St. Clement I

Clement comes across not as a figure of later dramatic legend but as one of the earliest and most important bishops of Rome, standing very near the apostolic age. The center of the life is his letter to the Corinthians, a witness of great dignity, pastoral wisdom, and Roman authority at the end of the first century. Around that solid core later acts built the more dramatic story of martyrdom, the anchor, and the sea-tomb, but those are handled with clear reserve.

The result gains from this sobriety. Clement feels early, weighty, and real because his true importance lies not in picturesque legend but in the witness his letter gives to the life and authority of the primitive Church.