St. Clement, Roman Primacy & Miraculous Water

Nov 24, 2025

Nov. 23 is the feast of Pope St. Clement. According to the oldest list of the popes (which is found in St. Irenaeus’ work Against Heresies), he was the fourth pope (the third successor to St. Peter). His reign is dated by some to have been from AD 92 to AD 101. Irenaeus also says that Clement heard both St. Peter and St. Paul in person.

St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 3, Chap. 3, #3, c. 180: “This man [Clement], as he had seen the blessed apostles, and had been conversant with them, might be said to have the preaching of the apostles still echoing [in his ears], and their traditions before his eyes.”

Clement’s famous Epistle to the Corinthians is “the earliest piece of Christian literature outside the New Testament for which the name, position and date of the author are historically attested” [Johannes Quasten, Patrology, Vol. I, 1950, p. 43]. It was considered to be part of Scripture by many in the ancient Church and thus included in several canonical lists of the New Testament. It’s often cited as an early example of papal primacy. In the epistle, Pope St. Clement (writing on behalf of the Church of Rome) admonishes the Church of Corinth, an Eastern church that was located almost 1000 miles away. The tone of the letter indicates that the church of Corinth is subject to the Church of Rome:

Pope St. Clement, Epistle to the Corinthians, 58:2-59:1: “Receive our counsel, and ye shall have no occasion of regret. For as God lives, and as the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and the Holy Spirit… if any disobey the words which He [God] has spoken through us, let them understand that they will entangle themselves in no slight transgression and danger; but we shall be guiltless of this sin.”

Pope St. Clement, Epistle to the Corinthians, 63:2: “For you will give us joy and gladness, if you render obedience to the things written by us through the Holy Spirit.”

His epistle also provides early support for the importance of confession.

Pope St. Clement, Epistle to the Corinthians, 51:1-3- “So, then, for whatever sins we have committed and whatever we have done through any of the tricks of the adversary, let us ask that we may be forgiven… For it is better that a man should make confession concerning his sins, than that he should harden his heart, even as the heart of them was hardened who made sedition against Moses the servant of God; whose condemnation was manifest…”

There is also a tradition that when he was exiled at Chersonesus Clement’s prayer caused a fountain to miraculously spring up for the help of Christians, and that many infidels were converted and baptized as a result of this miraculous flow of water. Clement died as a martyr under the emperor Trajan, in approximately the year 100. It is believed that he was thrown into the sea with an anchor tied around his neck.