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let them make objections to the multitude, that they may be made manifest, and let them provide what is needed according to the judgment of the one presiding. And if they do this even secretly from him, they do not sin. Let the deacons, therefore, take care of these and similar matters.
Let the catechists, having first been catechized, catechize; for the work is concerning the souls of men. For the teacher of the words must adapt himself to the many minds of those who are learning. Therefore, the catechist must be learned and blameless, experienced and fearless, as you yourselves will know Clement, who is to catechize after me. For it is a great task for me now to speak on every point. But if you are of one mind, you will be able to be carried into the harbor of rest, where there is the peaceful city of the great King.
For the whole business of the church is like a great ship, carrying men through a violent storm who are from many places and wish to inhabit a certain city of a good kingdom. Let God, therefore, be your ship's master, and let the pilot be likened to Christ, the lookout to the bishop, the sailors to the presbyters, the boatswains to the deacons, the paymasters to the catechists, the passengers to the multitude of the brethren, the deep to the world, the contrary winds to temptations, and the persecutions and dangers and all kinds of afflictions to the great waves, and the land-breezes from the torrents [and the] blasts to the discourses of deceivers and false prophets, and the promontories and rugged places to the judges in high places who threaten terrible things, and the places where two seas meet and are full of beasts to the unreasonable and those who doubt concerning the promises of the truth. Let the hypocrites be understood as likened to pirates.
But consider sins alone to be a strong dizziness and a hellish whirlpool and deadly shipwrecks and fatal dissolutions. Therefore, that you may be carried more safely with a fair wind into the harbor of the hoped-for city, pray so as to be heard; for prayers are heard through good deeds. Let the passengers, therefore, sit steadily in their own places, lest by their disorder they cause a commotion or a listing to one side. Let the paymasters remind them of their wages. Let the deacons neglect nothing of what they have been entrusted with. Let the presbyters, like sailors, diligently prepare what is needed for each. Let the bishop, as the lookout, being vigilant, heed only the words of the pilot. Let Christ, as the savior-pilot, be loved and alone be believed in what He says. And let all pray to God for a fair voyage. Let those who sail expect every affliction, as they sail past the great and turbulent deep of the world; at one time being disheartened, persecuted, scattered, hungry, thirsty, naked, distressed, and again [at another time] being united, gathered together, at peace; but also being seasick, dizzy, vomiting (that is, confessing your transgressions like disease-causing biles—I mean the sins from bitterness and the evils accumulated from disorderly desires, which by confessing, as if vomiting, you are lightened of the disease, receiving the saving health that comes from diligence). But know, all of you, that the bishop toils more than all of you, because each of you suffers his own affliction, but he suffers his own and that of each one. Therefore, O Clement, preside as a helper to each one as far as possible, having taken on the cares of all. Wherefore, in your undertaking to administer, I know I have received a favor, not given one. But be of good courage and bear it nobly, knowing that God will repay you, when you have reached the harbor of rest, with the greatest of goods, an inalienable reward, inasmuch as you have undertaken the greater labor for the salvation of all. So that if many of the brethren should hate you on account of your extreme righteousness, their hatred will not harm you at all, but the
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πλήθει προσαντιβαλλέτωσαν, ἵν' ἐπιφαίνωνται, καὶ τὰ δέοντα ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ προκαθεζομένου γνώμῃ παρεχέτωσαν· τοῦτο δὲ κἂν λάθρα αὐτοῦ ποιῶσιν, οὐχ ἁμαρτάνουσιν. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια οἱ διάκονοι προνοείτωσαν.
Oἱ κατηχοῦντες πρῶτον κατηχηθέντες κατηχείτωσαν· ὅτι περὶ ψυχῆς ἀνθρώπων τὸ ἔργον· πρὸς γὰρ τὰς πολλὰς τῶν μανθανόντων γνώμας συναρμόζεσθαι δεῖ τὸν τῶν λόγων ὑφηγητήν. πολυμαθῆ οὖν καὶ ἀνεπίληπτον πέπειρόν τε καὶ ἄδειλον τὸν κατηχοῦντα εἶναι δεῖ, ὡς αὐτοὶ εἴσεσθε Κλήμεντα μετ' ἐμὲ κατηχεῖν μέλλοντα· πολὺ γάρ ἐστιν ἐμὲ νῦν τὸ κατ' εἶδος λέγειν. πλὴν ἐὰν ὁμονοήσητε, δυνήσεσθε εἰς τὸν τῆς ἀναπαύσεως ἐνεχθῆναι λιμένα, ἔνθα μεγάλου βασιλέως ἐστὶν εἰρηνικὴ πόλις.
Ἔοικεν γὰρ ὅλον τὸ πρᾶγμα τῆς ἐκκλησίας νηὶ μεγάλῃ, διὰ σφοδροῦ χειμῶνος ἄνδρας φερούσῃ ἐκ πολλῶν τόπων ὄντας καὶ μίαν τινὰ ἀγαθῆς βασιλείας πόλιν οἰκεῖν θέλοντας. ἔστω μὲν οὖν ὑμῖν ὁ ταύτης δεσπότης θεὸς καὶ παρεικάσθω ὁ μὲν κυβερνήτης Χριστῷ, ὁ πρωρεὺς ἐπισκόπῳ, οἱ ναῦται πρεσβυτέροις, οἱ τοίχαρχοι διακόνοις, οἱ ναυστολόγοι τοῖς κατηχοῦσιν, τοῖς ἐπιβάταις τὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν πλῆθος, τῷ βυθῷ ὁ κόσμος, αἱ ἀντίπνοιαι τοῖς πειρασμοῖς, οἱ δὲ διωγμοὶ καὶ οἱ κίνδυνοι καὶ παντοδαπαὶ θλίψεις ταῖς τρικυμίαις, τὰ δὲ ἀπόγεια τῶν χειμάρρων [καὶ τὰ] φυσήματα ταῖς τῶν πλάνων καὶ ψευδοπροφητῶν ὁμιλίαις, τὰ δὲ ἀκρωτήρια καὶ τὰ τραχέα τῶν τόπων τοῖς ἐν ὑπεροχαῖς δεινὰ ἀπειλοῦσι δικασταῖς, διθάλασσοι δὲ καὶ θηριώδεις τόποι τοῖς ἀλογίστοις καὶ ἐνδοιάζουσι περὶ τῶν τῆς ἀληθείας ἐπαγγελμάτων. οἱ ὑποκριταὶ τοῖς πειραταῖς παρεικασμένοι νοείσθωσαν.
Πλὴν ἰσχυρὰν ἴλιγγα καὶ ταρταρέαν χάρυβδιν καὶ φόνια προσρήγματα καὶ θανατώδεις διαλύσεις μόνας τὰς ἁμαρτίας [αἰτίας] εἶναι νομίζετε. ἵνα οὖν οὐρίᾳ πλέοντες εἰς τὸν λιμένα τῆς ἐλπιζομένης πόλεως ἀκινδυνότερον ἐνεχθῆτε, ἐπηκόως εὔχεσθε· εὐχαὶ δὲ ἐπήκοοι γίνονται ταῖς εὐπραγίαις. εὐσταθείτωσαν οὖν οἱ ἐπιβάται ἑδραῖοι ἐπὶ τῶν ἰδίων καθεζόμενοι τόπων, ἵνα μὴ τῇ ἀταξίᾳ σεισμὸν ἢ ἑτεροκλινίαν παρέχωσιν. οἱ ναυστολόγοι τοὺς μισθοὺς ὑπομιμνησκέτωσαν. οἱ διάκονοι μηδὲν ἀμελείτωσαν ὧν ἐπιστεύθησαν. οἱ πρεσβύτεροι ὥσπερ ναῦται καταρτιζέτωσαν ἐπιμελῶς τὰ χρῄζοντα ἑκάστῳ. ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ὡς πρωρεὺς ἐγρηγορὼς τοῦ κυβερνήτου μόνου τοὺς λόγους ἀντιβαλλέτω. ὁ Χριστὸς ὡς σωτὴρ κυβερνήτης φιλείσθω καὶ μόνος περὶ ὧν λέγει πιστευέσθω. οἱ δὲ πάντες τῷ θεῷ περὶ τοῦ οὐρίᾳ πλέειν προσευχέσθωσαν. οἱ πλέοντες πᾶσαν θλίψιν προσδοκάτωσαν ὡς μέγαν καὶ ταραχώδη βυθὸν παραπλέοντες τὸν κόσμον· ὁτὲ μὲν ἀθυμοῦντες, διωκόμενοι, σκορπιζόμενοι, πεινῶντες, διψῶντες, γυμνητεύοντες, στενοχωρούμενοι, καὶ πάλιν [ὁτὲ μὲν] ἑνούμενοι, συναλιζόμενοι, ἡσυχάζοντες· ἀλλὰ καὶ ναυτιῶντες, ἰλιγγιῶντες, ἀπερῶντες (τουτέστιν ἐξομολογούμενοι τὰ παραπτώματα ὥσπερ νοσοποιοὺς χολάς, τὰς ἐκ πικρίας ἁμαρτίας λέγω καὶ τὰ ἐξ ἐπιθυμιῶν ἀτάκτων σωρευθέντα κακά, ἅτινα τῷ ὁμολογῆσαι ὥσπερ ἀπεράσαντες κουφίζεσθε τῆς νόσου, προσιέμενοι τὴν ἐκ τῆς ἐπιμελείας σωτήριον ὑγείαν). πλὴν γινώσκετε πάντες πάντων ὑμῶν πλεῖον κάμνοντα τὸν ἐπίσκοπον, ὅτι ἕκαστος ὑμῶν τὴν αὑτοῦ θλίψιν πάσχει, αὐτὸς δὲ τὴν αὑτοῦ καὶ τὴν ἑκάστου. διό, ὦ Κλήμης, ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν προκαθέσθητι βοηθός, τὰς πάντων φορτισθεὶς φροντίδας. ὅθεν τὸ σὲ οἰκονομεῖν ἀναδέξασθαι χάριν οἶδα εἰληφώς, οὐ δεδωκώς. ἀλλὰ θάρρει καὶ γενναίως φέρε ὡς εἰδὼς ὅτι ἀποδώσει σοι ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸν λιμένα τῆς ἀναπαύσεως καταντήσαντι τὸ μέγιστον τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ἀναφαίρετον μισθόν, καθότι ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν πάντων σωτηρίας τὸν μείζονα ἀνεδέξω κάματον. ὥστε ἐάν σε πολλοὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν διὰ ἐπ' ἄκρον δικαιοσύνην μισήσωσιν, τὸ αὐτῶν μὲν μῖσος οὐδέν σε βλάψει, ἡ δὲ τοῦ