Readings & Reflections: Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time & St. Peter Damian, February 21,2020
As a young professor, Peter Damian joined the followers of Saint Romuald at the foundation of Fonte Avellana, distinguishing himself by his austerities and his ardent love of the cross. Ecclesiastical abuses and political intrigues characterized the 11th– century milieu of Peter Damian. Having embraced a life of prayer and penance at the hermitage of Fonte Avellana in northern Italy, Peter nevertheless took public stands against simony, the practice of buying and selling ecclesiastical offices, and clerical marriage. In 1057 A.D. Peter left the silence of the hermitage to serve as Cardinal Bishop of Ostia, Italy. Peter urged the secular clergy to embrace monastic poverty. His many writings include letters written to influential Medieval personages, recommending detachment from worldly goods. After ten years, Peter received permission to return to Fonte Avellana, although the pope continued to enlist him for important diplomatic missions. He died on one of these trips in 1072 A.D., and was named a Doctor of the Church in 1828 A.D. “He spent himself, with lucid consistency and great severity, for the reform of the Church of his time” (Pope Benedict XVI).
AMDG+
Opening Prayer
“Lord Jesus Christ, I want to follow you as your disciple. I gladly offer all that I have to you. Take and use my life as a pleasing sacrifice of praise to your glory.” In your Name, I pray. Amen.
Reading I Jas 2:14-24, 26
What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister has nothing to wear
and has no food for the day,
and one of you says to them,
“Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,”
but you do not give them the necessities of the body,
what good is it?
So also faith of itself,
if it does not have works, is dead.
Indeed someone might say,
“You have faith and I have works.”
Demonstrate your faith to me without works,
and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.
You believe that God is one.
You do well.
Even the demons believe that and tremble.
Do you want proof, you ignoramus,
that faith without works is useless?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works
when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?
You see that faith was active along with his works,
and faith was completed by the works.
Thus the Scripture was fulfilled that says,
Abraham believed God,
and it was credited to him as righteousness,
and he was called the friend of God.
See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
For just as a body without a spirit is dead,
so also faith without works is dead.
The word of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 112:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
R. (see 1b) Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord’s commands.
Blessed the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commands.
His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;
the upright generation shall be blessed.
R. Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord’s commands.
Wealth and riches shall be in his house;
his generosity shall endure forever.
Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.
R. Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord’s commands.
Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice;
He shall never be moved;
the just man shall be in everlasting remembrance.
R. Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord’s commands.
Gospel
Mk 8:34–9:1
Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life? What could one give in exchange for his life?
Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words
in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of
when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
He also said to them, “Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Reflection 1 – Whoever would save his life will lose it
‘”If a man wishes to come after me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross and follow in my steps. Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”‘
Whenever I meditate and reflect on today’s gospel I often feel that Jesus is pointing right at me. It brings me back to reality and the truth that keeps on surfacing in my life. In my weakness and brokenness I would normally set it aside and try to hide from the truth which hurts. I often ask the Lord what happened to his other soothing exhortations.
Certainly when Jesus said, “Come to me all you who labor and I will give You rest!” I felt some comfort and compassion. But when I hear Him say, “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What could one give in exchange for his life? Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels” my sinful nature tries to hide the truth from me and I do not want to face the fact they are meant for me. We all know the answer to God’s question, “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” but simply is hard to live and abide by it.
What does it really mean to “deny yourself”? Denying one self is to decisively reject the worldly desires and motivations that spring up from our human and sinful nature. It implies choosing Jesus and following Him completely without reservation. Denying one self means being firm in our convictions for God and taking daily steps of obedience to God’s precepts and statutes. It means finding our way into Jesus and allowing Him to transform us to the new person that He wants us to be, the very reason why He died for us on the Cross. It simply means dying to one’s self and pride and allowing His will to prevail.
Denying one self means carrying the cross at hand, forgetting the slanderous accusations of people who find difficulty in seeing God in our work. It is accepting in all humility that the gifts and talents of one’s neighbor are far more superior than ours. To deny one self is to allow one’s heart to be united to the very bosom of His Church, not only during good and joyful days but especially when persecution and trials become dominant. It is to carry one’s cross and to be Christ to all every step of the way even amidst discrimination, jealousy, unfair judgments and treatment.
Lord, I know that You have given me a Cross which I have purposely denied and rejected amidst my weak human nature. Lord you know how much I failed in carrying your cross as I decided to take into my own hands and address the slander some people may have unknowingly inflicted on me as your worker. Lord forgive me for you Word says, ‘Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”’ Romans 12:19
Let me surrender to you my will and as I walk with You, hand in hand. Guide me and make me strong so that I may be the disciple You have longed me to be. Lord, give me the strength to deny myself and carry your Cross, amidst the attack of the evil one!
Direction We need to deny ourselves of anything that will separate us from God and His people.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, give me the vision to see the cross that You want me to carry. Let me deny myself of anything that will separate me from You. In your goodness and love, forgive me as I forgive those who have tried to remove You from my heart. In Jesus I pray, Amen.
Reflection 2 – Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it
What is the most important investment you can make with your life? Jesus poses some probing questions to challenge our assumptions about what is most profitable and worthwhile. In every decision of life we are making ourselves a certain kind of person. The kind of person we are, our character, determines to a large extent the kind of future we will face and live. It is possible that some can gain all the things they set their heart on, only to wake up suddenly and discover that they missed the most important things of all. Of what value are material things if they don’t help you gain what truly lasts in eternity. Neither money nor possessions can buy heaven, mend a broken heart, or cheer a lonely person.
God gives without measure – we give all we have in return
Jesus asks the question: What will a person give in exchange for his life? Everything we have is an out-right gift from God. We owe him everything, including our very lives. It’s possible to give God our money, but not ourselves, or to give him lip-service, but not our hearts. A true disciple gladly gives up all that he or she has in exchange for an unending life of joy and happiness with God. God gives without measure. The joy he offers no sadness or loss can diminish.
The cross of Christ leads to victory and freedom from sin and death. What is the cross which Jesus Christ commands me to take up each day? When my will crosses with his will, then his will must be done. To know the Lord Jesus Christ is to know the power of his saving death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit gives us the gift of faith to know Jesus personally, power to live the gospel faithfully, and courage to witness to others the joy and truth of the gospel. Are you ready to lose all for Jesus Christ in order to gain all with Jesus Christ?
“Lord Jesus Christ, I want to follow you as your disciple. I gladly offer all that I have to you. Take and use my life as a pleasing sacrifice of praise to your glory.” – Read the source: http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/2020/feb21.htm
Reflection 3 – Follow Me
Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. —Mark 8:34
During World War II, B-17 bombers made long flights from the US mainland to the Pacific island of Saipan. When they landed there, the planes were met by a jeep bearing the sign: “Follow Me!” That little vehicle guided the giant planes to their assigned places in the parking area.
One pilot, who by his own admission was not a religious man, made an insightful comment: “That little jeep with its quaint sign always reminds me of Jesus. He was [a lowly] peasant, but the giant men and women of our time would be lost without His direction.”
Centuries after our Savior walked the streets and hills of Israel, the world with all its advances still needs His example and instruction. When His ways aren’t followed, numerous problems and evils arise in our world—including immorality, crime, and greed.
How do we follow Jesus’ ways? First of all, we turn from our sin and entrust our lives to Him as our Savior and Lord. Then, we seek His will in His Word each day and put it into practice by the power of the Holy Spirit within us. We learn to deny our selfish desires and give ourselves completely to following Jesus (Mark 8:34-35).
If you want to get in line with the purposes of God, respond to Jesus’ invitation: “Follow Me!” — Vernon C. Grounds
THINKING IT OVER
To find your way through life, follow Jesus (Source: Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries).
Reflection 4 – The game of life
There was a man who often talked about “the game of life,” and I can understand why he did. It’s part of human nature to approach life as one big game made up of a lot of little games. Competing can be fun, exciting and stimulating.
But life is a whole lot more than a game – especially for a follower of Jesus Christ. When a believer needs to own the biggest house, drive the largest SUV car, get the promotion first, and win every argument, something’s terribly wrong from God’s point of view. It’s not right to run over people’s feelings, bend or break the rules, and gloat over victories in order to win.
To approach life as one big game that you always have to win is to live in hopeless delusion and fantasy. While material possessions, professional success, and personal victories are enjoyable, they last only for this life. Then they’re all left behind.
Jesus instructed His disciples to deny themselves, identify with His cross, and follow Him in self-denial, and for some that even meant death (Mk 8:34-35). He made it clear to His disciples that artificial victories in “the game of life” don’t count for much. What really counts is what’s done for the Lord.
Whenever we want to follow the Lord we have to reckon seriously with the possibility of encountering the cross. It means that being a disciple of Jesus might become an obstacle for our daily life, or might go against our inclinations and wishes. In these moments the “cross” will appear and we are asked to carry our cross as Jesus carried his. But remember, there is the promise which follows: “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” The cross of Christ leads to victory and freedom from sin and death. Are you ready to lose all for Jesus Christ?
If I have but Jesus, only Jesus
Nothing else in all the world beside
O then everything is mine in Jesus;
For my needs and more He will provide.
Those who live for God are the real winners in life (Source: Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries).
Reflection 5 – High on a tower or a cross
In wanting to feel closer to God, we try different ways of reaching him. When it seems our prayers are not being answered, we bargain with him (“God, if I go to Mass every day, maybe then you’ll do something about my request”) or we increase our prayers by adding in novenas or by invoking saints. While there’s nothing wrong with this of course, our motives need to be examined: Are we really trusting God? Or are we trying to manipulate him?
To feel successful in our spiritual lives, we seek spiritual highs. We want to feel more loved and more cared about. We want to feel so important to God that he’ll grant us miracles. But if we don’t feel his concern on an emotional level, we assume that he’s not yet doing enough to make us happy, and we think that the solution is to “build up” our faith, hoping this will get us closer to the joys of heaven.
The people in today’s first reading wanted that same emotional-spiritual high. To get it, they tried to reach heaven by building the tallest tower that their engineers could conceive. They defined spiritual success as fame, i.e., making a name for themselves that the rest of the world would notice. They thought they could feel heavenly by working together to build a towering accomplishment.
Was their motive really to get closer to God? Literally, yes, it was, but spiritually, no, because they were not seeking an improved relationship with the Lord. They wanted to reach heaven by their own efforts. This motive was very arrogant.
Contrast this to what Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading. We reach heaven by following in Jesus’ footsteps. And where did he climb? Not up a tower. He climbed onto a cross. He built the Kingdom of God in the humility of self-sacrifice and a willingness to suffer for the sake of others.
It doesn’t make sense. And we surely don’t like it. But it’s true: Our greatest accomplishments don’t come from reaching personal heights of success and fame; they happen when we build up other people.
We are at our best when we give love sacrificially. We reach God when we walk on lowly ground to reach those who need help. We experience our biggest spiritual highs when we join Jesus on the cross, which means embracing our hardships as opportunities for serving others, because that’s the only way to a glorious resurrection.
What cross are you nailed to? What hardship have you been forced into? Now here’s the most important question, the one that raises us up in resurrection: How can this cross benefit the Kingdom of God? – Read the source: http://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2017-02-17
Reflection 6 – How do you DO your faith?
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Faith without works is dead, says today’s first reading. In other words, if we really have faith in God, we’re eager to do the work of God. We’re eager to share him with others. We’re eager to do whatever he tells us to do.
How eager are you? It’s a measure of how much faith in God you truly have.
Often, however, instead of living by faith, we live by fear. We’re afraid that if we talk about God openly, others will reject us. We’re afraid that if we obey God as he speaks to us through the moral teachings of the Church, life will be too hard, too distasteful, too uncomfortable, or too disastrous. We’re afraid that if we take seriously the scriptures about tithing and donate ten percent of our income to the parish and Good News Ministries and other charities, we’ll end up in poverty or, at best, miserable from not buying as much stuff as we’d like.
Jesus explains in today’s Gospel reading what the work of faith really involves: carrying our crosses out of love for others, like he did. There is no greater work than to carry the burden of loving the unlovable despite their sins against us. There is no greater blessing than to transform our sufferings into an offering to God for the sake of those who are unGodly. (Mind you, not all sufferings are crosses that we’re supposed to bear; seek discernment through spiritual direction and therapeutic counseling.)
Years ago, I complained to my spiritual director about an ordeal that I was enduring. I don’t remember what the cause of my suffering had been, but I will never forget how he responded: “Instead of seeing your cross as a curse, realize it as a blessing.”
“How?” I asked.
“By embracing it,” he said.
My fear had been that this cross was going to lead to an unredeemable disaster. (Of course I was wrong.) Once I stopped vainly trying to get rid of it, the weight felt much lighter. When we accept that we will always have people in our lives who reject us, demand too much from us, or hurt us in some other way, and when we accept our sufferings as uniting ourselves to Jesus on his cross, our pain becomes prayer. And once we have done this, we gain Christ’s strength and energy to do what is good and loving.
In faith, we know that after every cross there is always a resurrection. In faith, we willingly do whatever is uncomfortable or difficult, because we know that the end results will be far better than anything we’d get from the so-called “easy” alternative.
Faith is a free gift from the Holy Spirit to us. Putting faith to work is the gift of Jesus to others. – Read the source: https://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2020-02-21
Reflection 7 – Profiting by the Holy Cross
“We must mark and most diligently consider that our Redeemer first passed over by the cross and so raised his humanity to the glory of the right hand of the Father. In doing so he gave us an example: where the head goes, the members must follow. We are signed with the cross on our foreheads; it will avail even more to our salvation if we hold it in our hearts. When the angel of death saw both doorposts smeared with blood, he passed by instead of bursting in. Let no one rely on the mark of the cross on his forehead if he does not show forth the truth of the cross in his works. Saint Paul showed forth the cross in his behavior most notably and said: I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
“Therefore, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body or spirit; let us arm ourselves to break the assault of our enemies, the vices, let us counteract the passions of carnal pleasure, and minister lovingly to the needs of our neighbors and suffer injuries in a spirit of charity. Let our souls be free from all the burdens of earthly greed, so that hurled on wings of holy desire they may forsake the depths and returning to their Maker rest sweetly in his love. Let us despise all that we see and hasten with unceasing labor to that which we believe. This indeed is the cross which we must imprint on all our actions, all our behavior. This is the cross which we are commanded to bear after the Lord daily. He who carries it truly shares in the Passion of his Redeemer. This emblem will separate the sheep from the goats in the last judgement. And the judge, who knows not the wicked, will recognize this mark in his own. Those whom he sees marked with the seal of his own death he will, as a gracious rewarder, invite to partake in the prized of everlasting life: Come, he will say, you blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom of him with whom he himself lives and reigns for over and ever. Amen” (Source: St. Peter Damian, +1072 A.D., Magnificat, Vol. 21, No. 12, February 2020, pp. 313-314).
Reflection 8 – St. Peter Damian (1007-1072 A.D.)
Maybe because he was orphaned and had been treated shabbily by one of his brothers, Peter Damian was very good to the poor. It was the ordinary thing for him to have a poor person or two with him at table and he liked to minister personally to their needs.
Peter escaped poverty and the neglect of his own brother when his other brother, who was archpriest of Ravenna, took him under his wing. His brother sent him to good schools and Peter became a professor.
Already in those days Peter was very strict with himself. He wore a hair shirt under his clothes, fasted rigorously and spent many hours in prayer. Soon, he decided to leave his teaching and give himself completely to prayer with the Benedictines of the reform of St. Romuald (June 19) at Fonte Avellana. They lived two monks to a hermitage. Peter was so eager to pray and slept so little that he soon suffered from severe insomnia. He found he had to use some prudence in taking care of himself. When he was not praying, he studied the Bible.
The abbot commanded that when he died Peter should succeed him. Abbot Peter founded five other hermitages. He encouraged his brothers in a life of prayer and solitude and wanted nothing more for himself. The Holy See periodically called on him, however, to be a peacemaker or troubleshooter, between two abbeys in dispute or a cleric or government official in some disagreement with Rome.
Finally, Pope Stephen IX made Peter the cardinal-bishop of Ostia. He worked hard to wipe out simony (the buying of church offices), and encouraged his priests to observe celibacy and urged even the diocesan clergy to live together and maintain scheduled prayer and religious observance. He wished to restore primitive discipline among religious and priests, warning against needless travel, violations of poverty and too comfortable living. He even wrote to the bishop of Besancon, complaining that the canons there sat down when they were singing the psalms in the Divine Office.
He wrote many letters. Some 170 are extant. We also have 53 of his sermons and seven lives, or biographies, that he wrote. He preferred examples and stories rather than theory in his writings. The liturgical offices he wrote are evidence of his talent as a stylist in Latin.
He asked often to be allowed to retire as cardinal-bishop of Ostia, and finally Alexander II consented. Peter was happy to become once again just a monk, but he was still called to serve as a papal legate. When returning from such an assignment in Ravenna, he was overcome by a fever. With the monks gathered around him saying the Divine Office, he died on February 22, 1072.
In 1828 he was declared a Doctor of the Church.
Comment:
Peter was a reformer and if he were alive today would no doubt encourage the renewal started by Vatican II. He would also applaud the greater emphasis on prayer that is shown by the growing number of priests, religious and laypersons who gather regularly for prayer, as well as the special houses of prayer recently established by many religious communities.
Quote:
“…Let us faithfully transmit to posterity the example of virtue which we have received from our forefathers” (St. Peter Damian).
Read the source: http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1298
SAINT OF THE DAY
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ST. PETER DAMIAN: GAY CLERGY ‘ARE DESERVING OF DEATH’
by Bradley Eli, M.Div., Ma.Th. • ChurchMilitant.com • February 21, 2018
“Tremble at the thought that you are partners in the guilt of others”
In an open letter to Pope Leo IX, St. Peter Damian tells bishops if they’re complacent about correcting their sodomite clerics under their authority then they’ll be complicit in their sins of impurity.
In his zealous letter penned in 1049, famously titled The Book of Gomorrah, St. Peter Damian admonishes bishops to stamp out the “epidemic of sodomy among the priests of Italy,” which was part of a “plague of sexual perversion” and a “larger crisis of moral laxity in the priesthood” of his time.
In his letter, St. Peter decried the silent bishops who failed to take action against clerics immersed in the grievous moral perversion of sodomy:
Listen, you do-nothing superiors of clerics and priests. Listen, and even though you feel sure of yourselves, tremble at the thought that you are partners in the guilt of others; those, I mean, who wink at the sins of their subjects that need correction and who by ill-considered silence allow them license to sin. Listen, I say, and be shrewd enough to understand that all of you alike are deserving of death, that is, not only those who do such things, but also they who approve those who practice them.
WATCH MORE LIKE THIS
Saint Peter Damian was closely paraphrasing Romans 1:32. Saint Paul condemned homosexual actions in Romans 1:27,32 in a very grave manner:
[M]en also, leaving the natural use of the women, have burned in their lusts one towards another, men with men working that which is filthy … Who, having known the justice of God, did not understand that they who do such things, are worthy of death; and not only they that do them, but they also that consent to them that do them.
For his part, Pope Leo IX received St. Peter’s letter well and reinforced it by urging bishops to take action. The Holy Father responded:
So, let it be certain and evident to all that we are in agreement with everything your book contains, opposed as it is like water to the fire of the devil. … Therefore, lest the wantonness of this foul impurity be allowed to spread unpunished, it must be repelled by proper repressive action of apostolic severity.
The Roman Pontiff affirmed that silent shepherds do indeed share in the guilt of those in their charge, whom they fail to correct. “For he who does not attack vice, but deals with it lightly, is rightly judged to be guilty of his death, along with the one who dies in sin,” said Leo IX.
Watch the panel discuss the need for prelates once again to take action against sodomite priests inThe Download—St. Peter Damian.”
THE DOWNLOAD: ST. PETER DAMIAN
Fighting the homoheresy.
February 21, 2018
Fighting the homoheresy.
Read the source: https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/st.-peter-damian-rebuked-silent-prelates-complicit-in-clerical-sodomy
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| SAINT PETER DAMIAN | |
|---|---|
Bust of Peter Damian. Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence.
|
|
| BISHOP, CONFESSOR AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH | |
| BORN | c. 1007 Ravenna |
| DIED | 22 February 1072 or 1073[1] Faenza |
| VENERATED IN | Roman Catholic Church |
| FEAST | 21 February earlier 23 February (General Roman Calendar, 1823-1969) |
| ATTRIBUTES | represented as a cardinal bearing a knotted rope in his hand; also as apilgrim holding a papal Bull;Cardinal’s hat, Benedictine monk’s habit |
| PATRONAGE | traceurs, freerunners |
Saint Peter Damian (Latin: Petrus Damianus; Italian: Pietro or Pier Damiani; c. 1007 – 21 or 22 February 1072 or 1073)[1] was a reformingBenedictine monk and cardinal in the circle of Pope Leo IX. Dante placed him in one of the highest circles of Paradiso as a great predecessor of Saint Francis of Assisi and he was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1828. His feast day is February 21.
Contents
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Early life[edit]
Peter was born in Ravenna, Italy, around 1007, the youngest of a large noble, but poor family. Orphaned early, he was at first adopted by an elder brother, who ill-treated and under-fed him while employing him as a swineherd. After some years, another brother, Damianus, who was archpriest at Ravenna, had pity on him and took him away to be educated. Adding his brother’s name to his own, Peter made such rapid progress in his studies of theology andcanon law, first at Ravenna, then at Faenza, and finally at the University of Parma, that when about twenty-five years old he was already a famous teacher at Parma and Ravenna.[2]
Religious life[edit]
About 1035, however, he gave up his secular calling and, avoiding the compromised luxury of Cluniac monasteries, entered the isolated hermitage of Fonte Avellana, near Gubbio. Both as novice and as monk, his fervor was remarkable but led him to such extremes of self-mortification in penance that his health was affected, and he developed severe insomnia. On his recovery, he was appointed to lecture to his fellow monks. Then, at the request of Guy of Pomposa (Guido d’Arezzo) and other heads of neighboring monasteries, for two or three years he lectured to their brethren also, and (about 1042) wrote the life of St. Romuald for the monks of Pietrapertosa. Soon after his return to Fonte Avellana he was appointed economus(manager or housekeeper) of the house by the prior, who designated him as his successor. In 1043 he became prior of Fonte Avellana, and remained so until his death in February 1072.[2]
Subject-hermitages were founded at San Severino, Gamogna, Acerreta, Murciana, San Salvatore, Sitria and Ocri. A zealot for monastic and clerical reform, he introduced a more-severe discipline, including the practice of flagellation (“thedisciplina“), into the house, which, under his rule, quickly attained celebrity, and became a model for other foundations, even the great abbey of Monte Cassino. There was much opposition outside his own circle to such extreme forms of penitence, but Peter’s persistent advocacy ensured its acceptance, to such an extent that he was obliged later to moderate the imprudent zeal of some of his own hermits. [3]
Another innovation was that of the daily siesta, to make up for the fatigue of the night office. During his tenure of the priorate a cloisterwas built, silver chalices and a silver processional cross were purchased, and many books were added to the library.[3]
Reformer[edit]
Although living in the seclusion of the cloister, Peter Damian closely watched the fortunes of the Church, and like his friend Hildebrand, the future Pope Gregory VII, he strove for reforms in a deplorable time. When Benedict IX resigned the pontificate into the hands of the archpriest John Gratian (Gregory VI) in 1045, Peter hailed the change with joy and wrote to the new pope, urging him to deal with the scandals of the church in Italy, singling out the wicked bishops of Pesaro, of Città di Castello and of Fano.[3]
Extending the area of his activities, he entered into communication with the Emperor Henry III. He was present in Rome when Clement II crowned Henry III and his consort Agnes, and he also attended a synod held at the Lateran in the first days of 1047, in which decrees were passed against simony.
After this he returned to his hermitage. About 1050, during the pontificate of Pope Leo IX, Peter wrote a scathing treatise on the vices of the clergy, including sexual abuse of minors and actions by church superiors to hide the crimes. Liber Gomorrhianus was openly addressed to the pope. Meanwhile the question arose as to the validity of the ordinations of simoniacal clerics. Peter Damiani wrote (about 1053) a treatise, the Liber Gratissimus, in favor of their validity, a work which, though much combatted at the time, was potent in deciding the question in their favor before the end of the 12th century.
Philosophy[edit]
Peter often condemned philosophy. He claimed that the first grammarian was the Devil, who taught Adam to decline deus in the plural. He argued that monks should not have to study philosophy, because Jesus did not choose philosophers as disciples, and so philosophy is not necessary for salvation. But the idea (later attributed to Thomas Aquinas) that philosophy should serve theology as a servant serves her mistress originated with him.[4] However, this apparent animosity may reflect his view that logic is only concerned with the validity of argument, rather than the nature of reality. Similar views are found in Al-Ghazali and Wittgenstein.
Damian’s tract De divina omnipotentia is frequently misunderstood. Damian’s purpose is to defend the “doctrine of omnipotence”, which he defines as the ability of God to do anything that is good, i.e., God cannot lie. Toivo J. Holopainen identifies De divina omnipotentia as “an interesting document related to the early developments of medieval discussion concerning modalities and divine omnipotence.”[2]Peter also recognized that God can act outside time, as Gregory of Riminilater argued.[5]
Papal envoy and Cardinal[edit]
During his illness the pope died, and Frédéric, abbot of Monte Cassino, was elected pope as Stephen IX. In the autumn of 1057, Stephen IX determined to make Damian a cardinal. For a long time Damian resisted the offer, for he was more at ease as an itinerant hermit-preacher than a reformer from within the Curia, but was finally forced to accept, and was consecrated Cardinal Bishop of Ostia on November 30, 1057.[6] In addition he was appointed administrator of the Diocese of Gubbio. The new cardinal was impressed with the great responsibilities of his office and wrote a stirring letter to his brother-cardinals, exhorting them to shine by their example before all. Four months later Pope Stephen died at Florence, and the Church was once more distracted by schism. Peter was vigorous in his opposition to the antipope Benedict X, but force was on the side of the intruder and Damian retired temporarily to Fonte Avallana.
Milan[edit]
About the end of the year 1059 Peter was sent as legate to Milan by Pope Nicholas II. So bad was the state of things at Milan, that benefices (a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services) were openly bought and sold, and the clergy publicly married the women with whom they lived. The resistance of the clergy of Milan to the reform of Ariald the Deaconand Anselm, Bishop of Lucca rendered a contest so bitter that an appeal was made to theHoly See. Nicholas II sent Damian and the Bishop of Lucca as his legates. The party of the irregular clerics took alarm and raised the cry that Rome had no authority over Milan. Peter boldly confronted the rioters in the cathedral, he proved to them the authority of the Holy See with such effect that all parties submitted to his decision.
He exacted first a solemn oath from the archbishop and all his clergy that for the future no preferment should be paid for; then, imposing a penance on all who had been guilty, he reinstated in their benefices all who undertook to live in celibacy. This prudent decision was attacked by some of the rigorists at Rome, but was not reversed. Unfortunately, on the death of Nicholas II, the same disputes broke out; nor were they finally settled till after the martyrdom of St. Ariald in 1066. Meanwhile Peter was pleading in vain to be released from the cares of his office. Neither Nicholas II nor Hildebrand would consent to spare him.
Later career[edit]
He rendered valuable assistance to Pope Alexander II in his struggle with the antipope, Honorius II. In July 1061 the pope died and once more a schism ensued. Peter Damian used all his powers to persuade the antipope Cadalous to withdraw, but to no purpose. Finally Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne and acting regent in Germany, summoned a council at Augsburg at which a long argument by Peter Damian was read and greatly contributed to the decision in favor of Alexander II.
In 1063 the pope held a synod at Rome, at which Peter Damian was appointed legate to settle the dispute between the Abbey of Clunyand the Bishop of Mâcon. He proceeded to France, summoned a council at Chalon-sur-Saône, proved the justice of the contentions of Cluny, settled other questions at issue in the Church of France, and returned in the autumn to Fonte Avellana. While he was in France the antipope Cadalous had again become active in his attempts to gain Rome, and Peter Damian brought upon himself a sharp reproof from Alexander and Hildebrand for twice imprudently appealing to the royal power to judge the case anew. In 1067 the cardinal was sent to Florence to settle the dispute between the bishop and the monks of Vallombrosa, who accused the former of simony. His efforts, however, were not successful, largely because he misjudged the case and threw the weight of his authority on the side of the bishop. The matter was not settled until the following year by the pope in person.
Having served the papacy as legate to France and to Florence, he was allowed to resign his bishopric in 1067. After a period of retirement at Fonte Avellana, he proceeded in 1069 as papal legate to Germany, and persuaded the emperor Henry IV to give up his intention of divorcing his wife Bertha. This task he accomplished at a council in Frankfurt before returning to Fonte-Avellana.
Early in 1072 or 1073[1] he was sent to Ravenna to reconcile its inhabitants to the Holy See, they having been excommunicated for supporting their archbishop in his adhesion to the schism of Cadalous. On his return thence he was seized with fever near Faenza. He lay ill for a week at the monastery of Santa Maria degl’Angeli, now Santa Maria Vecchia. On the night preceding the feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Antioch, he ordered the office of the feast to be recited and at the end of the Lauds he died. He was at once buried in the monastery church, lest others should claim his relics.
During his concluding years he was not altogether in accord with the political ideas of Hildebrand. He died the year before Hildebrand became pope, as Gregory VII. “It removed from the scene the one man who could have restrained Gregory”, Norman F. Cantor remarked (Civilization of the Middle Ages, p 251).
Veneration[edit]
Peter Damian is a saint and was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XII in 1828 with a feast day celebrated on February 23.[6]His body has been moved six times. Since 1898, Peter Damian has rested in a chapel dedicated to the saint in the cathedral of Faenza. No formal canonization ever took place, but his cult has existed since his death at Faenza, at Fonte-Avellana, at Monte Cassino, and at Cluny. In 1970 his feast was moved to 21 February.
The saint is represented in art as a cardinal bearing a knotted rope (the disciplina) in his hand; also sometimes he is depicted as a pilgrimholding a papal Bull, to signify his many legations.
Works[edit]
Vita Beati Romualdi
Peter Damian’s voluminous writings, including treatises (67 survive), letters, sermons, prayers, hymns and liturgical texts (though, in a departure from many early medieval monks, no biblical commentaries)[7] reflect the spiritual conditions of Italy: the groundswell of intense personal piety that would overflow in the First Crusade at the end of the century, and his Latinabounds in denunciatory epithets.
His works include:
- His most famous work is De Divina Omnipotentia, a long letter in which he discusses God’s power.
- In the short treatise Dominus vobiscum (The Book of “The Lord be with You”) (PL 145:231-252), he questions whether a hermit praying in solitude should use the plural; Damian concludes that the hermit should use the plural, since he is linked to the whole church by faith and fellowship.
- His Life of Romauld and his treatise The Eremitical Order demonstrate his continuing commitment to solitude and severe asceticism as the ultimate form of Christian life.
- He was especially devoted to the Virgin Mary, and wrote an Officium Beatae Virginis
See also[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Howe, John (June 2010). “Did St. Peter Damian Die in 1073 ? A New Perspective on his Final Days”. Analecta Bollandiana128 (1): 67–86.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Holopainen, Toivo J., “Peter Damian”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, (Winter 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Toke, Leslie. “St. Peter Damian.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 31 Jan. 2015