CLEMENT OF ANCYRA

In the Scriptures it is written that Christ died once for our sins (Hebrews 9:25). At the same time, we often hear that Christ is crucified daily for our sins, or, more precisely, that we ourselves are constantly crucifying Him again with our transgressions. But where imagery prevails, dogma falls silent. It is important for us, that is, the Church, as the People of God and the Community of Interpreters, to resolve the possible ambiguity that arises.

On February 5, the Church honors the memory of the holy martyr Clement of Ancyra, and the holy martyr Agathangelo who, together with other martyrs, suffered for Christ together with his teacher, who was Clement.

Based on the surviving text of his life, it can be concluded that Saint Clement was an itinerant bishop in that region. Most likely, he did not have a permanent see. Like Christ, he “had nowhere to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20) and, moving from place to place, preached the word of God. During the Great Persecution of Diocletian, he was captured, tried, and suffered many terrible tortures. However, he survived, and therefore became a confessor, that is, a Christian who “bore the wounds of the Lord” (Gal. 6:17), for he survived persecution without renouncing the faith.

In accordance with ancient church tradition, confessors could intercede in writing for those who had fallen away from the faith, which contributed to their acceptance back into the Church. Our custom of submitting notes with names for commemoration partly originates from this tradition. The priest reads the names, but does not know who exactly is being spoken about. The person who wrote the note personally testified that the person mentioned in it was worthy of forgiveness of sins and other benefitsфnd miracles that the Church can provide in abundance.

Clement continued to preach the faith. The grace of a confessor was active in him. The sick were healed by the laying on of his hands. Taking advantage of the death of the Roman emperor and cruel persecutor of Christians, Maximian, in 310, the pagans killed Agathangel. At that time, Clement was serving the liturgy in one of the catacombs. Since he escaped death not by a court decision, but by the intervention of the people, the Christians simply took him away from the crowd during the torture, the pagans sought revenge. They broke into the underground church and killed Clement during the celebration of the Eucharist.

According to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, the priest, during the pronunciation of the words of Christ, spoken by Him at the Last Supper, “Take, eat” and “Drink from it all,” represents the Lord Jesus. It was at this very moment of the service that Clement was killed by the persecutors. Thus, what we have just said was literally fulfilled. The mad pagan rabble killed Christ Himself, in the person of His martyr, at the moment of prayer,

This horrific and at the same time deeply sacred event reflected what has happened and is happening to the Church in history. It is persecuted and destroyed by those who physically try to wipe it off the face of the earth (cf. Rev. 12:4). But not only that. The Church is destroyed from within by those who, being in it visibly, invisibly, as the great Father of the Church, Bishop Augustine of Hippo (354-430) wrote, belong not to the Body of the Lord, but to the Body of the Devil, committing radical lawlessness.

In the prayer “Our Father” we ask God “not to lead us into temptation.” By the word “temptation” we usually mean moral violations. But there are sins incomparably more serious and grave. Then the Church, like the martyr Clement, is literally killed in history by sins against the Holy Spirit, (Matt. 12:21). What are these sins? They are the murder of a preacher, calling evil good, selling miracles and signs, canceling, albeit temporarily, the biblical commandments of God, recognizing the devil’s deception as the word of God.

Nowadays, the ancient city of Ancyra, or Angora, is the modern capital of Turkey, Ankara, a huge metropoly. Translated from Greek, the word “Ancyra” means “Anchor”, and the word “Angora” probably indicates that the region was once inhabited by sheep that produced wool of this breed. There are almost no traces of Christian presence in Ankara today. Even the rare Orthodox services are held in a church that is kindly provided for services by Catholics. This is a sobering testimony to the fact that any human construction and even the colossal scope of external church development can ultimately collapse. As Saint Augustine once prophetically wrote about this, we are building buildings that will not be useful to us. Our Father, lead us not into temptation. Do not let us, o God, contribute to such paths of history.