City of God in Exile
Main Gate

Sacred Calendar

The Roman year ordered for memory, penance, feasts, saints, and the daily pilgrimage of the faithful.

Calendar standard

Pre-1955 Roman usage

The calendar follows the universal Roman year under the rubrics of Pope St. Pius X, with the Roman Martyrology preserved as a distinct daily witness.

The day is presented for prayer, recollection, study, and perseverance in the City.

Daily observance

Today in the City of God

The Church keeps this day in holy time. The Pilgrim's Companion gathers the feast, daily quote, Martyrology, meditation, prayer, and related chapters into one daily path through the City.

Daily observance

St. Clement, Pope and Martyr

Monday, November 23, 2026

Season: Time after Pentecost

The day is set within the Roman year so its feast, Martyrology, daily quote, prayer, and reading path may be received together without blurring their proper sources.

Today's pilgrimage

St. Clement, Pope and Martyr

Rank: Double

Color: red

Commemoration: St. Felicitas, Martyr.

Quote for the day

Pope St. Clement I

“Since we owe all this to Him, we ought to give Him thanks for everything.”

Roman Martyrology

Roman Martyrology - November 23

The birthday of pope St. Clement, wno held the sovereign Pontificate the third after the blessed apostle Peter. In the persecution of Trajan, he was banished to Chersonesus, where, being precipitated into the sea with an anchor tied to his neck, he was crowned with martyrdom. His body was taken to Rome during the pontificate of Nicholas I., and placed with due honors in the church which had been previously built under his invocation. — At Rome, St. Felicitas, mother of seven sons, martyrs. After them she was beheaded for Christ, by order of the emperor Marcus Antoninus. — At Merida, in Spain, St. Lucretia, virgin and martyr, who consummated her martyrdom in the persecution of Diocletian, under the governor Dacian. — At Cyzicum, in Hellespont, St. Sisinius, martyr, who, after many torments, was put to the sword, in the same persecution. — At Iconium, in Lycaonia, the holy bishop Amphilochius, who was the companion of St. Basil and St. Gregory Nazianzen in the desert, and their colleague in the episcopate. After many combats for the Catholic faith, he rested in peace, with the reputation of a holy and learned prelate. — At Girgenti, the decease of St. Gregory, bishop. — In the village of Hasbein, St. Tron, priest and confessor. — At Mantua, blessed John the Good, of the Order of Augustinians, whose celebrated life was written by St. Antoninus.

Read and verify the full entry

Highlighted saint

St. Clement

Pope and martyr, third after blessed Peter.

The Martyrology honors Pope St. Clement as holding the sovereign Pontificate third after blessed Peter.

In the persecution of Trajan he was banished to Chersonesus and crowned with martyrdom by being cast into the sea with an anchor tied to his neck.

The commemoration of St. Felicitas, martyr, adds the mother's courage to apostolic constancy. The Church needs both visible office and faithful households willing to suffer for Christ.

Virtue to practice

Apostolic constancy in exile.

Error to resist

The private religion that wants apostolic doctrine without visible apostolic office and sacrifice.

For the pilgrim in exile

Let St. Clement steady the exiled heart. The Church's pastors may be driven outward, but Christ's charge remains.

Imitate today

  • Honor apostolic succession under suffering.
  • Stand firm when exile or loss follows fidelity.
  • Pray for Roman steadfastness.
  • Pray for mothers and families under persecution.

Sources

  • St. Andrew Daily Missal, November 23.
  • Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, November 23.

From Matins

The Pope who recorded martyrs and fed exiles with living water.

Matins - Second Nocturn - St. Clement, Pope and Martyr

Roman Breviary, Proper lessons for St. Clement

“His teaching and the holiness of his life brought many to believe in Christ.”

Doctrine taught

  • The Breviary identifies St. Clement as the third Pope after St. Peter and as the fellow-laborer praised by St. Paul.
  • It remembers his care for the memory of martyrs, assigning scribes to gather their acts and sufferings, and his orthodox writing in explanation of the Christian religion.
  • In exile among condemned Christians in the Crimea, his prayer and miracle of water brought consolation to the faithful and many unbelievers to Christ before his martyrdom.

For the pilgrim in exile

Let St. Clement teach apostolic memory. The Church preserves martyr witness, feeds the exiled, writes orthodox doctrine, and suffers rather than surrender Christ.

Study apostolic continuity

Sources

  • The Roman Breviary, translated by John, Marquess of Bute, 1908, vol. IV, Autumn, Second Nocturn for St. Clement, lessons iv-vi.
  • Bute 1908 is used here as an accessible pre-Pius X Breviary witness and is cited distinctly from the 1936-1937 Benziger / Burns Oates edition.

Breviary Witness

The anchor of apostolic constancy.

Matins - St. Clement

Breviary witness

  • The Martyrology honors Pope St. Clement as third after blessed Peter, banished under Trajan and martyred in the sea with an anchor tied to his neck.
  • His witness keeps apostolic succession beneath the sign of exile and martyrdom rather than worldly security.

For the pilgrim in exile

Hold apostolic continuity soberly. Christ's office in the Church may pass through banishment, suffering, and apparent defeat.

Sources

  • Roman Breviary, Matins lessons for November 23, St. Clement.
  • Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, November 23.

Meditation

Growth After Pentecost

The Time after Pentecost teaches perseverance after the great feasts. Many souls receive light and then return to forgetfulness. The pilgrim must instead turn light into rule: morning prayer, the Angelus, Rosary, examination, custody of speech, and fidelity to the duty before him.

Prayer

The day should become prayer.

O Lord, govern my speech when error must be named. Let me correct with charity, courage, and sobriety, never with bitterness or theatrical anger.

Thought for the pilgrim

Correction must be medicinal, not vain.

Practice

The day should become obedience.

Before correcting anyone, ask whether your words seek victory for truth or satisfaction for self.

Source notes

Universal Roman Calendar under the rubrics of Pope St. Pius X

Fasting and abstinence according to the laws observed in 1952

Daily quotations and pilgrimage excerpts should come from Scripture, Fathers, Doctors, saints, traditional popes before 1958, traditional catechisms, approved devotional works, or received liturgical texts.

The Roman Martyrology, Baltimore, 1916, published by John Murphy Company; the local 1916 text is displayed and traceable to its source lines.

  • St. Andrew Daily Missal, Liturgical Calendar, pp. xvii–xxviii.
Browse the Roman Martyrology