Portal:Catholicism/Patron Archive/December 11
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He was probably born near the city of Idanha-a-Nova (in Lusitania, Hispania), in what is present-day Portugal, or near the city of Guimarães (in what is present-day Portugal), in Gallaecia (now Galicia, Spain).
Damasus I is known to have been raised in the service of the church of the martyr St. Laurence in Rome, and following the death of Pope Liberius, he succeeded to the Papacy amidst factional violence. A group of Damasus' supporters, previously loyal to the Antipope Felix II, attacked and killed rivals loyal to Liberius' deacon Ursinus, in a riot that required the intervention of Emperor Valentinian I to quell.
Damasus faced accusations of murder and adultery in his early years as pope. The neutrality of these claims have come into question with some suggesting that the accusations were motivated by the schismatic conflict with the supporters of Arianism. His personal problems were contrasted with his religious accomplishments, which included restoring the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, appointing the later-Saint Jerome as his personal secretary, creating (through Jerome) a standard Latin translation of the Bible, known as the Vulgate, that replaced existing Vetus Latina, and translated from the original Hebrew instead of the Greek Septuagint, and presiding over the Council of Rome in 382, at which, according to Roman Catholic tradition and the 6th century document Decretum Gelasianum, the modern Catholic canon of scripture was first set down.
Damasus' parents were Antonius, a priest at the Church of San Lorenzo in Rome, and Laurentia.
When Pope Liberius was banished by Emperor Constantius II to Beraea, in 354, Damasus was arch-deacon of the Roman church and followed Liberius into exile, though he immediately returned to Rome. During the period before Liberius' return, Damasus had a great share in the government of the church.
In the early Church, new Bishops of Rome were elected or chosen by the clergy and the people of the diocese in the presence of the other bishops in the province, which was the manner customarily used in other dioceses. On the death of Liberius, September 24, 366, one faction supported Ursinus, while the other faction supported Damasus. This dissension climaxed with a riot which led to a three-day massacre. Damasus prevailed, but only with the support of the city prefect. Once he was securely consecrated bishop of Rome, his men attacked Ursinus and his remaining supporters, resulting in a massacre of one hundred and thirty seven supporters of Ursinus.
Many in both Pagan and Christian society saw in Damasus a man whose worldly ambitions outweighed his pastoral concerns.
Damasus I was active in defending the Roman Church against the threat of schisms. In two Roman synods (368 and 369) he condemned Apollinarianism and Macedonianism, and sent legates to the First Council of Constantinople that was convoked in 381 to address these heresies.
Damasus also contributed greatly to the liturgical and aesthetic enrichment of the city churches. His ceremonial embellishments and the emphasis on the Roman legacy of Peter and Paul amounted to a general claim to the Roman upper classes that the real glory of Rome was Christian and not pagan.
The reign of Gratian, during Damasus' papacy, forms an important epoch in ecclesiastical history, since during that period (359-383), Orthodox Christianity, for the first time became dominant throughout the empire.
Attributes: as a pope with patriarchal cross and model of a church
Patronage: against fever
Prayer:
