- 2 Timothy 2:15 -
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who
does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
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What you are is God's gift to you; what you do with yourself is your gift to
God.
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December 11th - Pope St. Damasus I
Born c. 304; died in Rome in 384. In short, St. Damasus was a pope whose
authority was challenged but who had great literary taste. Damasus appears
to have been born in Rome-the son of a priest of Spanish extraction. He
never married but became a deacon in the Spanish church of St. Laurence,
where his father served. When Pope Liberius died in 366, Damasus, then about
60, was chosen bishop of Rome. His election was highly contested, and a
minority elected an antipope, Ursinus, whom they supported with violence.
The opposition was put down by great cruelty by the civil authorities, and
Ursinus was exiled by Emperor Valentinian. The opposition was not put down
immediately, however, and as late as 378, a synod cleared Damasus of a
charge of incontinence cast against him by his opponents.
He enforced Valentinian's edict of 370 forbidding gifts by widows and
orphans to bishops. He was also a vigorous opponent of Arianism,
Apollinarianism, and other heresies. He sent legates to the Council of
Constantinople in 381, which accepted papal teaching, again condemned
Arianism, and denounced the view of Macedonius that the Holy Spirit is not
divine. The place of the Church was stabilized when, in 380, orthodox
Christianity was recognized by the emperors Gratian and Theodosius I as the
religion of the Roman state.
Damasus also devoted much effort to gathering the relics and resting places
of Roman martyrs, and to restoring the sacred catacombs, and to drawing up
instructions for their care. He composed many beautiful epitaphs-many of
which still exist-for the tombs of the martyrs and encouraged pilgrimages to
the tombs. Unfortunately, these epitaphs have little historical value
because the true histories of many Roman martyrs were already lost or nearly
forgotten by that time.
He had placed in the papal crypt of the cemetery of St. Callistus a general
epitaph that ends, "I, Damasus, wished to be buried here, but I feared to
offend the ashes of these holy ones." He was buried with his mother and
sister at a small church he had built on the Via Ardeatina.
By far the most influential action of Damasus was his patronage of Saint
Jerome. He commissioned Jerome to write his Biblical commentaries and to
revise the Latin text of the Bible, which yielded the Vulgate version of the
Bible. St. Jerome, who served as his secretary for a time, called him "an
incomparable man." (Elsewhere I read that St. Jerome left Rome when Damasus
was elected in preference to himself-Jerome was too irascible to be pope.)
As a biblical scholar, Damasus published the canon of the Holy Scripture,
specifying the authentic books of the Bible as decreed by a council in Rome
in 374. He also saw to the collection and housing of papal archives
(Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, White).
In art St. Damasus is a pope holding a ring. Sometimes he is shown with St.
Jerome; or restoring sacred buildings (Roeder). Or, he may hold a screen
with "Gloria Patri," etc., upon it; or be shown with a church door behind
him (White). St. Damasus is the patron saint of archaeologists (White).
This Version taken from:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm
Saint Quote:
"We can actually come and adore Him like the shepherd; we can prostrate
ourselves before Him like the Magi; we need no longer regret our no having
been present at Bethlehem or on Calvary."
-Bl. Peter Julian Eymard
Bible Quote
21 For to me, to live is Christ; and to die is gain. 22 And if to live in
the flesh, this is to me the fruit of labour, and what I shall choose I know
not. 23 But I am straitened between two: having a desire to be dissolved and
to be with Christ, a thing by far the better. (Philippians 1:21-23)
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LITANY OF SAINT JOSEPH
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary , pray for us .
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Illustrious son of David, etc.
Light of the patriarchs,
Spouse of the Mother of God,
Chaste guardian of the Virgin,
Foster-father of the Son of God,
Watchful defender of Christ,
Head of the Holy Family,
Joseph most just,
Joseph most chaste,
Joseph most prudent,
Joseph most valiant,
Joseph most obedient,
Joseph most faithful,
Mirror of patience,
Lover of poverty,
Model of workmen ,
Glory of domestic life,
Guardian of virgins,
Pillar of families,
Solace of the afflicted,
Hope of the sick,
Patron of the dying,
Terror of demons,
Protector of Holy Church,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
V. He made him the lord of His household,
R. And prince over all His possessions.
Let Us Pray.
O God, Who in Thine ineffable providence didst choose
Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Thy most Holy Mother, grant that
as we venerate him as our protector on earth, we may deserve to have
him as our intercessor in Heaven, Thou Who livest and reignest
forever and ever. R. Amen.
St. Joseph: Foster-Father of Jesus and Patron of the Universal Church:
St. Joseph was of royal descent of the line of David, and was probably born
in Bethlehem.
He practiced carpentry in Nazareth, and there married the Blessed Virgin
Mary.
St. Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem for a census, and there Our Lady gave
birth
to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who had been conceived of the Holy Ghost. St.
Joseph,
foster-father of Our Lord, probably died before Our Lord's Passion and
death. St. Joseph
is the Patron of the Universal Church, Patron of the Dying, Patron of a
Happy Death, etc.
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