Ritratto
di Papa
San Cleto nella it:Basilica di San Paolo fuori
la Mura, Roma
Saint Anaclet ou Clet.
Pape (3 ème) de 76? à 88 (+ 88)
Son nom se trouve sur la
liste des Papes, mais on ne sait rien de lui. Il est considéré comme le
successeur de saint Lin. En raison de l'ignorance des actes de sa vie
historique, son culte a été supprimé lors de la réforme de 1969, mais il est
toujours cité dans la première prière eucharistique.
Il figure au martyrologe romain à la date du 26 avril:
À Rome, commémoraison de saint Clet, pape, qui
gouverna l’Église romaine, le second après saint Pierre.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/7554/Saint-Anaclet.html
Saint Clet ou Anaclet (76-88)
Il naquit à Rome. Ce fut
sous son pontificat que l‘empereur Domitien déclencha la deuxième persécution
contre les chrétiens.
Il fit construire une
chapelle sur la sépulture de saint Pierre.
Martyrisé en 88 il fut
inhumé à côté du Prince des Apôtres.
Saint Anaclet
Pape et martyr
Saint Anaclet, grec de
nation, était originaire de la fameuse ville d'Athènes. Les bonnes qualités de
cet adolescent frappèrent vivement saint Pierre qui le convertit lorsqu'il
prêcha à Athènes. Charmé de sa piété exemplaire, de son zèle pour la religion, de
l'intégrité de ses moeurs et des rares talents dont le Seigneur l'avait doué,
le vicaire du Christ admit Anaclet dans le clergé, le reçut diacre, et lui
conféra la dignité sacerdotale.
Revêtu de ce caractère
sacré, saint Anaclet servit généreusement saint Pierre dans les fonctions de
son apostolat et devint le compagnon inséparable de ses travaux et de ses
voyages. Ange par la pureté de sa vie et par son zèle indéfectible au service
de Dieu, Anaclet devint vite un des plus saints ministres de l'Église naissante.
Après que saint Pierre
eut couronné son apostolat par un glorieux martyre, son fidèle disciple Anaclet
se dévoua sous le pontificat de saint Lin et de saint Clet, avec le même
empressement et le même succès. Il coopéra pour une large part aux merveilleux
progrès que connut l'Eglise de Rome en ces temps si difficiles. L'excellence et
la sainteté d'Anaclet devenait de jour en jour plus manifeste aux yeux de tous,
lorsqu'en l'an 83, sous l'empire de Domitien, les voix des fidèles se réunirent
à l'unanimité pour l'élire au souverain pontificat. Son élévation sur le trône
de saint Pierre causa une joie universelle dans la chrétienté.
Dans ces premiers jours
de l'Eglise, tout était à craindre: la puissance, la cruauté et la multitude
des ennemis du Sauveur, la fureur des païens, la rage des Juifs, la timidité et
le relâchement des fidèles. Durant la troisième persécution que Trajan excita
contre l'Eglise en l'an 107, saint Anaclet constata avec douleur les ravages
causés dans le troupeau de Jésus-Christ. Quoique Trajan n'avait porté aucune
loi officielle contre les chrétiens, une guerre sournoise d'extermination
sévissait contre les fidèles et surtout les évêques. Le sang des martyrs
coulait avec abondance dans l'Orient et dans l'Occident.
Au sein de la tourmente,
Anaclet encourageait les uns et confondait les autres. Comme la violence de la
persécution augmentait de jour en jour, ce pasteur vigilant n'oublia rien pour
animer les fidèles à témoigner de leur foi en Jésus-Christ. Il publia de belles
ordonnances pour retenir ses ouailles dans leur devoir. Il regardait comme
chrétiens à demi vaincus ceux qui ne recevaient que rarement la divine
Eucharistie.
Pour donner quelque
marque de sa dévotion et de sa reconnaissance au prince des apôtres auquel il
était redevable de sa conversion, saint Anaclet fit bâtir et orner une église à
son sépulcre. Par une providence toute particulière, elle se conserva intacte
au milieu des persécutions.
Ce digne représentant de
Jésus-Christ sut conserver intact le dépôt sacré de la foi. Il travailla avec
succès à établir la discipline de l'Eglise, conserva le bon règlement dans les
affaires temporelles de l'Eglise et s'opposa aux désordres qui s'y étaient
glissés. Ce saint pape ne pouvait échapper longtemps aux recherches du tyran qui
envoyait chaque jour une multitude de condamnés au martyre. L'année précédent
sa mort, en prévision du sort qui l'attendait, saint Anaclet conféra
l'ordination épiscopale au prêtre Evariste qui devait lui succéder dans la
charge du souverain pontificat. Après avoir gouverné l'Eglise neuf ans, trois
mois et dix jours, saint Anaclet remporta la palme du martyre et fut enseveli
au Vatican.
Les Petits Bollandistes, Paris,
1874, tome VIII, p. 273-274 -- l'Abbé Jouve, 1886, 2e éd. tome 3, p. 69-71
SOURCE : https://sanctoral.com/fr/saints/saint_anaclet.html
Anaclet ou
Clet (76-88)
3e Pape de l'Eglise Catholique
Anaclet (en latin :
Anacletus) ou Clet (Cletus) ou Anenclet est, selon la tradition catholique, le
troisième évêque de Rome, et pour les orthodoxes, le troisième presbytre de
l'Église de Rome. Il succède à Lin vers début octobre 79.
Dans les listes épiscopales
romaines transmises par Eusèbe, Hégésippe et Irénée, il apparaît après Lin.
"Clet" est une abréviation d'Anaclet, ou plutôt Anencletos, ce qui
signifie en grec l' "irréprochable"). Comme Saint Paul demande que
l'évêque soit "irréprochable" (Tt I,7) certains ont été amenés à
douter sans motif de son existence. Le terme était assez fréquent comme nom des
esclaves et c'est peut-être là un indice de son origine sociale. Il figure
après les deux Apôtres et Lin dans le premier Canon de la messe. Il serait d'origine
grecque, né à Rome. Il est mort vers 91 sous Domitien (81-96); mais il n'y a
pas des preuves qu'il ait été martyrisé. Il est vénéré comme saint.
SOURCE : https://www.touteslesprieres.com/pape-3-anaclet-ou-clet.html
Pope Anacletus in
the Sistine Chapel
Sts Clet et Marcellin,
papes et martyrs
Le Liber Pontificalis
indique le 26 avril comme jour martyr de Clet, il est repris en cela par les
martyrologes du IXe siècle. Malgré son inscription au Canon de la Messe, sa
fête n’eut pas de grande diffusion avant son inscription dans les calendriers
des basiliques romaines au XIIe siècle.
Le même jour, au Latran, on
célébrait la mémoire de saint Marcellin. Le Liber Pontificalis indique aussi le
26 avril comme jour de sa déposition. Comme pour saint Clet, la réception de la
fête fut tardive.
Le catalogue libérien
contenu dans le Chronographe de 354 dédouble Clet et Anaclet (le 6 ou 13
juillet), chacun comme pape et martyr. C’est l’usage qui prévalut jusqu’en 1960
où Jean XXIII supprima la fête de juillet consacrée à Saint Anaclet.
Leçons des Matines avant
1960
Quatrième leçon. Clet,
fils d’Émilien, était de Rome, de la cinquième région et du quartier de
Patricius. Il gouverna l’Église sous les empereurs Vespasien et Titus.
Conformément au précepte du prince des Apôtres, il ordonna vingt-cinq Prêtres
pour la ville de Rome. Il est le premier qui, dans ses lettres, se servit de
ces mots : Salut et bénédiction apostolique. Il fit d’excellentes organisations
dans l’Église, et l’ayant administrée douze ans, sept mois et deux jours, il
reçut la couronne du martyre sous l’empereur Domitien, dans la persécution qui
est la seconde après celle de Néron ; il fut enseveli au Vatican, près du corps
du bienheureux Pierre.
Cinquième leçon.
Marcellin était romain, et gouverna l’Église, de l’an deux cent
quatre-vingt-seize à l’an trois cent quatre, pendant la terrible persécution de
l’empereur Dioclétien. Il eut à souffrir de nombreuses vexations, par suite de
l’injuste sévérité de ceux qui lui reprochaient sa grande indulgence envers les
fidèles tombés dans l’idolâtrie, et c’est à cause de cela qu’il fut
calomnieusement diffamé, comme ayant offert de l’encens aux idoles. Ce
bienheureux Pontife subit la peine capitale pour la confession de la foi avec
trois autres Chrétiens : Claudius, Cyrinus et Antoninus. Leurs corps, laissés
sans sépulture, devaient en être privés durant trente-six jours, par ordre de
l’empereur ; mais le bienheureux Marcel, averti en songe par saint Pierre, prit
soin de les inhumer honorablement dans le cimetière de Priscille, sur la voie
Salaria ; il était accompagné de Prêtres et de Diacres qui portaient des flambeaux
et chantaient des hymnes. Saint Marcellin avait gouverné l’Église pendant sept
ans, onze mois et vingt-trois jours, et pendant ce temps, i ! fit au mois de
décembre deux ordinations, dans lesquelles il ordonna quatre Prêtres et sacra
cinq Évêques pour divers lieux.
Dom Guéranger, l’Année
Liturgique
Deux astres jumeaux se
lèvent aujourd’hui sur le Cycle, à la gloire de Jésus vainqueur de la mort.
Pour la seconde fois, ce sont deux Pontifes, et deux Pontifes martyrs. Clet,
disciple de Pierre, et son successeur presque immédiat sur la chaire romaine,
nous reporte à l’origine de l’Église ; Marcellin a vu les jours de la grande
persécution de Dioclétien, à la veille du triomphe de la Croix. Inclinons-nous
devant ces deux pères de la chrétienté qui l’ont nourrie de leur sang, et
présentons leurs mérites à Jésus qui les a soutenus par sa grâce, et leur a
donné la confiance qu’un jour ils auraient part à sa résurrection.
On trouve dans le récit
de la vie de saint Marcellin un fait qui a été rejeté comme une fable par de
savants critiques, et défendu par d’autres non moins érudits. Il est rapporté
que le saint Pape fléchit un moment devant les persécuteurs, et qu’il eut la
faiblesse d’offrir de l’encens aux idoles. Plus tard, il aurait réparé sa faute
dans une nouvelle et courageuse confession qui lui assura la couronne du
martyre. Notre plan ne comporte pas les discussions critiques ; nous ne
chercherons donc pas à éclaircir ce point d’histoire ; il nous suffit que tout
le monde soit d’accord sur le martyre du saint Pape. A l’époque où furent
rédigées les Légendes du Bréviaire, on ne doutait pas de la chute de Marcellin,
et elle ne fut point omise au récit de la vie du Pontife ; dans la suite, ce
fait a été attaqué par des arguments qui ne manquent pas de force ; l’Église
cependant n’a jugé que très tard à propos de modifier la rédaction première, et
avec d’autant plus de raison que les faits de cette nature n’intéressent en
rien la foi. Il n’est pas besoin, sans doute, d’avertir le lecteur que la chute
de Marcellin, si elle a eu lieu, ne compromet en rien l’infaillibilité du
Pontife romain. Le Pape ne peut enseigner l’erreur quand il s’adresse à
l’Église ; mais il n’est pas impeccable dans sa conduite personnelle.
Priez pour nous, saints
Pontifes, et jetez un regard paternel sur l’Église de la terre qui fut si
agitée en vos temps, et qui est si loin de jouir du calme en ceux où nous
vivons. Le culte des idoles a reparu, et si elles ne sont pas aujourd’hui de
pierre ou de métal, la violence de ceux qui les adorent n’est pas moindre que
celle dont étaient animés les païens des premiers siècles. Les dieux et les
déesses devant lesquels on veut voir le monde entier se prosterner, on les
appelle Liberté, Progrès, Civilisation moderne. Pour établir le culte de ces
nouvelles divinités, on décrète la persécution contre ceux qui refusent de les
adorer, on renverse la constitution chrétienne des États, on altère les
principes de l’éducation de l’enfance, on rompt l’équilibre des éléments
sociaux, et un grand nombre de fidèles sont entraînés par l’attrait de ces
nouveautés funestes. Préservez-nous de cette séduction, bienheureux martyrs !
Ce n’est pas en vainque Jésus a souffert ici-bas et qu’il est ressuscité
d’entre les morts. Sa royauté était à ce prix ; mais nul n’échappe à son
sceptre souverain. C’est afin de lui obéir que nous ne voulons d’autre Liberté
que celle qu’il a fondée par son Évangile, d’autre Progrès que celui qui
s’accomplit dans la voie qu’il a tracée, d’autre Civilisation que celle qui
résulte de l’accomplissement des devoirs qu’il a établis entre les hommes.
C’est lui qui a créé l’humanité, qui en a posé les lois et les conditions ;
c’est lui qui l’a rachetée et rétablie sur ses bases. Devant lui seul nous
fléchissons le genou ; ne permettez pas, bienheureux martyrs, que jamais nous
ayons le malheur de nous abaisser devant les rêves de l’orgueil humain, quand
bien même ceux qui les exploitent auraient la force matérielle à leur service.
Bhx Cardinal
Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
Au témoignage de saint
Irénée, Clet ne ferait qu’un avec Anaclet qui gouverna l’Église après Lin et
avant Clément. De sa vie nous ne savons rien, sauf ce que nous dit la notice du
Liber Pontificalis : qu’il embellit les tombes des Princes des Apôtres, et qu’il
fut enseveli au Vatican. Le fait que Clet fut élevé au suprême pontificat alors
que des disciples immédiats de Pierre et de Paul vivaient encore, témoigne de
ses grands mérites, prophétisés par son nom même.
Plus obscure est
l’histoire du pape Marcellin, sur le compte duquel coururent dès l’antiquité
les plus bizarres légendes. Selon quelques écrits apocryphes de l’époque des
contestations qui suivirent l’élection du pape Symmaque, il aurait d’abord
offert de l’encens aux idoles, puis aurait expié comme Pierre cette apostasie,
en affrontant spontanément le martyre.
Dans la liste des
depositiones episcoporum son nom, il est vrai, est omis, mais cette absence,
qu’il ne faut pas se hâter d’expliquer par une damnatio memoriae, peut
simplement être attribuée au copiste du laterculum philocalien. En effet, le
pape Marcellin non seulement eut une honorable sépulture au cimetière de
Priscille près du martyr Crescention, mais sa tombe était pieusement visitée
par les pèlerins, si bien qu’il a le titre de Saint dans le livre De cotis
Sanctorum Martyrum. Les mêmes apocryphes qui lui attribuent le martyre
attestent indirectement la vénération dont au Ve siècle le pape Marcellin était
l’objet à Rome, car, dans l’intérêt de la cause du pape Symmaque, ils cherchent
à l’exploiter, en proposant le pontife Marcellin comme un premier exemple de la
chute d’un pape et de sa réhabilitation postérieure. Une certaine obscurité sur
le compte de Marcellin demeure toujours, mais l’antiquité de son culte est bien
démontrée par les itinéraires des Catacombes.
Une congrégation
religieuse née sous Célestin III vers 1197 et désormais éteinte depuis
plusieurs siècles, se vantait d’avoir été instituée par saint Clet ; ses
membres portaient une croix à la main à titre d’insigne. A Rome, ils habitaient
près de l’église de Sainte-Marie in Xenodochio ou in Trivio où, jusqu’au siècle
dernier, était un autel dédié à saint Clet. Aujourd’hui encore, la place
voisine s’appelle dei Crociferi.
Le nom de Clet fait
partie de la liste primitive des diptyques épiscopaux romains qu’on récite
toujours durant la prière de la grande intercession (Communicantes). Sa fête
n’apparaît en ce jour que dans le Calendrier de la basilique vaticane du XIIe
siècle ; Marcellin le suit, mais n’entre qu’un siècle plus tard environ dans le
Bréviaire de la Curie papale.
La tombe primitive de
Marcellin a été retrouvée dans le cimetière de Priscille in cubiculo claro,
selon l’expression du Liber Pontificalis, près de celle du martyr Crescention.
La crypte est ornée de peintures, parmi lesquelles on voit la scène, très
rarement représentée, des trois enfants de Babylone refusant d’adorer la statue
d’or de Nabuchodonosor. Les pèlerins y ont tracé de nombreux graffiti.
Marcellin est mentionné
aussi dans une inscription gravée sur la balustrade (transenna) de marbre d’une
crypte du cimetière de Callixte. Il s’agit d’un cubiculum duplex cum arcisoliis
et luminare iussu papae sui Marcellini diaconus iste Severus fecit mansionem in
pace quietam sibi suisque.
La messe est celle du
Commun des Martyrs au temps pascal : Sancti tui.
La secrète est la
suivante : « Accueillez, ô Dieu, les prières que nous vous adressons à
l’occasion de la fête de vos saints ; et puisque nous ne pouvons avoir aucune
confiance en nos mérites, que nous assistent au moins ceux des saints qui vous
furent agréables. ». Pour plaire à Dieu, la prière doit être humble, comme
celle du pauvre publicain dans le temple. A l’inverse du pharisien orgueilleux
qui mettait toute confiance dans ses mérites et méprisait son prochain,
l’humilité chrétienne ne connaît qu’un mépris : celui de soi-même. Elle ne voit
chez les autres que les dons de Dieu, et invoque les immenses mérites de la
Communion des Saints pour suppléer à ses propres insuffisances spirituelles.
Dieu garde et venge
jalousement la réputation de ses serviteurs, conformément à ce qui est écrit au
sujet de Joseph : Sapientia... mendaces ostendit qui maculaverunt illum. Ainsi
des personnes intéressées ont pu émettre les plus étranges jugements sur le compte
de Marcellin ; cependant sa tombe, au cimetière de Priscille, est en vénération
de toute antiquité, et l’Église, qui est certainement assistée par le
Saint-Esprit, se recommande aujourd’hui à ses pieuses prières en le proposant à
la vénération des fidèles.
Dom Pius Parsch, le Guide
dans l’année liturgique
L’Église nous crie : «
Filles de Jérusalem, venez et voyez les martyrs avec leurs couronnes ; le
Seigneur les en a couronnés dans un jour de solennité et de joie, Alléluia,
Alléluia. »
Saint Clet — Clet,
d’après saint Irénée, est le même que saint Anaclet qui fut pape entre saint
Lin et saint Clément (78-90). Il connut encore des disciples de saint Pierre et
de saint Paul. Nous savons à son sujet qu’il orna les tombeaux des princes des
Apôtres. Il aurait été le premier à se servir dans ses lettres de ces mots :
Salut et bénédiction Apostolique. Il reçut la couronne du martyre sous
l’empereur Domitien et fut enterré au Vatican près de saint Pierre.
Saint Marcellin gouverna
l’Église (260-304) pendant la persécution de Dioclétien. Avec une sage
prévoyance, il fit construire dans les catacombes de vastes chambres qui
servirent pour la célébration du culte pendant les persécutions. Une de ces
chambres dans le cimetière de saint Callixte a été conservée en souvenir du
saint pape. On affirmait autrefois (sans doute à tort) que ce pape, au temps de
la persécution, avait brûlé de l’encens devant les idoles, mais qu’il avait
racheté cette faiblesse par un glorieux martyre. Son tombeau se trouvait dans
la catacombe de Priscille où il était très honoré.
Pratique : Saint
Marcellin fit construire de vastes chambres pour la célébration du culte
liturgique, des salles cachées et souterraines. Cela nous fait penser aux
églises provisoires des missions. Transportons-nous par la pensée au milieu de
la communauté liturgique dans ces églises de fortune.
La messe (Si diligis). —
Messe du commun des Souverains Pontifes, avec les oraisons au pluriel.
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/26-04-Sts-Clet-et-Marcellin-papes
_-_sacristy_-_Papa_Cleto_-_1592-1593_-_by_Palma_il_Giovane.jpg)
Pope Saint Cletus
Also
known as
Anacletus
Anacletus I
Cleto
formerly 13 July
Profile
Convert,
brought to the faith by Saint Peter
the Apostle, who ordained him.
Third pope.
He ordained an
undetermined number of priests during
his reign, but almost nothing else is known about him. Martyred in
the persecutions of Domitian.
May have been the Cletus that Saint Augustine
of Hippo wrote about.
He is mentioned in the Canon of
the Mass.
Born
Papal Ascension
c.89
relics in
Saint Linus Church, Vatican City
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
and Times of the Popes, by Alexis-François Artaud de Montor
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saints
of the Canon, by Monsignor John T McMahon
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
images
audio
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
notitia
in latin
MLA
Citation
“Pope Saint
Cletus“. CatholicSaints.Info. 17 July 2022. Web. 26 April 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-cletus/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-cletus/
Cletus, Pope M (RM)
(also known as Anacletus)
Died c. 91. The Roman Cletus, elected pope in the year 76, was the second
successor to Saint Peter after Saint Linus. Like Peter, he was fated to be a
martyr. He divided Rome into 25 parishes, and was put to death under the
Emperor Domitian around 91 AD. He was buried near Saint Linus on the Vatican,
where his relics remain. His name is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass
(Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0426.shtml
ANACLETUS (CLETUS), ST.
POPE
Pontificate, c. 80
to 92. Anacletus appears in the Liber pontificalis and the Roman
martyrology as two popes, both martyrs, with feasts on April 26 and July 13.
St. Irenaeus (Adv. haer. 3.3) and the liturgy of the Mass make him the
second successor of Peter. The Greek form of his name, Anencletus, was common
for slaves and may point to his social status. The third form of his name
Cletus, was simply a shortened form of the other two but is the one found in
the ancient canon of the mass. (see popes, list of). Eusebius (Hist. 3.13,
15, 21; 5.6) says that he died in the 12th year of Domitian's reign after a
12-year episcopate. The Liber pontificalis probably mistakes
Anacletus for anicetus as the builder of a burial monument for Peter. Modern
excavations show that Anacletus was not buried near Peter in the Vatican.
Bibliography: Liber
pontificalis, ed. L. Duchesne (Paris 1886–92) 1:xix–xx, 52–53. J. P. Kirsch, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques 2:1407–08. E. Caspar, Geschichte de Papsttums von den Anfängen bis zur Höhe der
Weltherrschaft (Tübingen 1930–33) 1:8–16. L. Koep, Reallexikon für
Antike Christentum, ed. T. Klauser [Stuttgart 1941 (1950)] 2: 410–415. E. Kirschbaum, Tombs of St. Peter and St.
Paul, tr. J. Murray (New
York 1959). G. Schwaiger, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. J. Hofer and K. Rahner (Freiberg 1957–65) 1:524. J. N. D. Kelly, Oxford
Dictionary of Popes, p.7
[E. G. Weltin]
New Catholic Encyclopedia
Saints of the
Canon – Saint Cletus
Saint Cletus, (sometimes
called Anacletus) succeeded Saint Linus and became the third Pope. He was
martyred about 90 A.D.
If the interesting
tradition that Cletus was a slave is true, it indicates that the Church’s
teaching on the spiritual equality of all men, be they bond or free, was put
into practice within the first century of her history.
– from The Saints of the Canon, by Monsignor John T.
McMahon, M.A., Ph.D; Australian Catholic Truth Society, 1958
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-canon-saint-cletus/
Article
Cletus, by nationality a
Roman, from the precinct Vicus Patricius, son of Emilianus, occupied the see 7
years, 1 month and 20 days.
He was bishop in
the time of Vespasian and Titus from of Domitian until the year when Domitian
was consul for the 9th time and Rufus was consul with him (a.d. 83).
He was crowned with martyrdom.
He, by direction of the
blessed Peter, ordained 25 priests in
the city of Rome in
the month of December.
He also was buried near
the body of the blessed Peter in the Vatican, April 26.
And the bishopric was
empty 20 days.
MLA
Citation
Louise Ropes Loomis,
PhD., translator. “Cletus”. Liber
Pontificalis, 1916. CatholicSaints.Info.
23 November 2015. Web. 26 April 2023. <https://catholicsaints.info/liber-pontificalis-cletus/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/liber-pontificalis-cletus/
Pope Anacletus, illustration from The Lives and Times of the Popes by Chevalier Artaud de Montor, New York: The Catholic Publication Society of America, 1911. It was originally published in 1842.
The
Lives and Times of the Popes – Saint Anacletus
Article
The Diario maintains that
Cletus and Anacletus are one and the same person; Novaes asserts that they were
not; and he says that Saint Cletus was the son of Emilian, and was created pope
on the 24th of September, A.D. 80. During the life and by the order of Saint
Peter, he divided Rome into twenty-five parishes, and placed them under the
direction of the same number of priests. From that statement it has been
inferred that Cletus was a coadjutor of Saint Peter in the suburban cities. We
must not give implicit credence to those authors who hold that Saint Cletus was
the first pontiff who, in the apostolic letters, used the formula “salutem et
apostolicam benedictionem.” That formula is not to be found before the time of
John V, who was created pope in 685. Saint Cletus is said to have originated
those pilgrimages to the churches of Rome which have since been called
Stations; and he is also said to have converted into a church his own house,
situated near the baths of Philip in the Rione de’ Monti. He is said to have
suffered martyrdom, during the second persecution of the Church, on the 26th of
April, in the year 93; and Novaes adds that he was interred at the Vatican. It
is stated, also, that the Holy See remained vacant for twenty days after his
decease.
Saint Anacletus was a
Greek, born at Athens, and, according to Novaes, was the son of Antiochus.
Under Saint Peter, he was deacon, priest, and subsequently bishop. He was
elected pontiff on the 3d of April, A.D. 78. He finished and dedicated the
basilica which was built on the spot where Saint Peter was martyred. Many
authors maintain that Cletus and Anacletus are but one and the same person –
neglecting to notice that the birthplace, the parentage, the works, and the
festivals appointed by the Church for each of these saints, quite clearly show
they are different. Panvini maintains this; nevertheless, the very learned
Father Lazzari, who was especially learned in sacred antiquity, read before the
Roman College, in 1755, a fine dissertation in which he maintained that Cletus
and Anacletus were one and the same person. He cited, in support of that
opinion, the authority of Papebrock. Cletus would have been pontiff in 73, but,
being exiled with the other Christians, he must have renounced the pontificate,
and was replaced by Clement I, up to the year 83. Then, Clement himself being
exiled, he, in his turn, renounced the pontificate in favor of the same Cletus,
his predecessor. Cletus, on being called to Rome, would quite naturally be
named Anacletus, that is to say, Revocato, the Recalled, or iterum Cletus. In
this manner Lazzari reconciles the authority of the ancient Fathers and the
ancient catalogues, which speak of Cletus and of Anacletus, while others
mention first Cletus and then Anacletus. For the opinion which confounds Cletus
and Anacletus, Papebrock, Dupin, Tillemont, Pearson, Baillet, Father Holloix,
and Natalis Alexander may be consulted; for the contrary opinion, the two
Pagis, Schelstrate, and Sandini.
Anacletus was
distinguished for a rare integrity and great learning. According to the authors
of the Art de Verifier les Dates, and the Diario, he died A.D. 91. Novaes says
that some decretals attributed to this pope are suspected by modern critics.
He belonged to the order
of regular canons, according to those who make that order coeval with Saint
Peter.
MLA
Citation
Alexis-François Artaud de
Montor. “Saint Anacletus”. The
Lives and Times of the Popes, 1911. CatholicSaints.Info.
22 July 2022. Web. 26 April 2023. <https://catholicsaints.info/the-lives-and-times-of-the-popes-saint-anacletus/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/the-lives-and-times-of-the-popes-saint-anacletus/
Pope St. Cletus
(Anacletus)
Pope from 76-88 A.D.
Died: 88 A.D.
aka "St. Anacletus"
How do we know he was pope?
Like St. Linus before him, St. Cletus is identified by St. Irenaeus in his
work Adversus haeresis ("Against Heresy").
Give me the scoop on Cletus.
Pope St. Cletus was pope for 12 years. Early Church writers sometimes used more
than one name to identify him -- Cletus, Anacletus, or Anencletus -- perhaps
like one today would use "Jimmy" and "James"
interchangeably for the same person. His feast day is celebrated on April 26,
and he is traditionally remembered as having been martyred for the faith.
What was he known for?
The tradition of the Church says that St. Cletus was known for ordaining 25
priests during his rule, and was buried near St. Peter in Rome after his death.
You can hear his name mentioned in the Roman Canon at Mass between
"Linus" and "Clement".
What else was going on in the world at the time?
Right around the beginning of St. Cletus' papacy, the cities of Pompeii and
Herculaneum were destroyed and buried after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius (79
A.D.).
Coming tomorrow....Pope St. Clement I
SOURCES:
- "Pope St. Cletus" - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04054a.htm
- "Pope St. Anacletus" - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01446a.htm
- "Pope Anacletus" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Anacletus
SOURCE : https://projects.flocknote.com/note/694406
Calcografia in Giovan Battista Cavalieri (1525–1601), Pontificum Romanorum effigies, Roma, Basa Domenico\Zanetti Francesco, 1580, Copper engraving, 11,5 x 8,1, Biblioteca comunale di Trento
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saints Cletus and Marcellinus, Popes, Martyrs
Article
Saint Cletus was the
third Bishop of Rome, and succeeded Saint Linus, which circumstance alone shows
his eminent virtue among the first disciples of Saint Peter in the West. He sat
twelve years, from 76 to 89. The canon of the Roman mass, Bede, and other martyrologists
style him a martyr. He was buried near Saint Linus, on the Vatican, and his
relics still remain in that church.
Saint Marcellinus
succeeded Saint Caius in the Bishopric of Rome in 296, about the time that
Diocletian set himself up for a deity, and impiously claimed divine honors. In
those stormy times of persecution, Marcellinus acquired great glory. He sat in
Saint Peter’s chair eight years, three months, and twenty-five days, dying in
304, a year after the cruel persecution broke out, in which he gained much
honor. He has been styled a martyr, though his blood was not shed in the cause
of religion.
Reflection – It is a
fundamental maxim of the Christian morality, and a truth which Christ has
established in the clearest terms, and in innumerable passages of the Gospel,
that the cross or sufferings and mortification are the road to eternal bliss.
They, therefore, who lead not here a crucified and mortified life, are unworthy
ever to possess the unspeakable joys of His kingdom. Our Lord himself, our
model and our head, walked in this path, and His great Apostle puts us in mind
that he entered into bliss only by his blood and by the cross.
MLA
Citation
John Dawson Gilmary Shea.
“Saints Cletus and Marcellinus, Popes, Martyrs”. Pictorial
Lives of the Saints, 1889. CatholicSaints.Info.
8 March 2014. Web. 26 April 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saints-cletus-and-marcellinus-popes-martyrs/>
Short
Lives of the Saints – Saint Cletus, Pope and Martyr
Entry
Saint Cletus, called also
Anacletus, displayed during his whole life a great zeal for the construction of
churches, and the conferring of Holy Orders upon worthy subjects. While still a
simple priest he founded a church dedicated to Saint Peter, who is supposed to
have converted and trained him to the sacred ministry. Saint Cletus became the
second successor of the Prince of the Apostles in the papal charge in the year
76, and suffered martyrdom under the emperor Diocletian in 89. Little is known
of the details of his life and death, except what is recorded in the Pontificale of
Damasus.
A sacred burden is this
life ye bear;
Look on it, lift it, bear it solemnly;
Stand up and walk beneath it steadfastly.
Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin,
But onward, upward, till the goal ye win.
– Anon
Favorite Practice – To
have a true zeal for the glory of the house of God.
MLA
Citation
Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly.
“Saint Cletus, Pope and Martyr”. Short
Lives of the Saints, 1910. CatholicSaints.Info.
14 April 2021. Web. 26 April 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/short-lives-of-the-saints-saint-cletus-pope-and-martyr/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/short-lives-of-the-saints-saint-cletus-pope-and-martyr/
_-_S._Cleto_16.JPG)
April
26
SS. Cletus and Marcellinus, Popes and Martyrs
ST. CLETUS was the third bishop of Rome, and succeeded St. Linus, which
circumstance alone shows his eminent virtue among the first disciples of St.
Peter in the West. He sat twelve years, from 76 to 89. The canon of the Roman
mass, (which Bossuet 1 and
all others agree to be of primitive antiquity,) Bede, and other Martyrologists,
style him a martyr. He was buried near St. Linus, on the Vatican, and his
relics still remain in that church. 2
St. Marcellinus succeeded St. Caius in the bishopric of Rome, in 296,
about the time that Dioclesian set himself up for a deity, and impiously
claimed divine honours. Theodoret says, 3 that
in those stormy times of persecution, Marcellinus acquired great glory. He sat
in St. Peter’s chair eight years, three months, and twenty-five days, dying in
304, a year after the cruel persecution broke out, in which he gained much
honour. He has been styled a martyr, though his blood was not shed in the cause
of religion, as appears from the Liberian Calendar, which places him among
those popes that were not put to death for the faith. 4
It is a fundamental maxim of the Christian morality, and a truth which Christ
has established in the clearest terms, and in innumerable passages of the
gospel, 5 that
the cross, or sufferings and mortification, are the road to eternal bliss.
They, therefore, who lead not here a crucified and mortified life, are unworthy
ever to possess the unspeakable joys of his kingdom. Our Lord himself, our
model and our head, walked in this path, and his great apostle puts us in
mind 6 that
he entered into bliss only by his blood and by the cross. Nevertheless, this is
a truth which the world can never understand, how clearly soever it be preached
by Christ, and recommended by his powerful example, and that of his martyrs and
of all the saints. Christians still pretend, by the joys and pleasures of this
world, to attain to the bliss of heaven, and shudder at the very mention of
mortification, penance, or sufferings. So prevalent is this fatal error, which
self-love and the example and false maxims of the world strongly fortify in the
minds of many, that those who have given themselves to God with the greatest
fervour, are bound always to stand upon their guard against it, and daily to
renew their fervour in the love and practice of penance, and to arm themselves
with patience against sufferings, lest the weight of the corruption of our
nature, the pleasures of sense, and flattering blandishments of the world, draw
them aside, and make them leave the path of mortification, or lose courage
under its labours, and under the afflictions with which God is pleased to
purify them, and afford them means of sanctifying themselves.
Note 1. Espos. de la Messe. [back]
Note 2. Certain French critics think Cletus and Anacletus to have been one
and the same person; but Orsi (t. 1, l. 2, n. 29, p. 282,) shows them to have
been distinct popes. Eusebius, indeed, confounds them, as he did Novatus and
Novatian, and the popes Marcellus and Marcellinus; mistakes to which, from the
likeness of names, the Greeks were the most liable, as they wrote at so great a
distance. But the Latins who had authentic records by them, could not be
mistaken; especially the author of the first part of the Liberian Calendar,
which appears, in most particulars, to be copied from the public registers of
the Roman church: which authorities make it appear that Cletus sat the third,
and Anacletus the fifth bishop of Rome. The church sometimes honours the same
saint on several days; but the most authentic monuments distinguish these
saints. On St. Cletus, and that he is not the same person with St. Anacletus,
called by some Anencletus, see A. Sandini, in Dissert. 4, ad Hist. Pontif.
Berti. Chron. Hist. Eccl. primi. sæc. t. 1, Orsi, &c. Some modern
pontificals tell us that he divided the city of Rome into twenty-five parishes,
and first built St. Peter’s church. The faithful celebrated the divine
mysteries in the catacombs, or vault, where the remains of the apostles were
deposited, and over their tomb St. Cletus might add some embellishments, or
enlarge this sacred place. See Bianchini, Notes on Anastasius’s Pontifical, t.
2, p. 61. [back]
Note 3. Theodoret, b. 2, c. 2. [back]
Note 4. Petilian, the Donatist bishop, objected to the Catholics, that
Marcellinus had sacrificed to idols, and had delivered up the holy scriptures
to the persecutors; also that his priests, Melchiades, Marcellus, and
Sylvester, were guilty of the same apostacy; but St. Austin entirely denied the
charge, (l. de unico bapt. contra Petilian. c. 16, t. 9, p. 541,) which was a
mere calumny of the Donatists. Yet upon this slander some others built another
fictitious history of his repentance in a pretended council of Sinuessa. The
author discovers himself to have been a barbarous half-Latin Goth, says
Coutant. (Append. ad ep. decretales, p. 27.) His forgery contradicts the
histories, customs, and language of that age. See Pagi ad an. 303. Natalis
Alexander, Tillemont, t. 5; Orsi, t. 3, &c. [back]
Note 5. Matt. v. 5,
10, xvi.
24, x.
38, xi.
12; Luke vi.
25, ix.
23, &c. [back]
Note 6. Hebr. ix.
12. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume IV: April. The Lives
of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/4/261.html
Pope St. Cletus
St. Cletus (sometimes Anacletus), the third Pope, governed the Roman Church
from about 76 to about 88 during the reigns of the Emperor Vespasian and of
Domitian.
St. Cletus has given earlier historians some trouble because of his name. Two
of the early lists of the popes, the so-called “Liberian Catalogue” and the
“Poem Against Marcion” list an Anacletus as well as a Cletus. Most ancient
lists, however, give the papal succession as Peter, Linus, Cletus, Clement; and
modern scholars agree that this is the correct listing. Anacletus is a variant
of Cletus, and this seems to have caused the difficulty.
The “Liber Pontificalis” says that his father was Emelianus and that Cletus was
a Roman by birth, and belonged to the quarter known as the Vicus Patrici. It
also tells us that he ordained twenty-five priests, and was buried in Vaticano
near the body of St. Peter. St. Cletus’ feast is celebrated along with that of
St. Marcellinus on the twenty-sixth of April.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/pope-saint-cletus/
Cletus, Pope M (RM)
(also known as Anacletus)
Died c. 91. The Roman Cletus, elected pope in the year 76, was the second
successor to Saint Peter after Saint Linus. Like Peter, he was fated to be a
martyr. He divided Rome into 25 parishes, and was put to death under the
Emperor Domitian around 91 AD. He was buried near Saint Linus on the Vatican,
where his relics remain. His name is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass
(Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0426.shtml
Pope St. Cletus
This name is only
another form for Anacletus,
the second successor
of St. Peter. It is true that
the Liberian Catalogue, a fourth-century list
of popes, so called because it ends with Pope
Liberius (d. 366), contains both names, as if they were
different persons.
But this is an error,
owing evidently to the existence of two forms of the same
name, one an abbreviation of the other. In the aforesaid catalogue
the papal succession is:
Petrus, Linus, Clemens, Cletus, Anacletus.
This catalogue, however, is the only authority previous to the sixth century
(Liber Pontificalis) for distinguishing two popes under
the names of Cletus and Anacletus.
The "Carmen adv.
Marcionem" is of the latter half of the fourth century, and its papal
list probably depends on the Liberian Catalogue. The
"Martyrologium Hieronymianum" mentions both "Aninclitus"
and "Clitus" (23 and 31 December), but on each occasion these names
are found in a list
of popes; hence the days mentioned cannot be looked on as specially consecrated to
these two persons.
Apart from these lists, all other ancient papal
lists, from the second to the fourth century, give as follows the
immediate succession of St. Peter:Linos, Anegkletos, Klemes (Linus, Anencletus, Clemens),
and this succession is certainly the right one.
It is that found in St. Irenæus and in the chronicles of the second and third
centuries. Both Africa and
the Orientadhered faithfully to this list, which is also given
in the very ancient Roman Canon of the Mass, except that in the
latter Cletus is the form used, and the same occurs in St.
Epiphanius, St.
Jerome, Rufinus, and in many fifth- and sixth-century lists. This
second successor
of St. Peter governed the Roman
Church from about 76 to about 88. The "Liber
Pontificalis" says that his father was Emelianus
and that Cletus was a Roman by birth, and belonged to the
quarter known as the Vicus Patrici. It also tells us that he ordained twenty-five priests,
and was buried in Vaticano near the body of St. Peter.
There
is historical evidence for only the last of these statements.
The feast of St. Cletus falls, with that of St.
Marcellinus, on 26 April; this date is already assigned to it in the
first edition of the "Liber
Pontificalis". (See POPE
SAINT CLEMENT I.)
Sources
LIGHTFOOT, Apostolic
Fathers, Pt. I: St. Clement of Rome (2nd ed., London, 1890), 201-345; DUCHESNE, Liber
Pontificalis, I, LXIX-LXX, 2-3, 52-53; HARNACK, Gesch. der alt-christl.
Lit. bis Eusebius, II-I, 144-202; Acta SS., April, III, 409-11; DE
SMEDT, Dissertationes selectæ in hist. eccles. (Ghent, 1876), 300-04.
Kirsch, Johann Peter. "Pope St. Cletus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 25 Apr.
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04054a.htm>.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04054a.htm
Pope St. Anacletus
The second successor
of St. Peter. Whether he was the same as Cletus, who is also
called Anencletus as well as Anacletus, has been the subject of
endless discussion. Irenaeus, Eusebius, Augustine, Optatus,
use both names indifferently as of one person. Tertullian omits
him altogether. To add to the confusion, the order is different. Thus Irenaeus has Linus, Anacletus, Clement;
whereas Augustine and Optatus putClement before Anacletus.
On the other hand, the "Catalogus Liberianus", the "Carmen
contra Marcionem" and the "Liber
Pontificalis", all most respectable for their antiquity,
make Cletus and Anacletus distinct from each other; while the
"Catalogus Felicianus" even sets the latter down as a Greek, the
former as aRoman. Among the moderns, Hergenröther (Hist.
de l'église, I 542, note) pronounces for their identity. So also the Bollandist De
Smedt (Dissert. vii, 1). Döllinger (Christenth.
u K., 315) declares that "they are, without doubt,
the same person"
and that "the 'Catalogue of Liberius' merits little confidence before
230." Duchesne, "Origines chrétiennes", ranges himself on that
side also but Jungmann (Dissert.
Hist. Eccl., I, 123) leaves the question in doubt.
The chronology is,
of course, in consequence of all this, very undetermined, but Duchesne, in his
"Origines", says "we are far from the day when the years,
months, and days of the Pontifical Catalogue can be given with any guarantee of
exactness. But is it necessary to
be exact about popes of
whom we know so
little? We can accept the list of Irenaeus — Linus, Anacletus,Clement, Evaristus, Alexander, Xystus, Telesphorus, Hyginus, Pius,
and Anicetus. Anicetus reigned certainly in
154. That is all we can say with assurance about primitive pontifical
chronology." That he ordained a
certain number of priests is
nearly all we have of positive record about him, but we know he
died a martyr,
perhaps about 91.
Campbell, Thomas. "Pope St. Anacletus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907.25 Apr.
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01446a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Gerard Haffner.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01446a.htm
Cletus.
Anacleto, santo e papa. Cromolitografia, 26 x 17,7, in L. Tripepi, Ritratti e
biografie dei romani pontefici: da S. Pietro a Leone 13, Roma, Vaglimigli
Davide, 1879. Biblioteca comunale di Trento, Trento
San Cleto (Anacleto) Papa
m. 88
Terzo papa dopo Pietro e
Lino, Anacleto ebbe un singolare destino: sdoppiato in due persone distinte,
Cleto e Anacleto, aveva due feste diverse nel Martirologio Romano, una quella
odierna, l'altra il 13 luglio. L'errore sembra sia dovuto a un antico copista
che stilando una lista dei papi inserì entrambi i nomi. Cleto in realtà è
solo un abbreviativo. Studi moderni, poi, hanno chiarito l'equivoco. Sulla base
degli studi del Duchesne, infatti, l'orientamento attuale è che Anacleto e
Cleto siano una sola persona: perciò la Congregazione dei riti nel 1960 abolì
la festa del 13 luglio, lasciando solo quella del 26 aprile. Pochi i dati
biografici di questo pontefice (ritratto qui a alto con il Pallio nella forma
antica, la stessa usata domenica da Benedetto XVI durante la Messa di inizio
pontificato). Di origine ateniese, fu papa dal 79 al 90, e si rese benemerito
per aver edificato una «memoria», un sepolcro a san Pietro, presso il quale fu
poi sepolto egli stesso. Altro personaggio con cui in passato si è confuso
Anacleto è anche Marcellino, che però fu papa quasi due secoli più tardi e il
cui martirio sembra fu aggiunto per motivi apologetici. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Anacleto =
invocato, chiamato, dal greco
Martirologio Romano: A
Roma, commemorazione di san Cleto, papa, che resse la Chiesa di Roma per
secondo dopo l’apostolo Pietro.
Ma sono uno o due? A lungo si è pensato a due papi distinti, nei primi secoli: Anacleto e Cleto. Poi è risultato che il secondo nome è solo un’abbreviazione familiare del primo. Ed esso, infatti, è ora registrato nella successione cronologica dei capi della Chiesa di Roma: Anacleto è il terzo, dopo Pietro e Lino (e pare che con Lino sia stato da giovane un collaboratore dell’Apostolo). Terzo, dunque, nella serie dei papi, e primo come romano, dopo il Pescatore di Galilea e il toscano Lino. Ma ci sono incertezze anche qui: forse la famiglia di Anacleto (nome chiaramente ellenico) era di origine ateniese.
Memorie assai antiche attribuiscono a lui la costruzione di una edicola sepolcrale, detta “memoria”, sul luogo della sepoltura di Pietro negli Orti vaticani: un territorio allora appartenente al demanio imperiale e formato da horti (giardini), da campi e da terreni incolti. Ad Anacleto si attribuisce anche la disposizione che vietava agli uomini di Chiesa di andare in giro con i capelli lunghi: un primo esempio di “tonsura ecclesiastica”.
Il suo pontificato si svolge per alcuni anni in pace, sotto l’imperatore Vespasiano (che regna dall’anno 69 al 79) e sotto il suo primo figlio Tito (7981). Al tempo di quest’ultimo, l’Italia conosce una delle più tremende sciagure della sua storia: la micidiale eruzione del Vesuvio nell’agosto 79, che distrugge Ercolano e Pompei. E poco dopo Roma vede sorgere il monumentale edificio destinato a diventare il suo emblema: l’Anfiteatro Flavio per i giochi pubblici, sede di lotte mortali tra gladiatori e di supplizi per i cristiani; il Colosseo, che dopo 19 secoli accoglierà ogni anno i successori di Pietro, di Lino e di Anacleto in preghiera nella Settimana santa.
Finisce presto il regno di Tito, e con l’arrivo di suo fratello Domiziano giunge pure la persecuzione. Ma non solo contro i cristiani. Anzi, le sue prime vittime sono gli ebrei, forzati a versare allo Stato il tributo dovuto al Tempio di Gerusalemme (distrutto da Tito). Una persecuzione per ragioni di bilancio, perché le grandi opere pubbliche hanno dissanguato le finanze imperiali; anche gli ebreocristiani devono pagare. Poi la persecuzione va a colpire i cristiani in genere, e non solo con sequestri e confische: contro di loro si lancia l’accusa di “ateismo” (ossia rifiuto di adorare le divinità romane tradizionali, “di Stato”). E quest’accusa comporta la pena capitale.
Non sappiamo come sia morto papa Anacleto. La persecuzione di Diocleziano ha infierito sui cristiani ancora dopo la sua scomparsa. Pure il luogo della sua sepoltura ci è sconosciuto, anche se si ritiene che sia nella zona degli Orti vaticani.
Autore: Domenico Agasso
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/50800
ANACLETO/CLETO, santo
di Francesco Scorza Barcellona - Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000)
Nella lista dei vescovi
romani fornita da Ireneo di Lione il successore di Lino e
predecessore di Clemente è
A. ('ΑνέγκλητοϚ). Eusebio
di Cesarea conferma la notizia, dicendo che A. fu il secondo vescovo
di Roma dopo Lino, che questi trasmise il ministero della Chiesa romana ad A.
nell'80 (Historia ecclesiastica III, 13; cfr. Chronicon, ad a. 80), e che A.
nel dodicesimo anno di Domiziano, dopo dodici anni di episcopato, fu sostituito
da Clemente (Historia ecclesiastica III, 15; cfr. Chronicon, ad a. 92). Dalla
metà del sec. IV, in documenti di origine romana come il Catalogo Liberiano, le
liste episcopali poi confluite nel Martyrologium Hieronymianum e il Liber
pontificalis, comincia a distinguersi un Clitus da Anaclitus, l'uno dopo
l'altro, in ordine cronologico, subito dopo Lino e Clemente, come nel Catalogo
Liberiano, oppure nell'ordine Lino-Cleto-Clemente-Anacleto ma con una
cronologia che di fatto pone Cleto e Anacleto dopo Clemente. Rispetto a queste
elaborazioni tardive meritano maggior credito le liste episcopali di Ireneo
di Lione e di Eusebio di Cesarea, che ammettono un unico vescovo di
nome Anacleto: questo assunto trova conferma in altri dati, come la notizia
dell'anonimo autore del trattato contro Artemone agli inizi del sec. III, che
nella sua lista contava Vittore come il tredicesimo vescovo di Roma a partire
da Pietro (Eusebio di Cesarea, Historia ecclesiastica V, 28, 3), secondo una
serie che non ammetterebbe lo sdoppiamento di A. se non a costo di considerare
Vittore il quattordicesimo a partire da Pietro. Le liste episcopali romane di
Ottato di Milevi e di Agostino - che pure nel porre Anacleto dopo Clemente si
ricollegano alle tradizioni poi confluite nel Liber pontificalis - confermano
la presenza del solo A., e così anche Epifanio (ΚλῆτοϚ) e Girolamo (⟨Anen>cletus). Le forme
ΚλῆτοϚ/Cletus/Clitus sarebbero rispettivamente varianti di 'ΑνέγκλητοϚ
/Anacletus/Anaclitus/Aneclitus, e come tali avrebbero dato origine allo
sdoppiamento del personaggio, forse già agli inizi del sec. IV, se non
precedentemente.
Secondo il Catalogo
Liberiano, che pone Cleto e Anacleto dopo Clemente, l'episcopato del primo
sarebbe durato sei anni, due mesi e dieci giorni dal 77 all'83. L'episcopato di
Anacleto sarebbe durato dodici anni, dieci mesi e tre giorni sotto Domiziano,
dall'84 al 95.
Il Liber pontificalis
presenta la serie Cleto-Clemente-Anacleto, mantenendo per ognuno di essi la
cronologia del Catalogo Liberiano. A Cleto il Liber pontificalis, nr. 3,
attribuisce, con evidente contraddizione, un episcopato di dodici anni, un mese
e undici giorni, dal 77 all'83, aggiungendo che Cleto sarebbe stato di origine
romana, della regione del "Vicus Patricii" (l'attuale zona di via
Urbana nel rione Monti), figlio di Emiliano, che sarebbe morto martire, che per
ordine di Pietro avrebbe proceduto all'ordinazione di venticinque presbiteri in
Roma e che sarebbe stato sepolto nel cimitero vaticano presso l'apostolo alla
data del 26 aprile: alla sua morte sarebbero seguiti venti giorni di vacanza
dell'episcopato. Il numero dei venticinque presbiteri ordinati da Cleto è forse
da mettersi in rapporto con quello dei venticinque tituli esistenti a Roma alla
fine del sec. V. Anche per Cleto, come per Lino cui è associato, dove nel Liber
pontificalis si afferma che il papa avrebbe proceduto alle ordinazioni "ex
praecepto beati Petri", si intenderebbe confermare l'opinione che egli
avrebbe operato in quanto vicario di Pietro ancora in vita, contraddicendo con
ciò le cronologie che lo stesso Liber pontificalis attribuisce a Pietro e a
Cleto.
Quanto ad A., posto dopo
Clemente, il Liber pontificalis, nr. 5, gli attribuisce nove anni di episcopato
(ma più correttamente rispetto alla cronologia adottata, dodici nella prima
redazione, come nel Catalogo Liberiano), dall'84 al 95, aggiungendo che sarebbe
stato greco di nascita, figlio di Antioco, che quando era stato ordinato
presbitero da Pietro avrebbe costruito una memoria di Pietro e altri luoghi per
la sepoltura dei vescovi, dove lui stesso sarebbe poi stato sepolto "iuxta
corpus beati Petri" alla data del 10 luglio (nella prima redazione si
doveva parlare di un'unica memoria). Avrebbe proceduto a due ordinazioni, per
un totale di cinque presbiteri, tre diaconi e sei vescovi, e alla sua morte si
sarebbe avuta una vacanza di tredici giorni (quindici nella prima redazione).
La scarsa storicità di queste notizie del Liber pontificalis su Cleto e
Anacleto si conferma tanto più in considerazione del fatto che, come si è
detto, i nomi dei due papi vanno ricondotti ad un unico personaggio.
Il solo Cleto è citato dopo
Lino e prima di Clemente nel Communicantes del canone romano della messa: ciò
conferma l'opinione che egli rientrasse nella categoria dei martiri, secondo
quanto affermato anche dal Liber pontificalis. La mancanza della menzione di A.
tra i vescovi romani ivi citati non costituisce di per sé la prova che A. fosse
escluso dalla lista tenuta presente dal suo redattore, in quanto dopo Lino,
Cleto e Clemente la lista dei vescovi di Roma non è citata nella sua
completezza.
Cleto e Anacleto dovevano
comparire come personaggi distinti nella lista episcopale romana introdotta nel
Martyrologium Hieronymianum alla data del 23 dicembre, il solo Cleto in quella
del 31 dicembre. Nel Martyrologium di Beda si commemora Cleto il 26 aprile, e
così anche in un testimone della seconda recensione del Martyrologium
Hieronymianum, il ms. Bernensis 289 (fine del sec. VIII). Alla stessa data nel
Martyrologium di Floro ricorre la commemorazione di Anacleto, seguito in questo
dal Martyrologium di Adone, che però introduce la commemorazione di Cleto alla
data del 13 luglio. Nel Martyrologium Romanum Baronio pose la commemorazione di
Cleto il 26 aprile (riprendendo l'elogio di A. secondo Floro alla stessa data),
e al 13 luglio quella di Anacleto. La commemorazione di A. al 13 luglio fu
soppressa nel 1960; successivamente, nel Calendarium Romanum promulgato nel
1969, è stata espunta anche la commemorazione di Cleto il 26 aprile, per
l'incertezza del giorno della deposizione e della sua reale condizione di
martire. Una tradizione priva di fondamento storico, attestata per la prima
volta da F. Ughelli, fa di Cleto il primo vescovo di Ruvo di Puglia,
appositamente inviatovi da Pietro. Il culto del santo è connesso alla
cosiddetta cripta di S. Cleto posta sotto la chiesa del Purgatorio, probabile
resto di una cisterna romana dell'età degli Antonini, se non dei Severi. Non
sembra del resto che la città pugliese sia stata sede episcopale prima del sec.
VI-VII. Sono falsi medievali le tre epistole attribuite ad A. nella raccolta
delle Decretales pseudoisidoriane (sec. IX), che hanno per oggetto questioni di
carattere disciplinare e giurisdizionale.
fonti e bibliografia
Ireneo di Lione, Adversus
haereses III, 3, 3, a cura di A. Rousseau-L. Doutreleau, Paris 1974 (Sources
Chrétiennes, 211), pp. 36-8.
Eusebio di Cesarea,
Historia ecclesiastica III, 13; 15; 21; V, 6, 2; 28, 3, a cura di E. Schwartz,
Leipzig 1903 (Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller. Eusebius Werke, II,
1), pp. 228, 236, 438, 500-02.
Id., Chronicon, ad aa.
80, 92, a cura di R. Helm, Berlin 1956 (Die Griechischen Christlichen
Schriftsteller. Eusebius Werke, VII), pp. 189, 192.
Le Liber pontificalis, a
cura di L. Duchesne, I, Paris 1886, pp. XC-XCI, CII, 52-5, 122 (Cletus), 125
(Aneclitus).
Catalogo Liberiano,
ibid., pp. 2-3; Epifanio di Salamina, Panarion 27, 6, 2, a cura di K. Holl,
Leipzig 1915 (Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller. Epiphanius Werke,
I), pp. 308-09.
Ottato di Milevi, De
schismate Donatistarum II, 3, a cura di M.Labrousse, Paris 1995 (Sources
Chrétiennes, 412), pp. 244-46.
Rufino di Aquileia,
Recognitiones, prologus 13-15, a cura di B. Rehm, Berlin 1965 (Die Griechischen
Christlichen Schriftsteller, 51), pp. 4-5.
Constitutiones
apostolorum VII, 46, a cura di M. Metzger, Paris 1986 (Sources Chrétiennes,
329), pp. 108-09.
Agostino, Epistula 53,
1.2, a cura di Al. Goldbacher, Pragae-Vindobonae-Lipsiae 1895 (Corpus
Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, 34, 1), pp. 153-54.
Martyrologium
Hieronymianum, in H. Delehaye, Commentarius perpetuus in Martyrologium
Hieronymianum [...], in Acta Sanctorum Novembris [...], II, pars posterior,
Bruxellis 1931, pp. 16-8 (31 dicembre: Cleto), 210-11 (26 aprile: Cleto),
662-63 (23 dicembre: Cleto e Anacleto).
Martyrologium di Beda,
Martyrologium di Floro, Édition pratique des Martyrologes de Bède, de l'Anonyme
Lyonnais et de Florus, a cura di J. Dubois-G. Renaud, Paris 1976, p. 72 (26
aprile).
Le Martyrologe d'Adon. Ses
deux familles. Ses trois recensions. Texte et commentaire, ivi 1984, p. 134.
Martyrologium Romanum
[...] scholiis historicis instructum, in Propylaeum ad Acta Sanctorum
Decembris, Bruxellis 1940, coll. 156-57 (26 aprile: Cleto), 284-85 (13 luglio:
Anacleto).
Calendarium Romanum ex
decreto sacrosancti oecumenici concilii Vaticani II instauratum auctoritate
Pauli PP. VI promulgatum, In Civitate Vaticana 1969, p. 121.
Per le decretali
falsamente attribuite ad A. v. l'edizione di P. Hinschius, Decretales pseudo-Isidorianae
et Capitula Angilramni [...], Lipsiae 1863, pp. 66-87.
Studi
Ecclesiastica Historia
[...] per aliquot studiosos et pios viros in urbe Magdeburgica, Centuria I,
Liber II, Caput X, Basileae 1562, coll. 626-27.
C. Baronio, Annales
ecclesiastici, I, Romae 1588, pp. 639, 684 (Cleto); II, ivi 1590, pp. 20, 48
(Anacleto).
F. Ughelli, Italia sacra,
VII, Venetiis 1721, coll. 763-64; Acta Sanctorum [...], Aprilis, III,
Antverpiae 1675, pp. 409-11 (Cleto).
[L.-S.] Lenain de
Tillemont, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique des six premiers
siècles, t. II, Venise 1732, pp. 151-54, 522, 546.
Acta Sanctorum [...],
Iulii, III, Antverpiae 1733, pp. 479-81 (Anacleto).
V.L. Kennedy, The Saints
of the Canon of the Mass, Città del Vaticano 1963, pp. 119-21; P. Testini,
Le prime memorie cristiane e la cripta detta di san Cleto a Ruvo, "Vetera
Christianorum", 4, 1967, pp. 185-210 (poi in Puglia Paleocristiana, I,
Bari 1970, pp. 333-64, in partic. pp. 302-04); G. Otranto, Puglia e Italia
Meridionale paleocristiane, Bari 1991, p. 138 e n. 50.
A Dictionary of Christian
Biography, I, London 1877, s.v., p. 578.
Dictionnaire de théologie
catholique, I, Paris 1930, s.v., coll. 1141-42.
Vies des Saints et des
Bienheureux, IV, ivi 1946, s.v., pp. 655-56.
Catholicisme, I, ivi
1948, s.v., col. 1248.
E.C., I, s.v., col. 1126.
F. Caraffa-D. Valori,
Anacleto, in B.S., I, coll. 1032-36.
Iconographie de l'art
chrétien, III, 1, Paris 1958, s.v., p. 70.
New Catholic
Encyclopaedia, I, Washington 1967, s.v., col. 1248.
Lexikon der christlichen
Ikonographie, V, Rom 1973, s.v., col. 128.
Biographisch-bibliographisches
Kirchenlexikon, I, Hamm 1975, s.v., col. 1155.
Lexikon für Theologie und
Kirche, I, Freiburg 1993³, s.v., coll. 573-74.
Il grande libro dei
Santi. Dizionario enciclopedico, I, Cinisello Balsamo 1998, s.v., p. 115.
Per le fonti agiografiche
tardive cfr. Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina [...], I, Bruxellis 1898-99, pp.
66 (Anacletus), 281 (Cletus); ibid., Novum Supplementum, a cura di H. Fros, ivi
1986, pp. 51 (Anacletus), 216 (Cletus).
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/santo-anacleto-cleto_(Enciclopedia-dei-Papi)
Voir aussi : https://www.introibo.fr/13-07-St-Anaclet-Clet-pape-et
https://compilhistoire.pagesperso-orange.fr/Clet.htm
http://orthodoxievco.net/ecrits/vies/synaxair/avril/clet.pdf
