Rejoice, you barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, you that travailest not; for she that is desolate has many more children than she that has an husband. In that He said, Rejoice, you barren that bearest not, He referred to us, for our church was barren before that children were given to her. But when He said, Cry out, you that travailest not, He means this, that we should sincerely offer up our prayers to God, and should not, like women in travail, show signs of weakness.
And in that He said, For she that is desolate has many more children than she that has an husband, [He means] that our people seemed to be outcast from God, but now, through believing, have become more numerous than those who are reckoned to possess God. And another Scripture says, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. This means that those who are perishing must be saved. For it is indeed a great and admirable thing to establish not the things which are standing, but those that are falling.
Thus also did Christ desire to save the things which were perishing, and has saved many by coming and calling us when hastening to destruction.
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St. Clement of Rome ( - )
St. Clement was the bishop of Rome and third in succession from St. Peter. Around the year 95 AD, a letter was written by the Church of Rome to the Church at Corinth that is attributed to Saint Clement. This document is the earliest Christian writing besides the New Testament documents. In fact, the Gospel of John is likely written around the same time as this document. This "first letter of Clement" (a second letter was falsely attributed to him) was copied by the Corinthian Church and circulated all over the empire, rendering the very first papal "encyclical." It was so highly regarded by the universal church that for several centuries the Church in Egypt and elsewhere regarded it as one of the New Testatment scriptures.The Church of St. Clement is one of the most fascinating places in Rome. Excavations revealed that the medieval Church, built in the 12th century, actually was built on top of a 4th century Church which was in turn built over a house church going back to the first century. It is very possible that this was the house of St. Clement himself.