St. Clement of Rome, Pope and Martyr

• Clemens Romanus was born in Rome

• He is believed to be of Jewish descent and a freeman of Rome.

• He worked as a tanner during the early part of his life.

• He was then converted to Christianity and became a disciple of St. Peter and of

St. Paul.

• Following the death of Saint Peter he took over his position and became the

fourth Pope and Bishop of Rome

• Saint Clement was banished from Rome during the reign of the Emperor Trajan

(September 18, 53 – August 9, 117) due to his beliefs and unpopularity with the

Romans

• He was banished to Chersonesus, which was an ancient Greek colony under

Roman rule, in the south western part of Crimea (part of the Ukraine).

• In Chersonesus he was sentenced to work with other prisoners in a stone quarry where he continued to convert people.

• The number and success of his conversions attracted the attention of the Roman prefect who sentenced him to death.

• Clement was he was bound to an anchor and cast into the sea. He died in A.D.100.

St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr

. (ca. 35 or 50-between 98 and 117)

. third Bishop of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle.

. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology. Important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, and the role of bishops.

. St. Ignatius was Bishop of Antioch after Saint Peter and St. Evodius (who died around AD67). Eusebius [5] records that St. Ignatius succeeded St. Evodius. Making his apostolic succession even more immediate, Theodoret reported that Peter himself appointed Ignatius to the see of Antioch.

1 . Besides his Greek name, Ignatius, he also called himself Theophorus ("God Bearer"), and tradition says he was one of the children Jesus took in His arms and blessed. St. Ignatius is one of the Apostolic Fathers (the earliest authoritative group of the Church Fathers).

. It is believed that St. Ignatius, along with his friend Polycarp, with great probability were disciples of the Apostle St. John.[6]

. Epistles attributed to St. Ignatius report his arrest by the authorities and travel to Rome: He was sentenced to die in the Roman Colosseum, to be eaten by lions

. Along the route he wrote six letters to the churches in the region and one to a fellow bishop. In his Chronicle, Eusebius gives the date of his death as AA 2124 (2124 years after Adam), which would amount to the 11th year of Trajan, i.e. 108 AD.

1. To the Ephesians

2. To the Magnesians

3. Letter to the Trallians

4. To the Romans

5. To the Philadelphians

6. To the Smyrnaeans

7. To Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna

St. Polycarp

. (69 – 155 AD) . 2nd century Christian bishopof Smyrna It is recorded by Irenaeus, who heard him speak in his youth, and by Tertullian,[3] that he had been a disciple of John the Apostle. . Sole surviving work attributed to his authorship is his Letter to the Philippians . He is among the earliest Christians whose writings survive. . The Martyrdom of Polycarp that takes the form of a circular letter from the church of Smyrna to the churches of Pontus . Died a martyr at 86 years, bound and burned at the stake then stabbed when the fire failed to touch him.