An early bishop of Rome after Peter and Linus, also called Cletus. He shepherded the Roman Church in a time of persecution and has long been honored in tradition as a martyr.
Life
Pope Anacletus is remembered as the third bishop of Rome, after the Apostle Peter and Pope Linus. He is also called Cletus, and his name appears among the saints in the first Eucharistic Prayer of the Mass.
He appears to have led the Roman Church in the late first century, but almost nothing about his life and work is known for certain, and the account of his martyrdom is a later tradition. The Church remembers him as a shepherd of the early Roman Church, close to the age of the apostles.
Spirituality
Pope Anacletus' spirituality is the faithfulness of passing on to the next generation the faith received from the apostles. When Peter's teaching was still fresh in memory, he served as a bridge that guarded and handed on that faith.
Reflection
Pope Anacletus handed the apostles' faith on to the next generation. How am I passing the faith on to my children and to those who come after me?