In some churches, having a Sunday fall on the day of your patron saint would call for a celebration. I have to confess that we let this slip us by at St Clement’s Oxford.

Instead we remembered the persecuted church. Clement, as an early leader of the Christian church and quite possibly a martyr himself (not all sources mention what would seem to be a key biographical fact, although this is where his association with anchors comes from) would probably approve. Apparently, it is estimated that about 75% of current global persecution on the basis of religion is directed against Christians. The global church is not entirely blameless, perpetrating some fraction of the remaining 25% and having numerous blots on it’s historical record but it would not be unreasonable to suggest that, as a whole and certainly in modern times, Christians are more “sinned against” than “sinning” in this regard.

The worst I suffered for my journey to church today was that it was rather wet but I remember not just Clement but also hundreds of thousands of contemporary believers who face much deeper challenges.