the ship, while Faustus and his youngest son Clement remained in Rome.

When Matthidia was sailing on the sea, a strong storm broke out on the sea and great excitement arose; the ship was carried by waves and wind to an unknown country, at midnight it was broken, and everyone drowned. Matfidia, carried by stormy waves, was thrown onto the rocks of an island, not far from the Asian country 2. And she cried inconsolably for her drowned children, out of bitter sadness she even wanted to throw herself into the sea, but the inhabitants of that country, seeing her naked, screaming and moaning loudly, took pity on her, took her to their city and clothed her.

Some strange-loving women came to her and began to console her in her grief; each of them began to tell her everything that had happened and the unfortunate things in their lives, and with their sympathy they somewhat eased her sadness.

One of them said at the same time: “My husband was a shipbuilder; While still very young, he drowned in the sea, and I was left a young widow; many wanted to marry me, but I, loving my husband and not being able to forget him even after his death, decided to remain a widow. If you want, then stay in my house and live with me, you and I will feed ourselves by our labors.”

Matfidia followed her advice, and, settling in her house, earned food for herself through her labors and remained in this position for twenty-four years.

Her children Favstin and Favstinian, after the shipwreck, by the will of God, also remained alive; thrown ashore, they were seen by those who were there sea ​​robbers, who took them in their boat, brought them to Caesarea Stratonia 3 and sold them here to a woman named Justus, who raised them instead of children and sent them to school.

In this way they learned various pagan sciences, but then, having heard the Gospel sermon about Christ, they accepted holy baptism and followed the Apostle Peter.

Faustus, their father, living in Rome with Clement and not knowing anything about the disasters that befell his wife and children, after a year sent some slaves to Athens to find out how his wife and children lived, and sent with them many different things; but his servants did not return. In the third year, Faustus, not receiving any news about his wife and children, became very sad and sent other slaves with everything necessary to Athens.

Arriving there, they found no one, and in the fourth year they returned to Faustus and told him that they could not find their mistress at all in Athens, for no one had even heard of her there, and they could not get on her trail, since no one they couldn’t find any of their own. Hearing all this, Favst became even more saddened and began to cry bitterly. He visited all the seaside towns and piers in the Roman country, asking the shipmen about his wife and her children, but did not learn anything from anyone.

Then, having built a ship and taking with him several slaves and some property, he set off to look for his girlfriend and kind children, and left his youngest son Clement with his faithful slaves at home to study the sciences. He walked almost the entire universe both by land and by sea, looking for his relatives for many years and not finding them.

Finally, already despairing of even seeing them, he gave himself up to deep sorrow, so that he did not even want to return home, considering it a heavy burden to enjoy the blessings of this world without his beloved wife, for whom he had great love for her chastity. Having rejected all the honors and glory of this world, he wandered through foreign countries like a beggar, not revealing to anyone who he was.

Meanwhile, the youth Clement came of age and studied everything well philosophical teachings. Despite all this, having neither father nor mother, he was always in sadness. Meanwhile, he was already twenty-four years old since his mother left home, and twenty years since his father disappeared.

Having lost hope that they were alive, Clement grieved for them as if they were dead. At the same time, he also remembered his death, since he knew well that anyone can die; but, not knowing where he would be after death and whether there was another life after this short life or not, he always cried and did not want to be consoled by any pleasures and joys of the world.

At this time, Clement, having heard about the coming of Christ into the world, began to strive to find out about it reliably. He happened to talk with one prudent man, who told him how the Son of God came to Judea, giving eternal life to everyone who would do the will of the Father who sent Him. Hearing about this, Clement was inflamed with an extraordinary desire to learn more about Christ and His teaching.

To do this, he decided to go to Judea, where the gospel of Christ was spreading. Leaving his home and large estate, he took with him faithful slaves and a sufficient amount of gold, boarded a ship and sailed to the land of Judea. Due to a storm that broke out at sea, he was carried by the wind to Alexandria and there he found the Apostle Barnabas, 4 whose teaching about Christ he listened to with pleasure. Then he sailed to Caesarea Stratonia and found Saint Apostle Peter. Having received holy baptism from him, he followed him with other disciples, among whom were his two brothers, the twins Favstin and Favstinian.

But Clement did not recognize them, just as his brothers did not recognize him, because they were very young when they separated and did not remember each other. Peter, going to Syria, sent Favstin and Favstinian ahead of him, but left Clement with him and together with him boarded a ship and sailed across the sea.

As they sailed, the apostle asked Clement about his origin. Then Clement told him in detail: what his origin was and how his mother, under the influence of a dream, went to Rome with two young sons, how his father, after four years, went to look for them and did not return; To this he added the fact that twenty years have passed since he knows nothing about his relatives, why he thinks that his parents and brothers are dead. Peter, having listened to his story, was touched.

Meanwhile, at the discretion of God, the ship landed on the island where Clement’s mother, Matfilia, was located. When some left the ship to buy in the city what they needed for everyday needs, Peter also left, but Clement remained on the ship.

Heading towards the city, Peter saw an old woman sitting at the gate and asking for alms; it was Matfidia, who could no longer feed on her labors due to weakness of her hands, and therefore asked for alms to feed herself and another old woman who accepted her into her home, who was also weakened and lay sick in the house. The Apostle, seeing Matthidia sitting, understood in spirit that this woman was a foreigner, and asked about her fatherland. Sighing heavily, Matfidia shed tears and said: “Oh, woe to me, a stranger, because there is no one in the world poorer and more unhappy than me.”

The Apostle Peter, seeing her severe sorrow and heartfelt tears, began to carefully question her who she was and where she was from?

From a conversation with her, he realized that she was Clement’s mother, and began to console her, saying:

“I know your youngest son Clement: he is in this country.”

Matfidia, hearing about her son, became as if dead from horror and fear; but Peter took her hand and ordered her to follow him to the ship:

“Do not be sad, old lady,” the dear apostle told her, “because now you will find out everything about your son.”

When they were walking to the ship, Clement came out to meet them and, seeing the woman following Peter, was surprised. She, having looked at Clement, immediately recognized him by his resemblance to his father, and asked Peter:

“Isn’t this Clement, my son?”

Peter said:

- They are.

And Matfidia fell on Clement’s neck and began to cry. Clement, not knowing who this woman was and why she was crying, began to push her away from him. Then Peter said to him: “Do not push away, child, who gave birth to you.”

Clement, hearing this, shed tears and fell at her feet, kissing her and crying. And they had great joy, for they found and recognized each other. Peter prayed to God for her and healed her hands. She began to ask the apostle for the healing of the old woman with whom she had settled. The Apostle Peter entered her house and healed the latter; Clement gave her 1000 drachmas 5 as a reward for feeding his mother. Then, taking the mother along with the healed old woman, he led them onto the ship and they sailed away.

Dear Matfidia asked her son about her husband Faustus and, having learned that he had gone to look for her and that there had been no news about him for twenty years, she cried bitterly for him, as if for someone who had died, not hoping to see him alive. Having reached Antandros 6, they left the ship and continued their journey overland.

Having reached Laodicea 7, they were met by Favstin and Favstinian, who arrived there before them. They asked Clement: “Who is this strange woman who is with you with another old woman?”

Clement answered: “My mother, whom I found in a foreign country.”

And he began to tell them in order how long he had not seen his mother and how she left home with two twins.

Hearing this, they realized that Clement was their brother and that woman was their mother, and they cried with great joy, exclaiming: “So this is our mother Matfidia, but you are our brother Clement, for we are the twins Favstin and Favstinian, who came out with my mother from Rome."

Having said this, they threw themselves on each other's necks, cried a lot and kissed kindly. Seeing how the mother rejoiced over the children, whom she unexpectedly found healthy, and telling each other by what destinies of God they were saved from drowning, they glorified God; They grieved only about one thing, that no one knew anything about their father. Then they began to ask the Apostle Peter to baptize their mother.

Early in the morning they came to the sea, the Holy Apostle Peter, in a separate room, performed baptism over Matfidia and the old woman accompanying her in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and, sending her and her sons ahead of him to the dwelling, he himself went another way.

And then on the road he met a handsome man, with a gray beard, poorly dressed, waiting for the Apostle Peter, whom he respectfully greeted:

“I see that you are a foreigner and not a simple person; your very face shows that you are a reasonable person: therefore, I want to talk a little with you.

Peter said to this:

- Speak, sir, if you want.

“I saw you,” he said, “today in a secret place on the shore, praying; Having quietly looked, I walked away and waited for you here for a while, wanting to say that you are in vain bothering yourself with prayer to God, because there is no God either in heaven or on earth, and there is no God’s providence for us, but everything in this world is accidental. Therefore, do not get carried away and do not bother to pray to God, for He does not exist.

Saint Peter, hearing these arguments, said to him:

- Why do you think that everything is not according to God’s design and providence, but happens by chance, and how will you prove that there is no God? If there is no God, then who created the sky and decorated it with stars? Who created the earth and clothed it with flowers?

Hieromartyr Clement of Rome

That man, sighing from the depths of his heart, said:

- I know, sir, partly astronomy, and I served the gods as diligently as anyone else; and I realized that all hopes in God are vain, and there is no God; if there were any God in heaven, he would hear the sighs of those crying, he would listen to the prayers of those praying, he would look at the sorrow of the heart, exhausted from sadness. But since there is no one who would give consolation in sorrows, then I conclude that there is no God. If there was a God, he would hear me, praying and weeping in grief, for, my lord, for twenty years and even more I have been in great sorrow, and how much I prayed to all the gods, how many sacrifices I made to them, how much I shed tears and sobs! and not one of the gods heard me and all my work was in vain.

After this Peter said:

“That’s why you were not heard for so long, because you prayed to many gods, vain and false, and not to the One, True God, in whom we believe and to whom we pray.”

Thus talking with that man and discussing God, Peter realized that he was speaking with Faustus, the husband of Matthidia, the father of Clement and his brothers, and said to him:

- If you want to believe in the One, True God, who created heaven and earth, then now you will see both your wife and children unharmed and healthy.

He responded to this:

- Will my wife and children rise from the dead? I myself learned from the stars and from the wise astrologer Annuvion that both my wife and two of my children drowned in the sea.

Then Peter brought Faustus into his home; when he went up there and saw Matfidia, he was horrified and, looking intently at her in surprise, remained silent. Then he said: “By what miracle did this happen? Who do I see now?” And coming closer, he exclaimed: “Truly my beloved wife is here!”

Immediately, from sudden joy, both became weak, so that they could not speak to each other, for Matfidia also recognized her husband. When the latter came to her senses a little, she said: “Oh, my dear Faust! How were you found alive when we heard that you were dead?

Then there was indescribable joy for everyone and great weeping with joy, because the spouses recognized each other, and the children recognized their parents; and, hugging each other, wept, and rejoiced, and thanked God. And everyone who was there, seeing their unexpected common meeting after a long separation, shed tears and thanked God. Faust fell to the apostle, asking for baptism, because he sincerely believed in the One God, and, being baptized, sent prayers of gratitude to God with tears. Then everyone left from there to Antioch.

When they taught faith in Christ there, the hegemon of Antioch learned everything about Faustus, his wife and children, about their high origin, as well as about their adventures, and immediately sent messengers to Rome to inform the king about everything. The Emperor ordered the hegemon to quickly deliver Faustus and his family to Rome with great honor.

When this was accomplished, the emperor rejoiced at their return, and when he learned everything that had happened to them, he cried for a long time. That same day he held a feast in their honor, and the next day he gave them a lot of money, as well as male and female slaves. And they were held in high esteem by everyone.

Spending their lives in deep piety, giving alms to the poor and in their old age giving everything to the needy, Faustus and Matfidia departed to the Lord.

Their children, when Peter came to Rome, labored in the apostolic teaching, and blessed Clement was even an inseparable disciple of Peter in all his travels and labors and was a zealous preacher of the teachings of Christ. For this, Peter appointed him bishop before his crucifixion, which he suffered from Nero 8.

After the death of the Apostle Peter, and after him Bishop Linus 9 and Bishop Anacletus 10, Pope Clement, during times of unrest and strife in Rome, wisely steered the ship of the Church of Christ 11, which was then outraged by the tormentors, and shepherded the flock of Christ with with great difficulty and patience, being surrounded on all sides, like roaring lions and ravenous wolves, by fierce persecutors who tried to devour and destroy the faith of Christ. Being in such distress, he did not cease to care with great diligence for the salvation of human souls, so that he converted many unfaithful to Christ not only from common people, but even from the royal court, noble and dignified, among whom was a certain dignitary Sisinius and many from the family of King Nerva 12. With his preaching, Saint Clement at one time on Easter converted four hundred and twenty-four people of noble family to Christ and baptized everyone; He dedicated Domitilla, his niece, who was betrothed to Aurelian, the son of the first Roman dignitary, to preserve her virginity. Moreover, he divided Rome among seven scribes so that they would describe the suffering of the martyrs who were then being killed for Christ.

When, through his teachings and works, wonderful deeds and virtuous life, the Church of Christ began to multiply, then the persecutor of the Christian faith, Comite Torkutian, 13, seeing the countless number of those who believed in Christ, taught by Clement, outraged some of the people to rebel against Clement and against the Christians.

There was an unrest among the people, and the rebels came to the eparch of the city, Mamertine, and began to shout how long Clement would humiliate our gods; others, on the contrary, defending Clement, said: “What evil did this man do or what good deed did he not do? No matter whoever was sick came to him, he healed everyone; everyone who came to him with sadness received consolation; He never did harm to anyone, but he did many good deeds to everyone.”

However, all the others, filled with a spirit of hostility, shouted: “He does all this with magic, but eradicates the service of our gods. He does not call Zeus a god, he calls Hercules, our patron, an unclean spirit, he calls honest Aphrodite nothing less than a harlot, he says about the great Vesta that she must be burned; also Athena, Artemis, Hermes; Chronos and Ares blaspheme and dishonor; He constantly dishonors and condemns all our gods and their temples. Therefore, let him either offer a sacrifice to the gods or be punished.”

Then the eparch Mamertine, under the influence of the noise and excitement of the crowd, ordered Saint Clement to be brought to him and began to say to him: “You came from a noble family, as all Roman citizens say, but you were tempted, and therefore they cannot tolerate you and remain silent; it is unknown what kind of God you worship; some new thing called Christ, contrary to our gods. You should abandon all delusion and infatuation and worship the gods whom we worship.”
Saint Clement replied: “I pray for your prudence, listen to me, and not to the crazy words of the rude mob, who are rebelling against me in vain, for although many dogs bark at us, they cannot take away from us what belongs to us; for we are healthy and reasonable people, but they are dogs without reason, barking senselessly for a good cause; unrest and riots always arose from an unreasonable and thoughtless crowd. Therefore, order them first to be silent, so that when silence comes, a reasonable person can speak about the important matter of salvation, so that one can turn to the search for the True God, Whom one must bow to with faith.”
The saint said this and much more, and the eparch did not find any guilt in him, therefore he sent news to King Trajan 14 that the people had rebelled against Clement because of the gods, although there was no sufficient evidence to accuse him. Trajan answered the eparch that Clement must either make a sacrifice to the gods, or be imprisoned in the deserted place of Pontus near Chersonesos 15.

Having received such an answer from the king, Eparch Mamertin regretted Clement and begged him not to choose self-imposed exile, but to make a sacrifice to the gods - and then be free from exile. The saint announced to the eparch that he was not afraid of exile, on the contrary, he desired it even more. Such was the power of grace in the words of Clement, which God gave him, that even the eparch was touched in his soul, cried and said: “May God, whom you serve with all your heart, help you in your exile to which you are condemned.”

And, having prepared the ship and everything necessary, he sent him away.

Together with Saint Clement, many Christians also went into exile, deciding to live better with the shepherd in exile than to remain free without him.

Arriving at the place of imprisonment, Saint Clement found there more than two thousand Christians condemned to hew stones in the mountains. Clement was assigned to the same task. The Christians, seeing Saint Clement, approached him with tears and mournfully, saying:

“Pray for us, Saint, that we may become worthy of the promises of Christ.”

The saint said:

“I am unworthy of such grace from the Lord, who has vouchsafed me only to be a participant in your crown!”

And working with them, Saint Clement consoled them and instructed them useful tips. Having learned that they have a great shortage of water, since they have to fetch water on their shoulders for six races 16, Saint Clement said: “Let us pray to our Lord Jesus Christ that He would open to His followers a source of living water, just as He opened it to the thirsty To Israel in the desert, when he broke the stone and water flowed out; and having received such grace from him, we will rejoice.”

And everyone began to pray. At the end of the prayer, Saint Clement saw a lamb standing in one place and raising one leg, as if showing the place. Clement realized that this was the Lord who had appeared, whom no one could see except him alone, and he went to that place, saying: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, dig in this place.”

And everyone, standing in a circle, began to dig with shovels, but so far there was nothing, since they could not attack the place where the Lamb stood.

After this, Saint Clement took a small shovel and began to dig in the place where the Lamb’s foot stood, and immediately a source of tasty food appeared. clean water; and a whole river was formed from the source.

Then everyone rejoiced, and Saint Clement said: “ River flows make glad the city of God"(Ps. 45:5).

The rumor about this miracle spread throughout the surrounding area; and people began to flock in large numbers to see the river, unexpectedly and miraculously formed through the prayers of the saint, and also to listen to his teachings. Many believed in Christ and were baptized in water by Saint Clement.

So many people came to the saint, and so many turned to Christ, that every day five hundred people or more were baptized.

In one summer, the number of believers increased so much that seventy-five churches were even built, and all the idols were broken, and the temples throughout the country were destroyed, since all the inhabitants accepted the Christian faith.

King Trajan, having learned that countless people in Chersonesus believed in Christ, immediately sent there one dignitary named Aufidian, who upon arrival subjected many Christians to torture and killed many. Seeing that everyone was joyfully going to suffer for Christ, the sent dignitary did not want to torture the people any longer and only Clement tried with all his might to force him to make a sacrifice.

But, finding him unshakable in faith and a strong believer in Christ, he ordered to put him in a boat, take him to the middle of the sea and there, tying an anchor around his neck, throw him into the deepest place of the sea and drown him, so that Christians would not find his body.

When all this happened, the believers stood on the shore and cried heavily. Then his two most faithful disciples, Cornelius and Thebes, said to all Christians: “Let us all pray that the Lord will reveal to us the body of the martyr.”

When the people prayed, the sea retreated from the shore to a distance of three miles, and the people, like the Israelites in the Red Sea, crossed on dry land and found a marble cave like the Church of God, in which the body of the martyr rested, and also found an anchor near it, with which The martyr Clement was drowned.

When the faithful wanted to take the honorable body of the martyr from there, it was revealed to the above-mentioned disciples that his body should be left here, for every year the sea in his memory would recede like this for seven days, giving the opportunity to those who wished to come to worship. And so it was for many years, from the reign of Trajan to the reign of Nicephorus, king of the Greeks 17. Many other miracles happened there through the prayer of the saint, whom the Lord glorified.

Once upon a time the sea usual time opened access to the cave, and many people came to venerate the relics of the holy martyr. A child was accidentally left in the cave, forgotten by his parents when they left. When the sea began to return to its original place and was already covering the cave, everyone who was in it hastened to leave, fearing that the sea would cover them too, and the parents of the abandoned child also hastened to leave, thinking that the child had gone out with the people earlier. Having looked around and looking for him everywhere among the people, they did not find him, and it was no longer possible to return to the cave again, since the sea covered the cave; The parents cried inconsolably and went to their home with great weeping and sorrow.

The next year the sea receded again and the child’s parents came again to venerate the saint. Having entered the cave, they found the child alive and well, sitting at the tomb of the saint. Taking him, his parents, with indescribable joy, asked him how he remained alive.

The child, pointing his finger at the tomb of the martyr, said: “This saint kept me alive, fed me, and drove away all the horrors of the sea from me.”

Then there was great joy among the parents and among the people who came to the holiday, and everyone glorified God and His saint.

During the reign of Nicephorus, king of the Greeks, on the feast day of St. Clement, the sea did not recede, as had happened in previous years, and it remained like this for fifty years or more. When blessed George became bishop in Chersonesus, he greatly grieved that the sea did not recede and the relics of such a great saint of God were, as it were, hidden, covered with water.

During his administration of the diocese, two Christian teachers Methodius and Constantine the philosopher, who was later named Cyril 18, came to Kherson; they were heading to preach to the Khazars 19 and on the way they asked about the relics of St. Clement; Having learned that they were at sea, these two church teachers began to encourage Bishop George to discover a spiritual treasure - the relics of the holy martyr.

Bishop George, prompted by his teachers, went to Constantinople and told everything to the then reigning Emperor Michael III 20, as well as to His Holiness Patriarch Ignatius 21. The king and patriarch sent with him selected men and the entire clergy of St. Sophia 22.

Arriving in Chersonesus, the bishop gathered all the people, and with psalms and singing everyone went to the seashore, hoping to get what they wanted, but the water did not part.

When the sun set and they boarded the ship, suddenly, in the midst of the midnight darkness, the sea was illuminated with light: first the head appeared, and then all the relics of Saint Clement came out of the water. The saints, reverently taking them, put them on the ship and, solemnly carrying them into the city, placed them in the church.

When the holy liturgy began, many miracles happened: the blind were despised, the lame and all sorts of sick people received healing, and the possessed were freed from demons, through the prayers of Saint Clement, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Him be glory forever. Amen 23.

1 Octavian Augustus - the 1st Roman emperor after the destruction of the republic in Rome, reigned from 30 A.D. to 14th A.D. Tiberius, his stepson, reigned from 14th to 37th A.D.; During his reign, our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross.

2 Asia was the name given by the Romans to a province located in what is now Asia Minor (Anatolian Peninsula), along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea it included several cities with their regions; Pergamum was considered its capital.

3 Cities named Caesarea or Caesarea in ancient times there were many. The name Caesarea of ​​Stratonia must mean a Palestinian city on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, better known as Caesarea of ​​Palestine. This city was built by the Jewish king Herod on the site ancient city Straton and named Caesarea in honor of Caesar Augustus (Roman Emperor Octavius ​​Augustus). Currently, there are only ruins on its site, covered with wild plants.

4 The Apostle Barnabas is one of the seventy. His memory is celebrated on June 11.

5 Drachma is an ancient Greek weight and silver coin valued at 21 kopecks.

6 Antandros is a city on the Gulf of Adramyta in Mysia, the northwestern region of Asia Minor. The ruins of this ancient city still exist today.

7 Laodicea is the main city of ancient Phrygia in western Asia Minor. The Laodicean church was one of the seven famous churches of Asia Minor mentioned in the Apocalypse. Now only the ruins on one low hill, near the devastated village of Eski-Gissar, serve as a monument to the ancient city. In Church history, Laodicea is known for the council that took place there in the year 365, which left detailed rules regarding the order of Divine services, moral behavior clergy and laity and various vices and errors of that time.

9 The memory of the holy Bishop of Rome Linus (67 - 69), one of the 70 apostles, is celebrated on November 5 and January 4.

10 Saint Anacletus - Bishop of Rome from 79 to 91.

11 Saint Clement the Apostle ruled the Roman Church from 91 to 100.

12 Nerva was a Roman emperor who reigned from 96 to 98 AD.

13 The Romans called comitae (a Latin word) the employees and retinue of the rulers of the province.

14 Trajan was a Roman emperor from 98 to 117.

15 Chersonesos is a city in Tauris, the Black Sea peninsula (now Crimea); was located near present-day Sevastopol. In it, the Russian prince, Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir, accepted the Christian faith.

16 Field - originally - a lists, a place for competitions; then this word began to mean the same thing as stages, i.e. a measure of length of 125 steps.

17 The Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros reigned from 802 to 811.

18 Saints Methodius and Cyril are famous educators of the Slavs.

19 The Khazars are a people of Turkmen origin who lived near the Caspian Sea in the lower reaches of the Volga and in the Ciscaucasia. They were partly pagans, partly Mohammedans, and partly professed the Jewish faith.

20 Byzantine Emperor Michael III reigned from 855 to 867.

21 Saint Ignatius ruled the Church of Constantinople from 847 to 857, then after Photius from 867 to 877.

22 Hagia Sophia is the cathedral church of Constantinople.

23 — It is known that Saints Cyril and Methodius took part of the relics of Saint Clement with them and sent them to Rome under Pope Adrian II (867); nevertheless, the body of the saint, together with the venerable head, remained in Chersonesos until the time when this city was taken by the Russian Grand Duke, Saint Vladimir. The latter, having received holy baptism in Chersonesus, took with him the relics of Saint Clement “for his blessing and for the sanctification of all people” and placed them in the Kyiv Tithe Church Holy Mother of God.

Here the relics of the holy martyr were located before the Tatar invasion. Where these relics were given during the Tatar invasion, whether they were hidden by believers or transferred to another place, is unknown. Only its holy head rests in a glass vessel and now in the distant caves of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and to this day is famous for its abundant myrrh flow. Also, particles of the holy relics of Clement are located in one altar cross of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, in St. Petersburg.

Akathist to the Hieromartyr Clement

Kontakion 1

Come, faithfully, let us praise the venerable martyr Clement, chosen by the hierarchs of the Western Christian country, with songs, glorifying his wonderful faith and love for Christ; let us strive to imitate the saint of God and unfeignedly cry to him: Rejoice, all-blessed Clement, God-bearing hieromartyr.

Ikos 1

Preparing for you, as a chosen vessel, the Almighty Lord laid down, holy martyr Clement, many sorrows from your younger days; Your honorable mother Matfidia, preserving the holiness of marriage and fleeing the impurities of an evil man, departed for the Greek country with two children, leaving you, the youngest, in the care of your father Faustus. Blessing your parents and remembering your motherless life, we say to you: Rejoice, vine of divine grapes; Rejoice, for thou art the fruitful fig tree that has flourished; Rejoice, olive tree is fruitful; Rejoice, temple of the Divine Spirit; Rejoice, thou who has ascended to the mountain of divine virtues; Rejoice, cup of wisdom, flowing salvation to our souls; Rejoice, having brought many to Christ through divine teachings; Rejoice, evangelist of the faith of Christ. Rejoice, all-blessed Clement, God-bearing Hieromartyr.

Kontakion 2

There were days when your mother was sailing on the sea; a green storm arose and great excitement; and the former ship was carried by waves and wind into an unknown country, the ship perished at midnight and all melted down, but your mother Matfidia was swept away from the windy waves, was cast onto a stone and found salvation on the shore of the Asian country. Glorifying the All-Merciful God, who preserved your holy mother for consolation, we cry to Him: Alleluia.

Ikos 2

Not knowing anything about the troubles that happened to Matfidia and her children, her husband prepared a ship and took little property, and went himself to collect his friends and dear children; Leave the youngest one in the house to study books. Blessing your orphanhood, Hieromartyr of Christ, we say to you: Rejoice, bright-giving sun of the West; Rejoice, fire of abstinence, burning desire of passions; Rejoice, for myrrh and frankincense are fragrant in the courts of the Lord; Rejoice, pillar of piety; Rejoice, chosen vessel of Christ's grace; Rejoice, temple of the Divine Spirit; Rejoice, dawn, shining brightly upon the Christian world; Rejoice, cup of wisdom, flowing salvation to our souls. Rejoice, all-blessed Clement, God-bearing Hieromartyr.

Kontakion 3

Having come to a perfect age and having learned all the philosophical teachings well, seeing that there is no father or mother, you are sad, servant of God, and do not want to be consoled. Let you speak with a certain wise man, who said that the Son of God had come to earth, preaching eternal life to everyone and promising unspeakable blessings in the world to come to everyone who listened to Him. Hearing this, you were inflamed with an inexpressible desire to learn more about Christ, so that you could eat wisely to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 3

For this reason, you left your home, O holy saint of God, and you intended to go to Judea, where you would expand the piety of Christ. Having been in a turbulence at sea and carried by the wind to Alexandria, you found there the holy Apostle Barnabas, who was instructed by him, you flowed to Caesarea of ​​Stratonia and found there the holy Apostle Peter; and having been baptized by him, you followed him with the rest of the disciples, including you and your two brothers. For this reason we call to you: Rejoice, shaking off pagan atheism; Rejoice, thou who has ascended to the mountain of divine virtues; Rejoice, faithful disciple of the Supreme Apostle Peter; Rejoice, for from him you have acquired Divine knowledge; Rejoice, enlightened by the teachings of the great Apostle; Rejoice, thou who shone upon this all-validated stone; Rejoice, having revealed the fruits of the teachings of Christ; Rejoice, having enlightened many with your godly lips. Rejoice, all-blessed Clement, God-bearing Hieromartyr.

Kontakion 4

Swimming across the sea, the Apostle Peter asked you, Saint Clement, about your family, and listening to your story, was touched by your love for your parents. It happened, according to God’s design, that the ship landed on a certain island; When the holy apostle went to the shore of the city, he found a certain old woman asking for alms, and, realizing by the Spirit that his mother was his disciple, I brought her to you; You, having taken away the one who gave birth to you, shed tears, fell at her feet, kissing and crying. Triumphing this great joy of yours, we say with tenderness to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 4

You will find your honest mother, the good shepherd of Christ and His follower, you begged the Holy Apostle Peter to baptize her; and, going very early to the sea, in a hidden place the Apostle baptized Matthidia in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; and having sent my children before me to the vital room, I myself went a different way. Praising your filial love, we call: Rejoice, thou who strivest to enlighten thy mother in the name of Christ; Rejoice, vine of divine grapes; Rejoice, red rose, bearing the clusters of dogmas; Rejoice, having revealed the fruits of the teachings of Christ; Rejoice, enlightener of the dogmas faithful to the dawn; Rejoice, dripping the wine of saving divine knowledge; Rejoice, shaking off pagan atheism; Rejoice, having received the crown of torment for the Triune God. Rejoice, all-blessed Clement, God-bearing priest and martyr.

Kontakion 5

Having seen the holy baptism of your mother Matthidia, a certain honest man, kindly greeting the Supreme Apostle Peter, said to him: I want to have a little conversation with you. Peter said: Speak, sir! And I talked to him with that man for a long hour and hid about God, but the apostle recognized him as Faustus, and brought him to Matfidia and her children. Then there was unspeakable joy for everyone and much weeping for joy. For this reason, thanking God, preserving pious parents and children, we call: Alleluia.

Ikos 5

Upon accidentally finding a friend from his childhood, honest Faustus shed tears, thanking God, and little by little, talking with you, God-bearing martyr, he fell before the apostle, asking for baptism, believing beyond doubt in the One God. We, rejoicing because you brought your apostle and father to Christ, we say with emotion: Rejoice, you who practiced the apostolic teaching; Rejoice, successor to the apostolic throne; rejoice, new Petre, shine with your apostolic gifts; rejoice, sacred teachings descriptor; Rejoice, second to Moses, who set forth the divine laws to everyone; Rejoice, having brought many to Christ through divine teachings; Rejoice, as you are the lawgiver and teacher of the imams; Rejoice, cup of wisdom, flowing salvation to our souls. Rejoice, all-blessed Clement, God-bearing Hieromartyr.

Kontakion 6

Having taken Christ crucified and received holy baptism, your parents, blessed, returned to Rome, and lived very piously, doing many alms. You were an inseparable disciple of Peter, and you appeared as a preacher of all his paths and the gospel of Christ; and for this sake, appoint a bishop before your crucifixion from Nero. For this reason, Almighty God, who arranges such a thing, let us say: Alleluia.

Ikos 6

Having passed away, the holy Apostle Peter and after him Bishop Linus and Clitus, the Hieromartyr, were the helmsman of the Roman Church, steering the good ship of the Church of Christ in the midst of excitement and storm, even then it was indignant from the tormentors. For this reason, we praise you, servant of God, here: Rejoice, great faster; Rejoice, fire of abstinence, burning desire of passions; Rejoice, adorned with the righteous crown of martyrdom; Rejoice, thou who by the sweat of thy labors quenched the furnace of delusion; Rejoice, for through your prayers the demons were driven away; Rejoice, for from your crayfish streams of healing flow; Rejoice, for through your prayers the Lord gives sight to the blind; Rejoice, praise of the martyrs. Rejoice, all-blessed Clement, God-bearing Hieromartyr.

Kontakion 7

Shepherding the flock of Christ with much labor and patience, surrounded by you from everywhere, like roaring lions and ravenous wolves, fierce persecutors, seeking to devour you and consume the faith of Christ, you, blessed one, were constantly concerned with much diligence for the salvation of the souls of men and many unfaithful people You turned to Christ. Glorifying your labors and illnesses, we say the verb that helps God: Alleluia.

Ikos 7

I work for you in the field of Christ, and with hatred I have inspired some people to rebel against you, the successor of the apostles, and slander you, as if you are humiliating the gods of the pagans. Blessing you, as you have endured troubles and persecution for the Church of Christ, we say to you with love: Rejoice, having brought many to Christ through divine teachings; Rejoice, new Peter, shining with your apostolic gifts; Rejoice, creator of churches for the glory of the Holy Trinity; Rejoice, successor to the apostolic throne; Rejoice, having multiplied the Church of Christ through teaching, works, miracles and virtuous living; Rejoice, you who suffered for the name of Christ; Rejoice, having revealed the fruits of the teachings of Christ; Rejoice, describer of the deeds of the holy martyrs who were beaten for Christ. Rejoice, all-blessed Clement, God-bearing Hieromartyr.

Kontakion 8

Not tolerating the rumors and rebellion of people, the city eparch commanded to bring you to himself and began to say: You came from a noble root, but you were deceived, and unknown to you you honor a new God, a certain, spoken Christ, opposed to our God. But you, most glorious Clemente, answered him: One; I know the true God the Father and I worship Him with the Consubstantial Son and the Holy Spirit and sing: Alleluia.

Ikos 8

The one who says so much about God the Almighty, do not find in you the eparchs of guilt and the ambassador of the news to King Trajan, proclaiming about you, confessor of Christ, as if the people of the gods have risen up against you for your sake and will not stop crying out; Otherwise, true testimony is not obtained. Rejoicing at the shame of your slanderers, we call to you: Rejoice, evangelist of the faith of Christ; Rejoice, softening the heart of the formidable eparch; Rejoice, denouncer of idolatry's wickedness; Rejoice, shamer of slanderers; Rejoice, thou who did not fear the terrible judgment of the Roman king; Rejoice, having brought down the enemy of Christ to condemnation; Rejoice, having received the crown of torment for the Triune God; Rejoice, creator of churches for the glory of the Holy Trinity. Rejoice, all-blessed Clement, God-bearing Hieromartyr.

Kontakion 9

King Trajan heard about you, as the evangelist of a God unknown to him, and wrote to the eparch: either God will make a sacrifice to idols, or you will be sent to imprisonment in an empty place near Chersonis. Having received this answer, the eparch prayed to you, may you not choose that self-imposed exile, but may you be devoured by God and you will be free. But you, Saint Clement, informed your eparch that you are not afraid of his expulsion and in every place you will preach the gospel of Christ and sing to Him: Alleluia.

Ikos 9

Your words, God-bearing Clement, touched the eparch and made her cry, saying to you: God, whom you serve with all your heart, will help you in exile, for whom you are condemned. Praising you like Peter, the stone of faith, we joyfully say: Rejoice, you who disobeyed the ungodly command of the king, rejoice, you who accepted exile for Christ; Rejoice, you who preferred to endure imprisonment rather than live in freedom without the light of Christ; Rejoice, adorned with the righteous crown of martyrdom; Rejoice, exile for the apostolic faith; Rejoice, touching enemy of Christ's Church; Rejoice, sufferer for the name of Christ; Rejoice, we accompany you to imprisonment with many from the faithful. Rejoice, all-blessed Clement, God-bearing Hieromartyr.

Kontakion 10

I reached, holy one, the place where you were condemned to imprisonment, now called God-protected Inkerman, you found there more than two thousand Christians, condemned to hewing stone in these mountains; and you were assigned to this with them. In such inscrutable ways the Lord God sends gracious consolation to those imprisoned, so that we too may be trustworthy in our sorrows, and may we sing to Him with a pure heart: Alleluia.

Ikos 10

Having seen the inkermanship of the new cohabitant and the hierarch, the saint of God, leading you, they all unanimously approached you with tears and sighs, saying: pray for us, Saint, that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ. You said to them: I am not worthy of such my Lord of grace, as I was worthy to be a partaker of your crown; and working with them, consoling and affirming them with useful words. For this reason, we say to you, servant of God, Rejoice, teacher of Christian humility; Rejoice, pillar of piety; Rejoice, having enlightened many with your God-wise lips; Rejoice, Comforter of those in captivity; Rejoice, you have wonderfully opened water to quench the thirst of prisoners; Rejoice, you baptized many converted to Christ in those waters; Rejoice, you brought with you a new source of living waters; Rejoice, for through you the whole country of Inkerman accepted the holy faith. Rejoice, all-blessed Clement, God-bearing Hieromartyr.

Kontakion 11

Having led Trajan Caesar, as in Inkerman many people believed in Christ, the ambassador of a certain hegemon to that country, who came and killed many Christians; He ordered you, the most glorious saint of God, to be put in a boat and taken to the middle of the sea, and there, tying the kotva to your neck, throw it into the depths and drown, so that Christians do not find your body. Receiving this crown of martyrdom, as usual, with a tender soul, you sang to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 11

I was drowned by you, holy martyr Clement, standing faithfully on the breeze, weeping with great tears; Therefore, your disciples Cornelius and Thebes said to the people: let us pray with one accord, that the Lord will show us the venerable body of His martyr. I pray to the people, give up your bowels to the sea and show your body; To those who want to be faithful, the honorable martyr’s body was taken from there, as a revelation to the disciple, so that your body may be left to be there, as every summer there is such a sea of ​​retreat, giving the way to those who want to come to worship. For this reason we bless you: Rejoice, evangelist of the faith of Christ; Rejoice, trampler of idols; Rejoice, you who alone suffered for many; Rejoice, having received the crown of torment for the Triune God; Rejoice, mourned by the great lamentation of the pious; Rejoice, glorified by God; Rejoice, for through you unspeakable miracles are accomplished; Rejoice, dawn, shining brightly upon the Christian world. Rejoice, all-blessed Clement, God-bearing Hieromartyr.

Kontakion 12

To the reigning Nicephorus, king of the Greeks, your memory has come ripe, to the holy hierarch Father Clement, do not the sea recede, as it has in all the past years; and you will be up to fifty years old and older. When the blessed Bishop George arrived in Chersonis, he was saddened by this, as the sea did not retreat from the relics of so many saints of God, as if they were hidden under the waters. For this reason, the saint called the people to prayer, so that they might earnestly sing to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 12

In the days of Blessed George, who was a bishop in Chersonis, two Slovenian teachers came to that city, Saints Cyril and Methodius; The saint gathered with them all the faithful people, and went with psalms and songs to the edge of the sea, wanting to receive your body, holy martyr; but the sea did not part. The sun entered the ship, and at midnight the light rose from the sea, and the first head appeared, then all your relics, servant of God. Rejoicing at the discovery of your relics, we praise you, miracle-working saint, as follows: Rejoice, for the chromes walk by you; Rejoice, for through you those who suffer from every ailment are healthy; rejoice, for through your prayers the demons have been driven away; Rejoice, chosen vessel of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; Rejoice, all-blessed Clement, God-bearing Hieromartyr.

Kontakion 13

O all-validated servant of God, Hieromartyr Clement, accept these praises from us who live in the country of your imprisonment, who bless your memory and pray in your name in the monastery, and beg the Most High Lord God to increase faith in us, so that we may always glorify Him, wondrous in His martyrs, psalm songs: Alleluia. (This kontakion was spoken three times. Therefore: ikos 1, kontakion 1.)

Troparion to Clement of Rome, tone 4

From God's miracles / gloriously surprising the universe, the ends of the world, / the holy sufferer, / more than the nature of the sea, you create a division between the waters / in honor of your memory / always flowing diligently into your God-created church / with your miraculous power, / and according to the national movement / the sea into one work miracles, / wonderful Clemente, / pray to Christ God to save our souls.

Kontakion to Clement of Rome, tone 2

The divine grape / sacred vine has appeared to all, / dripping the sweetness of wisdom, / through your prayers, most honorably, / let me crush you like scarlet, / bring a mental song, / Holy Clement, / save your servants.

Prayer to Hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome

O great wonderworker, holy martyr Clement! Bow now to our heartfelt sighs and help us in this temporary life to do everything proposed in the law of God, and to sweep away every sin. You, great ascetic, have endured slander from your youth, suffered many mental illnesses and labors, pray to the Lord God for us, sinners and unworthy servants of God (names), so that through your intercession and intercession the All-Good One will give us, sinners, strength and strength endure human slander and sorrow on earth in complacency, and keep His commandments, so that we glorify the most honorable and magnificent name of the Lord God and His grace given to you forever and ever. Amen

From - October, 27th 2010

By the providence of God, the Crimean land was destined for a special fate in the birth of Christianity and its spread to the northern Slavic countries. An ancient legend tells about the apostolic sermon of Andrew the First-Called. But thirty years later, Saint Clement of Rome remains. Some information about this saint is known from the text itself Holy Scripture. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, mentions Clement among his companions. His name is also found in evidence from the 2nd and 4th centuries.

The Holy Hieromartyr Clement was born in Rome into the family of a senator from the Flavian family. At an early age, he suffered misfortune - all members of his family were separated from each other. He himself was deprived of parental care, but due to the nobility of his origin he received a good education. As Clement grew older, he realized the loss of his loved ones and always walked around sad.

Finding no consolation in his native places, the young man goes on a journey and ends up in Alexandria, where he hears the sermons and teachings of the Apostle Barnabas. He listens to them and the enlightened one goes further - to Caesarea (Asia Minor), where he meets the Apostle Peter. Having been baptized by Peter himself, Clement shares with him all the hardships and deprivations that accompany the apostolic feat. From the hands of the same supreme apostle, Clement received ordination to the Roman See - he became the third bishop of Rome (after Linus and Anacletus) and ruled the church from 92 to 101. The beginning of his ministry coincided with particularly severe persecution of Christians. However, neither the physical destruction of the followers of Jesus Christ, nor the constant danger of dying at the hands of persecutors shook the strong faith and strong courage of the archpastor.

He continues the work of Christ, converting many pagans to Christianity, including noble Romans. The successful sermons of the educated and pious hierarch could not help but anger the emperor, who decides to remove Clement “to eternal exile overseas, to some deserted city adjacent to Chersonesos.” Many Christians also went to distant lands with their archpastor, deciding that it was better to live with a shepherd in exile than to remain free without him.

When the saint-confessor arrived in Chersonesos, he was met by about two thousand Christians who had previously been exiled to these places, where these unfortunates had to work hard, extracting stone for the construction of the buildings of the empire. They complained to Clement about the bitter life in a foreign land, but especially about the lack of water. To quench your thirst after a hard day's work, you had to walk far to the water. After Clement’s sincere and bold prayer, the Lord brought out a source of tasty and clean water from the stone. The rumor about this spread throughout the area. People came to see the miraculous source and hear the gospel message from the lips of a disciple of the apostles themselves. Many were immediately baptized in the waters of the Klimentovsky spring.

The holy life of Clement, his miracles and sermons led to the fact that there were days when up to a hundred people were baptized every day. Less than a year had passed since St. Clement arrived in Crimea, and through his selfless labors the number of followers of Christ increased significantly, with whom idols of pagan gods were overthrown along the entire coast of Crimea, temples were destroyed and temples were built to the glory of the Living True God. There is evidence that about 75 churches were built in Crimea by the hands of the holy exile! In this case, it is necessary, of course, to take into account that in the first centuries of the existence of Christianity, the external and internal decoration of temples was very modest, and just a cave carved out of the rock with a throne carved out of stone was already considered a temple, but in it, as in any other temple , the main thing was accomplished - service to God.

Today, near the bay on the top of a mountain ledge, the remains of the ancient fortress of Kalamita and cave city Inkerman, and at the foot of the mountain nestled a monastery that arose from cave temple. Ta ancient church and was once carved into the rock by Saint Clement of Rome himself. This cave church has two chapels: in the name of the Apostle Andrew and St. Martin the Confessor - and is actually the oldest church not only in Crimea, but also in Rus'.

Soon, word of the successful missionary activity of Saint Clement reached the Emperor Trajan, and the angry Caesar sent his hegemon Aufidian with orders to stop the further spread of Christianity in the Crimean colony. The tormentor who arrived at the scene subjected the Christians to various tortures, but realized that there were indeed many who believed in Christ and were ready for any torture for his sake. Then all the anger of Aufridian fell upon the main, in his opinion, culprit of the events - St. Clement. On November 25, 101, he suffered severe humiliation and abuse. Tied hand and foot, he was dragged with curses through the streets of Chersonesos, and then, having tied an anchor around his neck, he was thrown into the sea (so that his body would not go to Christians for veneration and worship). Among the witnesses to the death of the holy martyr were his closest disciples Cornelius and Thebes. The fury of the persecutors plunged his honorable remains into the depths of the sea, but God’s Providence judged otherwise: the sea retreated and exposed a rock in the form of a temple, where the relics of the holy martyr rested.

The disciples Cornelius and Phoebus had a revelation not to transfer the relics of the saint, but to leave everything as it was. “And every annual rotation, at the time of the death of the martyr, the sea recedes for 7 days, opening access for those who come to the relics on foot. And this has been happening since that day to this day, denoting the period of memory of the saint in public notice... There, in memory of the martyr, signs and wonders are performed, leading everyone to knowledge and clearly directing them to the truth,” as it is written in one Greek manuscript of the 12th-13th centuries. Many reliable written sources, both Greek, Slavic, and Western, testify that the relics of the holy martyr Clement rested on a small island in what is now the Cossack bay, in a small cave church built “by the hands of angels.” But by the time the Equal-to-the-Apostles teachers Cyril and Methodius arrived in Crimea, heading to preach to the Khazars, the sea had not receded for more than fifty years to open access to the tomb of the saint. Holy brothers miraculously They found the holy relics of Clement of Rome and transferred them to land to the Church of the Holy Apostles ( short story about this event is placed in the eighth chapter of the life of St. Cyril).

It should be added that in 1890 During excavations on an island in Cossack Bay, a small temple was actually discovered, and the location of the island and the fact that it is often flooded sea ​​waves, is quite consistent with the data contained in written sources telling about the relics of St. Clement. The temple discovered by archaeologists in Cossack Bay is apparently the place where the saint’s relics once were and where they were found by Cyril and Methodius. The discovery of the relics had major consequences. The holy brothers took some of them with them, and arriving in 866. to Rome, they handed over the shrine to Pope Adrian II, who solemnly placed it in the Church of St. Mary.

Further in the “Tale of Bygone Years” the following is told about the further fate of the relics of St. Clement: after the baptism in Chersonesus, Prince “Vladimir took the queen and Anastas, and the priests of Korsun (as the Slavs called Chersonesus) with the relics of St. Clement, and Thebes, his disciple, took church vessels and icons for blessing yourself.” It is currently unknown where the bulk of the relics are located. But after restoration in the early 90s of the twentieth century. St. Clement's Inkerman Monastery (near Sevastopol), with the blessing of His Beatitude Vladimir, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine, a particle of the relics of St. Clement was transferred from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra to the newly opened monastery. And a little earlier, in 1992, a particle of the relics of the same saint was transferred to the St. Nicholas Church in Sevastopol. Thus, the Crimean Orthodox once again found a heavenly intercessor and prayer book in the person of the Holy Hieromartyr Clement of Rome, which is confirmed by the presence of his honorable remains again at the very place where the holy sufferer gave up his pure and immaculate soul to God.

November 25, Art. / December 8th New Year

As presented by St. Demetrius of Rostov

In the glorious and great ancient city of Rome there lived a man of noble origin named Faustus, who came from a line of ancient Roman kings. He had a wife named Matfidia, also of royal origin and related to the Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius. The husband and wife were zealous pagans and worshiped idols. They first had two twin sons, one of whom was named Favstinus, and the other Favstinian; then a third son was born, who was given the name Clement.

Faustus had a brother, an evil and immoral man. Seeing the beauty of Matfidia, he was seduced by her and began to tempt her to sin; but she, being very chaste, did not want to violate her fidelity to her husband and dishonor the dignity of her noble family by desecrating the bed; Therefore, she tried with all her might to remove the seducer from herself. Not wanting to clearly expose him, she did not tell anyone about this, not even her husband, fearing that bad rumors would spread about them and their house would be dishonored. But Favsta’s brother for a long time, with requests and threats, forced her to submit to his unclean desire. Matfidia, seeing that she was unable to get rid of his persecution unless she avoided meeting with him, decided on the following.

One morning she addressed her husband with the following speech:

“I saw a wondrous dream this night, my lord: I saw a venerable and old man, as if one of the gods, who told me: if you and your twin sons do not leave Rome for ten years, then together with them you will die painfully and suddenly.” death.

Hearing these words. Faustus was surprised, thought a lot about this and decided to let her and her two sons leave Rome for ten years, reasoning: “It is better if my beloved wife and children live in a foreign country than die a sudden death here.” Having equipped the ship and stocked up with everything necessary for food, he sent her with her two sons Favstin and Favstinian to the Greek country, to Athens. He sent with them many male and female slaves and provided them with large property, ordering Matthidia to send her sons to study Greek wisdom in Athens.

So they parted with each other with inexpressible regret and tears. Matthidia set sail with her two sons in the ship, while Faustus and his youngest son Clement remained in Rome.

When Matthidia was sailing on the sea, a strong storm broke out on the sea and great excitement arose; the ship was carried by waves and wind to an unknown country, at midnight it was broken, and everyone drowned. Matfidia, carried by stormy waves, was thrown onto the rocks of an island, not far from the Asian country2. And she cried inconsolably for her drowned children, out of bitter sadness she even wanted to throw herself into the sea, but the inhabitants of that country, seeing her naked, screaming and moaning loudly, took pity on her, took her to their city and clothed her.

Some strange-loving women came to her and began to console her in her grief; each of them began to tell her everything that had happened and the unfortunate things in their lives, and with their sympathy they somewhat eased her sadness. One of them said:

— My husband was a shipbuilder; While still very young, he drowned in the sea, and I was left a young widow; many wanted to marry me, but I, loving my husband and not being able to forget him even after his death, decided to remain a widow. If you want, then stay in my house and live with me, you and I will feed on our labors.

Matfidia followed her advice, and, settling in her house, earned food for herself through her labors and remained in this position for twenty-four years.

Her children Favstin and Favstinian, after the shipwreck, by the will of God, also remained alive; thrown ashore, they were seen by the sea robbers who were there, who took them into their boat, brought them to Caesarea of ​​Stratonia3 and sold them here to a woman named Juste, who raised them instead of children and sent them to school. In this way they learned various pagan sciences, but then, having heard the Gospel sermon about Christ, they accepted holy baptism and followed the Apostle Peter.

Faustus, their father, living in Rome with Clement and not knowing anything about the disasters that befell his wife and children, after a year sent some slaves to Athens to find out how his wife and children lived, and sent with them many different things; but his servants did not return. In the third year, Faustus, not receiving any news about his wife and children, became very sad and sent other slaves with everything necessary to Athens. Arriving there, they found no one, and in the fourth year they returned to Faustus and told him that they could not find their mistress at all in Athens, for no one had even heard of her there, and they could not get on her trail, since no one they couldn’t find any of their own. Hearing all this, Favst became even more saddened and began to cry bitterly. He visited all the seaside towns and piers in the Roman country, asking the shipmen about his wife and her children, but did not learn anything from anyone. Then, having built a ship and taking with him several slaves and some property, he set off to look for his girlfriend and kind children, and left his youngest son Clement with his faithful slaves at home to study the sciences. He walked almost the entire universe both by land and by sea, looking for his relatives for many years and not finding them. Finally, already despairing of even seeing them, he gave in to deep sorrow, so that he did not even want to return home, considering it a heavy burden to enjoy the blessings of this world without his beloved wife, for whom he had great love for her chastity. Having rejected all the honors and glory of this world, he wandered through foreign countries like a beggar, not revealing to anyone who he was.

Meanwhile, the youth Clement came of age and studied all philosophical teachings well. Despite all this, having neither father nor mother, he was always in sadness. Meanwhile, he was already twenty-four years old since his mother left home, and twenty years since his father disappeared.

Having lost hope that they were alive, Clement grieved for them as if they were dead. At the same time, he also remembered his death, since he knew well that anyone can die; but, not knowing where he would be after death and whether there was another life after this short life or not, he always cried and did not want to be consoled by any pleasures and joys of the world. At this time, Clement, having heard about the coming of Christ into the world, began to strive to find out about it reliably. He happened to talk with one prudent man, who told him how the Son of God came to Judea, giving eternal life to everyone who would do the will of the Father who sent Him. Hearing about this, Clement was inflamed with an extraordinary desire to learn more about Christ and His teaching. To do this, he decided to go to Judea, where the gospel of Christ was spreading. Leaving his home and large estate, he took with him faithful slaves and a sufficient amount of gold, boarded a ship and sailed to the land of Judea. Due to a storm that broke out at sea, he was carried by the wind to Alexandria and there he found the Apostle Barnabas4, whose teaching about Christ he listened to with pleasure. Then he sailed to Caesarea Stratonia and found Saint Apostle Peter. Having received holy baptism from him, he followed him with other disciples, among whom were his two brothers, the twins Favstin and Favstinian. But Clement did not recognize them, just as his brothers did not recognize him, because they were very young when they separated and did not remember each other. Peter, going to Syria, sent Favstin and Favstinian ahead of him, but left Clement with him and together with him boarded a ship and sailed across the sea.

As they sailed, the apostle asked Clement about his origin. Then Clement told him in detail: what his origin was and how his mother, under the influence of a dream, went to Rome with two young sons, how his father, after four years, went to look for them and did not return; To this he added the fact that twenty years have passed since he knows nothing about his relatives, why he thinks that his parents and brothers are dead. Peter, having listened to his story, was touched.

Meanwhile, at the discretion of God, the ship landed on the island where Clement’s mother, Matfilia, was located. When some left the ship to buy in the city what they needed for everyday needs, Peter also left, but Clement remained on the ship. Heading towards the city, Peter saw an old woman sitting at the gate and asking for alms; it was Matfidia, who could no longer feed on her labors due to weakness of her hands, and therefore asked for alms to feed herself and another old woman who accepted her into her home, who was also weakened and lay sick in the house. The Apostle, seeing Matthidia sitting, understood in spirit that this woman was a foreigner, and asked about her fatherland. Sighing heavily, Matfidia shed tears and said:

- Oh, woe to me, a wanderer, because there is no one in the world poorer and more unhappy than me.

The Apostle Peter, seeing her severe sorrow and heartfelt tears, began to carefully question her who she was and where she was from?

From a conversation with her, he realized that she was Clement’s mother, and began to console her, saying:

“I know your youngest son Clement: he is in this country.”

Matfidia, hearing about her son, became as if dead from horror and fear; but Peter took her hand and ordered her to follow him to the ship:

“Do not be sad, old lady,” the dear apostle told her, “because now you will find out everything about your son.”

When they were walking to the ship, Clement came out to meet them and, seeing the woman following Peter, was surprised. She, having looked at Clement, immediately recognized him by his resemblance to his father, and asked Peter:

“Isn’t this Clement, my son?”

Peter said:

- They are.

And Matfidia fell on Clement’s neck and began to cry. Clement, not knowing who this woman was and why she was crying, began to push her away from him. Then Peter said to him:

- Don’t push away, child, who gave birth to you.

Clement, hearing this, shed tears and fell at her feet, kissing her and crying. And they had great joy, for they found and recognized each other. Peter prayed to God for her and healed her hands. She began to ask the apostle for the healing of the old woman with whom she had settled. The Apostle Peter entered her house and healed the latter; Clement gave her 1000 drachmas5 as a reward for feeding his mother. Then, taking the mother along with the healed old woman, he led them onto the ship and they sailed away.

Dear Matfidia asked her son about her husband Faustus and, having learned that he had gone to look for her and that there had been no news about him for twenty years, she cried bitterly for him, as if for someone who had died, not hoping to see him alive. Having reached Antandros6, they left the ship and continued their journey overland. Having reached Laodicea7, they were met by Favstin and Favstinian, who arrived there before them. They asked Clement:

- Who is this strange woman who is with you with another old woman?

Clement replied:

- My mother, whom I found in a foreign country.

And he began to tell them in order how long he had not seen his mother and how she left home with two twins. Hearing this, they realized that Clement was their brother and that woman was their mother, and they wept with great joy, exclaiming:

“So this is our mother Matfidia, and you are our brother Clement, for we are the twins Favstin and Favstinian, who left Rome with our mother.”

Having said this, they threw themselves on each other's necks, cried a lot and kissed kindly. Seeing how the mother rejoiced over the children, whom she unexpectedly found healthy, and telling each other by what destinies of God they were saved from drowning, they glorified God; They grieved only about one thing, that no one knew anything about their father. Then they began to ask the Apostle Peter to baptize their mother. Early in the morning they came to the sea, the Holy Apostle Peter, in a separate room, performed baptism over Matfidia and the old woman accompanying her in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and, sending her and her sons ahead of him to the dwelling, he himself went another way. And then on the road he met a handsome man, with a gray beard, poorly dressed, waiting for the Apostle Peter, whom he respectfully greeted:

“I see that you are a foreigner and not a simple person; your very face shows that you are a reasonable person: therefore, I want to talk a little with you.

Peter said to this:

- Speak, sir, if you want.

“I saw you,” he said, “today in a secret place on the shore, praying; Having quietly looked, I walked away and waited for you here for a while, wanting to say that you are in vain bothering yourself with prayer to God, because there is no God either in heaven or on earth, and there is no God’s providence for us, but everything in this world is accidental. Therefore, do not get carried away and do not bother to pray to God, for He does not exist.

Saint Peter, hearing these arguments, said to him:

- Why do you think that everything is not according to God’s design and providence, but happens by chance, and how will you prove that there is no God? If there is no God, then who created the sky and decorated it with stars? Who created the earth and clothed it with flowers?

That man, sighing from the depths of his heart, said:

- I know, sir, partly astronomy, and I served the gods as diligently as anyone else; and I realized that all hopes in God are vain, and there is no God; if there were any God in heaven, he would hear the sighs of those crying, he would listen to the prayers of those praying, he would look at the sorrow of the heart, exhausted from sadness. But since there is no one who would give consolation in sorrows, then I conclude that there is no God. If there was a God, he would hear me, praying and weeping in grief, for, my lord, for twenty years and even more I have been in great sorrow, and how much I prayed to all the gods, how many sacrifices I made to them, how much I shed tears and sobs! and not one of the gods heard me and all my work was in vain.

After this Peter said:

“That’s why you were not heard for so long, because you prayed to many gods, vain and false, and not to the One, True God, in whom we believe and to whom we pray.”

Thus talking with that man and discussing God, Peter realized that he was speaking with Faustus, the husband of Matthidia, the father of Clement and his brothers, and said to him:

- If you want to believe in the One, True God, who created heaven and earth, then now you will see both your wife and children unharmed and healthy.

He responded to this:

- Will my wife and children rise from the dead? I myself learned from the stars and from the wise astrologer Annuvion that both my wife and two of my children drowned in the sea.

Then Peter brought Faustus into his home; when he went up there and saw Matfidia, he was horrified and, looking intently at her in surprise, remained silent. Then he said:

- By what miracle did this happen? who do I see now? And coming closer, he exclaimed: “Truly my beloved wife is here!”

Immediately, from sudden joy, both became weak, so that they could not speak to each other, for Matfidia also recognized her husband. When the latter came to her senses a little, she said this:

- Oh, my dear Faust! How were you found alive when we heard you were dead?

Then there was indescribable joy for everyone and great weeping with joy, because the spouses recognized each other, and the children recognized their parents; and, hugging each other, wept, and rejoiced, and thanked God. And everyone who was there, seeing their unexpected common meeting after a long separation, shed tears and thanked God. Faust fell to the apostle, asking for baptism, because he sincerely believed in the One God, and, being baptized, sent prayers of gratitude to God with tears. Then everyone left from there to Antioch.

When they taught faith in Christ there, the hegemon of Antioch learned everything about Faustus, his wife and children, about their high origin, as well as about their adventures, and immediately sent messengers to Rome to inform the king about everything. The Emperor ordered the hegemon to quickly deliver Faustus and his family to Rome with great honor. When this was accomplished, the emperor rejoiced at their return, and when he learned everything that had happened to them, he cried for a long time. That same day he held a feast in their honor, and the next day he gave them a lot of money, as well as male and female slaves. And they were held in high esteem by everyone.

Spending their lives in deep piety, giving alms to the poor and in their old age giving everything to the needy, Faustus and Matfidia departed to the Lord.

Their children, when Peter came to Rome, labored in the apostolic teaching, and blessed Clement was even an inseparable disciple of Peter in all his travels and labors and was a zealous preacher of the teachings of Christ. For this, Peter appointed him bishop before his crucifixion, which he suffered from Nero. After the death of the Apostle Peter, and after him Bishop Linus9, and Bishop Anacletus10, Clement, during times of unrest and strife in Rome, wisely steered the ship of the Church of Christ11, which was then outraged by the tormentors, and shepherded the flock of Christ with great difficulty and patience, being surrounded on all sides, like roaring lions and ravenous wolves, fierce persecutors who tried to devour and destroy the faith of Christ. Being in such a calamity, he did not cease to care with great diligence for the salvation of human souls, so that he converted many infidels to Christ, not only from the common people, but even from the royal court, noble and dignitary, among whom was a certain dignitary Sisinius and many from the family of King Nerva12. With his preaching, Saint Clement at one time on Easter converted four hundred and twenty-four people of noble family to Christ and baptized everyone; He dedicated Domitilla, his niece, who was betrothed to Aurelian, the son of the first Roman dignitary, to preserve her virginity. Moreover, he divided Rome among seven scribes so that they would describe the suffering of the martyrs who were then being killed for Christ.

When, through his teachings and works, wonderful deeds and virtuous life, the Church of Christ began to multiply, then the persecutor of the Christian faith, Comite Torkutian13, seeing the countless number of those who believed in Christ, taught by Clement, outraged some of the people to rebel against Clement and against the Christians. There was an unrest among the people, and the rebels came to the eparch of the city, Mamertine, and began to shout how long Clement would humiliate our gods; others, on the contrary, defending Clement, said:

-What evil did this man do or what good deed did he not do? No matter whoever was sick came to him, he healed everyone; everyone who came to him with sadness received consolation; He never did harm to anyone, but he did many good deeds to everyone.

However, all the others, filled with a spirit of hostility, shouted:

“He does all this with magic, but eradicates the service of our gods.” He does not call Zeus a god, he calls Hercules, our patron, an unclean spirit, he calls honest Aphrodite nothing less than a harlot, he says about the great Vesta that she must be burned; He also blasphemes and dishonors Athena, Artemis, Hermes, Chronos and Ares; He constantly dishonors and condemns all our gods and their temples. Therefore, let him either make a sacrifice to the gods or be punished.

Then Bishop Mamertin, under the influence of the noise and excitement of the crowd, ordered Saint Clement to be brought to him and began to say to him:

“You came from a noble family, as all Roman citizens say, but you were tempted, and therefore they cannot tolerate you and remain silent; it is unknown what kind of God you worship; some new thing called Christ, contrary to our gods. You should abandon all delusion and infatuation and worship the gods whom we worship.

Saint Clement replied:

“I pray to your prudence, listen to me, and not to the crazy words of the rude mob, who are rising up against me in vain, for although many dogs bark at us, they cannot take away from us what belongs to us; for we are healthy and reasonable people, but they are dogs without reason, barking senselessly for a good cause; unrest and riots always arose from an unreasonable and thoughtless crowd. Therefore, order them first to be silent, so that when silence comes, a reasonable person can speak about the important matter of salvation, so that one can turn to the search for the True God, Whom one must bow to with faith.

The saint said this and much more, and the eparch did not find any guilt in him, therefore he sent news to King Trajan14 that the people had rebelled against Clement because of the gods, although there was no sufficient evidence to accuse him. Trajan answered the eparch that Clement must either make a sacrifice to the gods, or be imprisoned in the deserted place of Pontus near Chersonesus15. Having received such an answer from the king, Eparch Mamertin regretted Clement and begged him not to choose self-imposed exile, but to make a sacrifice to the gods - and then be free from exile. The saint announced to the eparch that he was not afraid of exile, on the contrary, he desired it even more. Such was the power of grace in the words of Clement, which God gave him, that even the eparch was touched by his soul, cried and said:

- May God, Whom you serve with all your heart, help you in your exile to which you are condemned.

And, having prepared the ship and everything necessary, he sent him away.

Together with Saint Clement, many Christians also went into exile, deciding to live better with the shepherd in exile than to remain free without him.

Arriving at the place of imprisonment, Saint Clement found there more than two thousand Christians condemned to hew stones in the mountains. Clement was assigned to the same task. The Christians, seeing Saint Clement, approached him with tears and mournfully, saying:

“Pray for us, Saint, that we may become worthy of the promises of Christ.”

The saint said:

“I am unworthy of such grace from the Lord, who has vouchsafed me only to be a participant in your crown!”

And working with them, Saint Clement consoled them and instructed them with useful advice. Having learned that they have a great shortage of water, since they have to fetch water on their shoulders for six races16, Saint Clement said:

— Let us pray to our Lord Jesus Christ that He would open a source of living water to His followers, just as He opened it to thirsty Israel in the desert when He broke a stone and water flowed; and having received such grace from him, we will rejoice.

And everyone began to pray. At the end of the prayer, Saint Clement saw a lamb standing in one place and raising one leg, as if showing the place. Clement realized that this was the Lord who had appeared, whom no one sees except him alone, and he went to that place, saying:

- In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, dig in this place.

And everyone, standing in a circle, began to dig with shovels, but so far there was nothing, since they could not attack the place where the Lamb stood.

After this, Saint Clement took a small shovel and began to dig in the place where the Lamb’s foot stood, and immediately a source of tasty, clean water appeared; and a whole river was formed from the source. Then everyone rejoiced, and Saint Clement said:

— Streams of river make glad the city of God (Ps. 45:5).

The rumor about this miracle spread throughout the surrounding area; and people began to flock in large numbers to see the river, unexpectedly and miraculously formed through the prayers of the saint, and also to listen to his teachings. Many believed in Christ and were baptized in water by Saint Clement. So many people came to the saint, and so many turned to Christ, that every day five hundred people or more were baptized. In one summer, the number of believers increased so much that seventy-five churches were even built, and all the idols were broken, and the temples throughout the country were destroyed, since all the inhabitants accepted the Christian faith.

King Trajan, having learned that countless people in Chersonesus believed in Christ, immediately sent there one dignitary named Aufidian, who upon arrival subjected many Christians to torture and killed many. Seeing that everyone was joyfully going to suffer for Christ, the sent dignitary did not want to torture the people any longer and only Clement tried with all his might to force him to make a sacrifice. But, finding him unshakable in faith and a strong believer in Christ, he ordered to put him in a boat, take him to the middle of the sea and there, tying an anchor around his neck, throw him into the deepest place of the sea and drown him, so that Christians would not find his body. When all this happened, the believers stood on the shore and cried heavily. Then his two most faithful disciples, Cornelius and Thebes, said to all Christians:

“Let us all pray that the Lord will reveal to us the body of the martyr.”

When the people prayed, the sea retreated from the shore to a distance of three miles, and the people, like the Israelites in the Red Sea, crossed on dry land and found a marble cave like the Church of God, in which the body of the martyr rested, and also found an anchor near it, with which The martyr Clement was drowned. When the faithful wanted to take the honorable body of the martyr from there, it was revealed to the above-mentioned disciples that his body should be left here, for every year the sea in his memory would recede like this for seven days, giving the opportunity to those who wished to come to worship. And so it was for many years, from the reign of Trajan to the reign of Nicephorus, king of the Greeks17. Many other miracles happened there through the prayer of the saint, whom the Lord glorified.

One day, at normal times, the sea opened up access to the cave, and many people came to venerate the relics of the holy martyr. A child was accidentally left in the cave, forgotten by his parents when they left. When the sea began to return to its original place and was already covering the cave, everyone who was in it hastened to leave, fearing that the sea would cover them too, and the parents of the abandoned child also hastened to leave, thinking that the child had gone out with the people earlier. Having looked around and looking for him everywhere among the people, they did not find him, and it was no longer possible to return to the cave again, since the sea covered the cave; The parents cried inconsolably and went to their home with great weeping and sorrow. The next year the sea receded again and the child’s parents came again to venerate the saint. Having entered the cave, they found the child alive and well, sitting at the tomb of the saint. Taking him, his parents, with indescribable joy, asked him how he remained alive. The child, pointing his finger at the tomb of the martyr, said:

“This saint kept me alive, fed me, and drove away all the horrors of the sea from me.

Then there was great joy among the parents and among the people who came to the holiday, and everyone glorified God and His saint.

During the reign of Nicephorus, king of the Greeks, on the feast day of St. Clement, the sea did not recede, as had happened in previous years, and it remained like this for fifty years or more. When blessed George became bishop in Chersonesus, he greatly grieved that the sea did not recede and the relics of such a great saint of God were, as it were, hidden, covered with water.

During his administration of the diocese, two Christian teachers Methodius and Constantine the philosopher, who was later named Cyril, came to Kherson18; they were heading to preach to the Khazars19 and on the way they asked about the relics of St. Clement; Having learned that they were at sea, these two church teachers began to encourage Bishop George to discover a spiritual treasure - the relics of the holy martyr.

Bishop George, prompted by his teachers, went to Constantinople and told everything to the then reigning Emperor Michael III20, as well as to His Holiness Patriarch Ignatius21. The king and patriarch sent with him selected men and the entire clergy of St. Sophia22. Arriving in Chersonesus, the bishop gathered all the people, and with psalms and singing everyone went to the seashore, hoping to get what they wanted, but the water did not part. When the sun set and they boarded the ship, suddenly, in the midst of the midnight darkness, the sea was illuminated with light: first the head appeared, and then all the relics of Saint Clement came out of the water. The saints, reverently taking them, put them on the ship and, solemnly carrying them into the city, placed them in the church. When the holy liturgy began, many miracles happened: the blind were despised, the lame and all sorts of sick people received healing, and the possessed were freed from demons, through the prayers of Saint Clement, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Him be glory forever. Amen23.

1 Octavian Augustus - 1st Roman emperor after the destruction of the republic in Rome, reigned from 30 AD to 14 AD. Tiberius, his stepson, reigned from 14 to 37 AD; During his reign, our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross.

2 Asia was the name given by the Romans to a province located in present-day Asia Minor (Anatolian Peninsula), along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea it included several cities with their regions; Pergamum was considered its capital.

3 There were many cities with the name Caesarea or Caesarea in ancient times. The name Caesarea of ​​Stratonia must mean a Palestinian city on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, better known as Caesarea of ​​Palestine. This city was built by the Jewish king Herod on the site of the ancient city of Straton and named Caesarea in honor of Caesar Augustus (Roman Emperor Octavius ​​Augustus). Currently, there are only ruins on its site, covered with wild plants.

5 Drachma is an ancient Greek weight and silver coin valued at 21 kopecks.

6 Antandros is a city on the Gulf of Adramyta in Mysia, the northwestern region of Asia Minor. The ruins of this ancient city still exist today.

7 Laodicea is the main city of ancient Phrygia in western Asia Minor. The Laodicean church was one of the seven famous churches of Asia Minor mentioned in the Apocalypse. Now only the ruins on one low hill, near the devastated village of Eski-Gissar, serve as a monument to the ancient city. In Church history, Laodicea is known for the council that took place there in the year 365, which left detailed rules regarding the order of Divine services, the moral behavior of the clergy and laity, and various vices and errors of that time.

9 The memory of the holy Bishop Linus of Rome (67 - 69), one of the 70 apostles, is celebrated on November 5 and January 4.

10 Saint Anacletus - Bishop of Rome from 79 to 91.

11 Saint Clement the Apostle ruled the Roman Church from 91 to 100.

12 Nerva was a Roman emperor who reigned from 96 to 98 A.D.

13 Comitae (Latin word) were the Roman name for the employees and retinue of the provincial rulers.

14 Trajan - Roman emperor from 98 to 117.

15 Chersonesus is a city in Tauris, the Black Sea peninsula (now Crimea); was located near present-day Sevastopol. In it, the Russian prince, Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir, accepted the Christian faith.

16 The field was originally a lists, a place for competitions; then this word began to mean the same thing as stages, i.e. a measure of length of 125 steps.

17 The Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros reigned from 802 to 811.

18 Saints Methodius and Cyril are famous educators of the Slavs.

19 The Khazars are a people of Turkmen origin who lived near the Caspian Sea in the lower reaches of the Volga and in the Ciscaucasia. They were partly pagans, partly Mohammedans, and partly professed the Jewish faith.

20 Byzantine Emperor Michael III reigned from 855 to 867.

21 Saint Ignatius ruled the Church of Constantinople from 847 to 857, then after Photius from 867 to 877.

22 Hagia Sophia is the cathedral church of Constantinople.

23 It is known that Saints Cyril and Methodius took part of the relics of Saint Clement with them and sent them to Rome under Pope Adrian II (867); nevertheless, the body of the saint, together with the venerable head, remained in Chersonesos until the time when this city was taken by the Russian Grand Duke, Saint Vladimir. The latter, having received holy baptism in Chersonesos, took with him the relics of Saint Clement “for his blessing and for the sanctification of all people” and placed them in the Kyiv Tithe Church of the Most Holy Theotokos. Here the relics of the holy martyr were located before the Tatar invasion.

Looking for connections between the Russian North and the Russian South, you are surprised to learn that one of the connections connecting the North and South of Rus' is the veneration of St. Clement, who preached in Crimea.

Saint Clement was born in the 30s of the first century in Rome, was an apostle from seventy and a bishop of Rome. He is revered in Orthodoxy as one of the first Christian preachers in the Northern Black Sea region. The Inkerman St. Klimentovsky is associated with his name cave monastery in Crimea, located near the hero city of Sevastopol on the site of old quarries. Saint Clement was exiled to those places by Emperor Trajan for preaching Christianity. He continued preaching there, and was killed near Chersonesos by secret order of the emperor in 101.

Bishop of Rome

Saint Clement was ordained bishop by Saint Peter. And in 91, after the death of Bishop Anacletus, he headed the Roman Church and became famous for his life dedicated to Christ, for his good deeds and healings. During the next persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, he refused to make a sacrifice to the pagan gods, and was sent to hard labor in a quarry near the city of Chersonese Tauride, located on the edge of the empire (its ruins are located in the center of the city of Sevastopol). It is believed that these were the Inkerman quarries. There Saint Clement nourished and consoled a large number of condemned Christians.

There was no fresh water in the quarries, which is why the convicts suffered significant inconvenience, however, through the prayer of St. The Lord revealed Clement water source. The rumor about this miracle spread throughout the peninsula, and many local residents began to come to be baptized by the saint.

Thanks to the asceticism of Saint Clement, the number of Christians increased significantly, and pagan idols were broken. In response to this, Emperor Trajan sent a special envoy to Chersonesus to restore order, who ordered the binding of St. Clement to the anchor and drown in the sea. Later, through the prayers of the saint’s disciples and other people, the sea receded and the relics of the holy martyr were found.

Saint Clement in Rus'

Living long before the division of churches, Saint Clement of Rome is revered by both the Orthodox and Catholic churches. The saint was widely revered in Rus'; churches in Moscow (Church of Clement, Pope of Rome), Torzhok and other places are dedicated to him. This is due to the fact that the relics of St. Clement were found, according to legend, by the saints Equal to the Apostles Cyril(according to some sources, together with his brother, Saint Methodius Equal to the Apostles) in the Crimean Korsun (Chersonese) around 861. In honor of the discovery of the relics, Saint Cyril wrote a short story, a word of praise and a hymn in Greek. The first two works have come down to us in a Slavic translation, “The Word on the Transfer by the Relic of the Most Glorious Clement, a Historical Conversation” (a number of researchers call it the “Korsun Legend”). The relics of Saint Clement were transferred to Rome's Basilica of Saint Clement. Saint Cyril, who died in February 869, was also buried here.

Part of the relics of Saint Clement was left in Chersonesos. After the capture of the city by Prince Vladimir the Great in 988 or 989, the relics of the saint, along with a marble sarcophagus, were transferred to Kyiv and placed in Tithe Church.

Having spread throughout Rus', the tradition of venerating St. Clement in the Russian North came from Novgorod, where in the 19th century there was a temple dedicated to the saint. The veneration of Saint Clymenia spread to the lands subordinate to Novgorod. The life of the holy martyr, connected with the sea, was close to the Pomors living sea ​​elements.

Inkerman Monastery

The main premises of the Inkerman Monastery are carved into the cliff of the Monastery Rock, at the top of which, on the plateau, the ruins of the fourth-century fortress of Kalamita are preserved. The time of foundation of the monastery is not clearly defined: from the VIII-IX to the XIV-XV centuries.

It seems that history is in the rocks themselves, time compressed into stone. The huge wall, which reveals the caves in which the monks lived, is amazing. Rooms carved into the rock, balconies and windows. On the contrary, in the distance across the river valley there are also rocks, and then Inkerman Bay opens up, where the Chernaya River flows into the sea. This place fascinates with its scale and beauty.

Near the monastery there was the same source, according to legend, discovered by Saint Clement to alleviate the fate of the convicts. In the 1970s, the source dried up (possibly due to construction work), and its water gradually flooded the Inkerman stone quarry located on the other side of the Monastic Rock.

In 1475, the Kalamita fortress (the ruins of which are located on the plateau of the Monastery Rock) was captured by the Turks and renamed Inkerman, the monastery died out, and was only revived in 1850. Since 1920, the monastery churches became parish churches, and by 1931 they were closed. During the Great Patriotic War the headquarters of the heroic 25th Chapaev Division, which died in July 1942 (the division's banners were drowned in the Black Sea), was located here. In June 1942, soldiers of this division on the Inkerman Heights held back the enemy rushing towards Sevastopol.

Crimea is a place of many feats of arms our warriors, Sevastopol is a city of Russian military glory, and here, on the Inkerman Heights, military and spiritual feats were manifested in one place.

In 1991, through the efforts of the rector Archimandrite Augustine, the brethren and the laity, the revival of the monastery began, the churches and cell buildings were restored. Main shrine The monastery is part of the relics of the monastery's heavenly patron, the Apostle of the 70s, the holy martyr Clement, Pope of Rome. Also in the monastery there are particles of holy relics: martyr. George the Victorious, St. Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome, Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon and many other saints.

You can get to the Clement Monastery in Inkerman from Sevastopol by public transport, for example, from the “5th kilometer” stop, from where buses depart from Sevastopol to different parts of Crimea.