The preservation of unity
From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement I of Rome, Pope and Martyr (d. 99)
The preservation of unity
Beloved, Jesus Christ is our salvation, he is the high priest through whom we present our offerings and the helper who supports us in our weakness. Through him our gaze penetrates the heights of heaven and we see, as in a mirror, the most holy face of God. Through Christ the eyes of our hearts are opened, and our weak and clouded understanding reaches up toward the light. Through him the Lord God willed that we should taste eternal knowledge, for Christ is the radiance of God’s glory, and as much greater than the angels as the name God has given him is superior to theirs.
So the, my brothers, let us do battle with all our might under his unerring command. Think of the men serving under our military commanders. How well disciplined they are! How readily and submissively they carry out orders! Not everyone can be a prefect, a tribune, a centurion, or a captain of fifty, but each man in his own rank executes the orders of the emperor and the officers in command. The great cannot exist without those of humble condition, nor can those of humble condition exist without the great. Always it is the harmonious working together of its various parts that insures the well-being of the whole. Take our own body as an example: the head is helpless without the feet; and the feet can do nothing without the head. Even our least important members are useful and necessary to the whole body, and all work together for its well-being in harmonious subordination.
Let us, then, preserve the unity of the body that we form in Christ Jesus, and let everyone give his neighbor the deference to which his particular gifts entitle him. Let the strong care for the weak and the weak respect the strong. Let the wealthy assist the poor and the poor man thank God for giving him someone to supply his needs. The wise man should show his wisdom not by his eloquence but by good works; the humble man should not proclaim his own humility, but leave others to do so; nor must the man who preserves his chastity ever boast of it, but recognize that the ability to control his desires has been given him by another.
Think, my brothers, of how we first came into being, of what we were at the first moment of our existence. Think of the dark tomb out of which our Creator brought us into his world where he had his gifts prepared for us even before we were born. All this we owe to him and for everything we must give him thanks. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours, Office of Readings
Saint Clement I was a Roman and the third pope to rule the Roman Church after Saint Peter. He reigned toward the end of the first century. According to tradition he was probably a freed man in the imperial household and was baptized by Saint Peter. He succeeded Cletus as Pope in 91, was exiled to the Crimea by Emperor Trajan. He labored so zealously preaching the faith among the prisoners working in the mines there that he was condemned to death and thrown into the sea with an anchor around his neck.
Clement I was the author of a letter to the Corinthians in which he rebuked them for a schism that had broken out in their church. This famous epistle was sent to strengthen and encourage peace and unity among them. It is of particular historical importance as one of the outstanding documents of the early Church. It is significant as an instance of the bishop of Rome intervening authoritatively as the pre-eminent authority in the affairs of another apostolic church to settle a dispute as early as the first century.