Once upon a time there was an early bishop of Rome named Clement. If you look up the word clement in the dictionary, you will find it means mild and merciful, and Clement was all that. Like St. Felix (Pope) he tried to witness his belief in Christ and outwit those who would kill him for it. Often there was no place to hide, and the Christians had to face the fact that they would most likely be caught. So Clement was not surprised when he was captured.

But for some reason, the Emperor Trajan did not throw Clement to the lions or have him beheaded. Instead, Trajan banished Clement to the country of Crimea. The bishop knew he could never come back to Rome, but he realized that God must have work for him to do in this unknown land. Many of his friends went with him to show their love, and so Clement had company to work with him in the marble quarries of Crimea.

It was hard, hot, dusty work and they suffered because the supply of water ran out. If they had been Indians, perhaps they would have danced a prayer for rain, but instead they knelt and swayed and bowed as they asked God to please send cool, clear water to soothe their throats and quench their thirsts. 

While they were praying, trying to think about God's grace coming down like rain, a small white lamb came out from under the pucker brush and nuzzled Clement's arm. Clement had never seen the animal before, nor any lamb for that matter, so he knew that the lamb must have been sent by our Lord. He followed the animal who led him to a grassy spot nearby and pawed the ground until Clement understood. He took a shovel and pick and began digging with all his strength.

"Keep praying, friends!" he yelled back to his companions, and before two minutes passed, a stream of water gushed from the hole. Everyone ran to it and washed their faces and swallowed large gulps of the water and danced in their wet clothes. When Clement turned to thank the lamb, there was no sign of him, not in the puckerbrush, not anywhere, ever again.

Because of this, many of the other slaves began to believe in this Christ of whom Clement spoke. This so angered the Emperor, who thought he had gotten rid of this Christian bother, that he ordered the soldiers to tie an anchor around Clement and toss him into the sea, so no one would ever find him. His friends went searching for him and prayed God to direct them. As they stood on the shore, the sea went back three miles until Clement's body was found, in a marble shrine which the angels had built for him at the bottom of the sea.

Whenever you see a picture of St. Clement, you will see that he has an anchor around him. One church in England has an anchor instead of a rooster for a weather vane in St. Clement's honor. Perhaps that is why we call it "Clement" weather- when the weather is good!

Source: Once upon a time Saints. Ethel Pochocki.