MEMORIAL OF SAINT DAMASUS I, POPE – FEAST DAY – DECEMBER 11TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Damasus I, Pope. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we humbly pray for God’s grace and mercy as we prepare for the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ during this season of Advent. Praying for hope, faith, love, joy and peace in our world today, as we face these incredibly challenging times. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the safety and well-being of all those traveling during this season of Christmas. Amen🙏

SAINT DAMASUS I, POPE: Pope St. Damasus I (306-384 A.D.) was Supreme Pontiff from 366 to 384. Saint Damasus was 60 years old and a deacon when he was elected Pope during a troubled but pivotal period of the Church. He was a very learned man, well versed in the Scriptures. Pope Saint Damasus I was born into a Christian family in Rome at the beginning of the fourth century in 306. His father, a widower, had received Holy Orders there and served as parish priest in the church of St. Lawrence. Saint Damasus became a deacon and served at the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Rome where his father served as priest. After the death of Pope Liberius, Damasus was elected Pope in the year 366 A.D. Violence broke out in which 137 people died as a rival pope incited a revolt against Damasus in Rome and was also elected, the two factions fought to enforce their candidate. St. Damasus was confirmed as the rightful pope by the Roman Emperor, and the anti-pope was banished from the city. Pope Damasus chose the scripture scholar St. Jerome as his personal secretary, to whom he commissioned the translation of the Bible from Greek into Latin (the Latin Vulgate). It was during Damasus’ reign that Christianity was declared the religion of the Roman state. Pope Damasus also called and presided over the Council of Rome in 382 A.D. to clarify and determine the canon or official list of Sacred Scripture.

Throughout his papacy, St. Damasus spoke out against major heresies in the church and encouraged production of the Vulgate Bible with his support for St. Jerome. Shortly after his reign the 72 books of the Bible, hitherto scattered in different parts of the Orient, were collected into one volume. He defended the rights of the Holy See, he helped reconcile the relations between the Church of Rome and the Church of Antioch, he worked to preserve the catacombs, drained the swamps of Rome, and advocated for devotion to the Christians martyred under the Roman persecutions. He beautified the Roman resting places of the Christian dead and of the saints. He also confirmed the practice of singing the Psalms day and night in the churches and adding a Glory Be at the end of each Psalm. Saint Damasus is praised by Theodoret as head of the famous doctors of divine grace of the Latin church. The General Council of Chalcedon calls him the “honor and glory of Rome.” Having reigned for eighteen years and two months, he died on December 11, 384, when he was nearly eighty years old. In the eighth century, his relics were definitively placed in the church of Saint Lawrence in Damaso, except for his head, which was conserved in the Basilica of Saint Peter. St. Damasus I is the Patron Saint of Archeologists, against fever. His feast day is December 11.

PRAYER: Lord, grant that we may always celebrate the merits of Your Martyrs in imitation of St. Damasus who loved and venerated them. Amen🙏