December 11

Saint Damasus I

Optional memorial

Honoured Rome’s martyrs and set Jerome to work on the Latin Bible

Damasus was a deacon of the Church in Rome, born early in the fourth century; an old tradition says his family had Spanish roots. In 366 he was elected bishop of Rome, but a rival group chose Ursinus, and the dispute turned violent. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus reports 137 dead in a single day inside a church. That bloody start shadowed Damasus’s reputation.

As pope for eighteen years, he defended the faith of the Council of Nicaea against Arianism. He searched out the neglected tombs of Rome’s martyrs in the catacombs, repaired them and wrote short Latin poems in their honour. The calligrapher Filocalus designed an elegant lettering for them, stonecutters carved them in stone, and some can still be read today.

Damasus also asked his secretary, Jerome, to revise the Latin Gospels, the start of the work later known as the Vulgate. He died in 384. Christians remember him for keeping alive the memory of the martyrs and for helping give the West a clearer Bible.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1–2 · BSB

A prayer

God of every generation, you moved your servant Damasus to honour the witnesses who died for Christ and to open your Word to your people. Help us remember those who handed on the faith before us, and give us a love for Scripture that shapes our lives. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.