1900th Anniversary of the Demise of the Holy Martyr Clement, the Pope of Rome
11.02.2002 · English, Архив 2002
1900TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEMISE OF THE HOLY MARTYR CLEMENT, THE POPE OF ROME
The Crimean peninsula, which territory is included in the Simferopol diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is one of the first regions of Ukraine where Christianity was preached many centuries ago. St.Andrew, the-First-Called among the Apostles, visited this place and then proceeded upstream the river Dnieper and prophesized that Kiev, a great Christian city, will be built on the banks of this river.
St.Clement was a successor of St.Andrew in missionary work in the Crimea. He was Bishop of Rome with the blessing of St.Peter the Apostle and was exiled for his faith to the Crimea, located on the borders of the Roman Empire at that time. Even in a strange land, St.Clement continued to bring many people to Christ. At the Emperor’s order he was drowned in the sea near Chersonese. The ruins of this ancient city can be found not far from Sevastopol.
In the 9th century Ss Cyril and Methodius, Equal-to-the-Apostles, happened to find the relics of the martyr. Grand Prince of Kiev Vladimir after his baptism in Chersonese transferred the venerable head of St.Clement to Kiev.
Nineteen centuries have passed since the time when St.Clement witnessed his zealous faith in the Saviour by his deed of martyrdom and has become our heavenly intercessor before the Lord. Church festivities were held on the occasion of the jubilee in the Crimea on 8 December 2001, the commemoration day of St.Clement. A procession with the cross and with the relics of St.Clement was held in all churches of the Sevastopol Deanery and then on board a yacht ‘St.Mary’ from Balaklava to Inkerman by sea.
The yacht was caught in a storm, but safely arrived to its destination. The participants in the festivities took it as a testimony of the invisible presence of St.Clement. That same day a conference dedicated to St.Clement was held in Sevastopol with the participation of priests, theologians, scholars and historians. The conference adopted an address to the authorities with a request to allow construction of St.Clement’s Chapel in Sevastopol and to introduce the Life and works of St.Clement and other Crimean saints into the curricula of schools and higher educational institutions.
A medallion and wall calendar for 2002 were issued on the occasion of the jubilee, icons with particles of stones which were lifted from the sea bottom on the site of the demise of the saint in Kazachya bay were produced, the Life of St.Clement, Akathistos hymn to him, a booklet about St.Clement monastery in Inkerman and also a book about St.Clement were published. Besides, the commission for place-names decided to name the nameless cape in the Kazachya bay after St.Clement of Rome.
Press-service of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
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