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St. Damasus
Pope and Confessor
December 11
A.D. 384
Pope Damasus is said in the Pontifical to have been a Spaniard; which may
be true of his extraction; but Tillemont and Merenda show that he seems to
have been born at Rome. His father, whose name was Antony, either after the
death of his wife, or by her free consent, engaged himself in the
ecclesiastical state, and was successively reader, deacon, and priest of
title or parish church of St. Laurence in Rome. Damasus served in the
sacred ministry in the same church, and always lived in a perfect state of
continence, as St. Jerome assures us. When Liberius was banished by
Constantius to Beroea, in 355, he was archdeacon of the Roman church, and
attended him into exile, but immediately returned to Rome. Liberius at
length was prevailed upon to sign a confession of faith in which the word
consubstantial was omitted. After his return from banishment, he constantly
held communion with St. Athanasius, as is clear from that holy man's letter
to the bishops of Egypt, in 360. He condemned and annulled the decrees of
the council of Rimini, by a letter which he wrote to those bishops,
mentioned by Siricius. Liberius, after this, lay hid some time in the
vaults of the cemeteries, for fear of the persecutors, as we learn from
Sozomen, Prosper, in his chronicle, Lucifer of Cagliari, and Anastasius, in
the life of pope Julius. Thus he repaired the fault which he had committed
by his subscription. All this time Damasus had a great share in the
government of the church, and doubtless animated the zeal of the pope.
Liberius died on the 24th of September, 366, and Damasus, who was then
sixty years old, was chosen bishop of Rome, and ordained in the basilic of
Lucina, otherwise called St. Laurence's, which title he bore before his
pontificate. Soon after, Ursinus, called by some moderns Ursicmus, who
could not bear that St. Damasus should be preferred before him, got
together a crowd of disorderly and seditious people in the church of Sicin,
commonly called the Liberian basine, now St. Mary Major, and persuaded Paul
bishop of Tibur, now Tivoli, a dull ignorant man, to ordain him bishop of
Rome, contrary to the ancient canons, which require three bishops for the
ordination Or a bishop; and to the ancient custom of the Roman church whose
bishop was to be consecrated by the bishop of Ostia, as Baronius and
Tillemont observe. Juventius, prefect of Rome, banished Ursinus, and some
others of his party. Seven priests who adhered to him were seized to be
carried into exile; but were rescued by their partisans, and carried to the
Liberian basilic. The people that sided with Damasus came together with
swords and clubs, besieged the basilic to deliver these men up to the
prefect, and a fight ensued, in which one hundred and thirty-seven persons
were killed, as Ammianus Marcellinus and St. Austin relate. In September
the following year, 367, the emperor Valentinian allowed Ursinus to return
to Rome; but, on account of new tumults, in November banished him again
with seven accomplices, into Gaul. The schismatics still kept possession of
a church, probably that of St. Agnes without the walls, and held assemblies
in the cemeteries. But Valentinian sent an order for that church to be put
into the hands of Damasus; and Maximin, a magistrate of the city, a man
naturally inclined to cruelty, put several schismatics to the torture.
Rufin clears Damasus of any way concurring to, or approving of such
barbarous proceedings, and the schismatics fell into the snare they had
laid for trim, by which it seems that they demanded an inquiry to be made
by the rack, which turned to their own confusion and chastisement. It
appears by certain verses of pope Damasus that he had made a vow to God in
honor of certain martyrs, to engage their intercession for the conversion
of some of the clergy who continued obstinate in the schism; and that these
clergymen being converted to the unity of the church, in gratitude, adorned
at their own expense the tombs of these martyrs. By the same poem we learn,
that the warmest abettors of the cause of Ursinus, after some time
sincerely submitted to Damasus. His election was both anterior in time and
in all its circumstances regular; and was declared such by a great council
held at Aquileia in 381, composed of the most holy and eminent bishops of
the western church; and by a council at Rome in 378, in both which the acts
of violence are imputed to the fury of Ursinus. St. Ambrose, St. Jerome,
St. Austin, Rufin, and others, bear testimony to the demeanor, and to the
due election of Damasus.
Ammianus Marcellinus, the famous pagan historian of those times, says, that
the chariots, rich clothes, and splendid feasting of the bishops of Rome,
whose tables surpassed those of kings, were a tempting object to ambition;
and wishes they would imitate the plainness of some prelates in the
provinces. Herein, at least with regard to the table, there is doubtless a
great deal of exaggeration and spleen; though sometimes extraordinary
entertainments were probably given by the church. However, some appearance
of pomp and state was certainly then made, since, as St. Jerome reports,
Praetextatus, an eminent pagan senator who was afterwards prefect of Rome,
said to pope Damasus, "Make me bishop of Rome, and I will be a Christian
tomorrow." Power alone is a snare to ambitious and worldly men; and a
danger inseparable from exalted stations; yet all such things are rather an
object of dread to those clergymen whose hearts are disengaged from the
world; and riches in their hands are only the patrimony of Christ,
instruments of charity. The reflection, however, of this heathen shows how
necessary Christian modesty is to recommend the spins of the gospel.
Damasus certainly deserved not to fall under his censure. For St. Jerome,
the great admirer of this holy pope, severely m weighs against the luxury
and state which some ecclesiastics at Rome affected," which he would never
have done if it had been a satire on his patron, at least he was too
sincere to have continued his admirer. More over, in 370, Valentinian, to
repress the scandalous conduct of ecclesiastics, who persuaded persons to
bequeath estates or legacies to the church in prejudice of their heirs,
addressed a law to Damasus, forbidding the clergy or monks to frequent the
houses of orphans and widows, or to receive from them any gift, legacy, or
feoffment in trust. This edict pope Damasus caused to be read in all the
churches of Rome, and he was very severe in putting the same in execution,
so as to give great offense to some unworthy persons who, on that account,
went over to the schismatics, but some time after returned to their duty.
Baronius thinks this law was enacted at the request of the pope, because it
was addressed to him. At least it was certainly approved by him, and was
not less agreeable to him than just in itself. It appears by St. Damasus's
fifteenth poem, that having escaped all dangers and persecutions, in
thanksgiving he made a pilgrimage to St. Felix's shrine at Nola, and there
hung up this votive poem, and performed his devotions.
Arianism reigned in the East under the protection of Valens, though
vigorously opposed by many pillars of orthodoxy, as St. Athanasius, St.
Basil, &c. In the West it was confined to Milan and Pannonia. Utterly to
extirpate it in that part of the world, pope Damasus, in a council at Rome
in 368, condemned Ursacius and Valens, famous Arian bishops in Pannonia;
and in another in 370, Auxentius of Milan. The schism of Antioch fixed the
attention of the whole church. Meletius had beer ordained upon the
expulsion of St. Eustathius, whom the Arians had banished; Paulinus was
acknowledged by the zealous Catholics, called, Eustathians, because, during
the life of St. Eustathius, they would admit no other bishop. St. Basil,
and other Orientals, being well informed of the orthodox faith of St.
Meletius, adhered to him; but Damasus, with the western prelates, held
communion with Paulinus, suspecting the orthodoxy of Meletius on account of
the doubtful principles of some of those by whom he was advanced to the
see. Not with standing this disagreement, these prelates were careful to
preserve the peace of Christ with one another. The heresy of Apollinarius
or Apollinaris caused a greater breach. Apollinarius, the father, taught
grammar first at Berytus, afterwards at Laodicea in Syria, where he
married, and had a son of the same name, who was brought up to learning,
had a good genius well improved by studies, and taught rhetoric in the same
town; and both embracing an ecclesiastical state, the father was priest,
and the son reader in that church at the same time. The younger of these
was chosen bishop of Laodicea in 362. When Julian the Apostate forbade
Christians to read the classics, the two Apollinariuses composed very
beautiful hymns in all sorts of verse on the sacred history and other pious
subjects; which are lost, except a paraphrase on the psalms in hexameter
verse. In these poems they began to scatter the poison of certain errors,
which were condemned by St. Athanasius, in his council at Alexandria in
360, but the author was not then known. St. Athanasius wrote against these
without naming the author, in 362 In the council which Damasus held at Rome
in 374, the same conduct was observed. But the obstinacy of the bishop
Apollinarius appearing incurable, from that time his name was no longer
spared: it was anathematized first by pope Damasus at Rome The heresiarch
lived to a great age, and died in his impiety. His capital errors consisted
in this, that he said Christ had not assumed a human understanding, (soul,)
but only the flesh, that is, the body and a sensitive soul, such as beasts
have; and that the divine person was to him instead of a soul or human
understanding; for which he insisted upon those words, the Word was made
flesh; and he pretended that the human soul being the fountain of sin, it
was not fitting that Christ should assume it In this erroneous system it
followed that Christ was not made man, having only taken upon him a body,
the least part of human nature. Apollinarius also taught, that the body of
Christ came from heaven, was impassible, and descended into the womb of the
Virgin Mary, was not born or formed of her; also, that Christ only suffered
and died in appearance." He likewise revived the Millenarian heresy, and
advanced certain errors about the Trinity. His followers chose Vitalis, one
of his disciples, bishop of their sect at Antioch, and called Timothy,
another of his disciples, patriarch of Alexandria. The decrees of pope
Damasus against this heresiarch were received in a council held at
Alexandria, in another at Antioch, and in the general council at
Constantinople in 381.
Illyricum in that age comprised all Greece and several other provinces near
the Danube. The emperor Gratian, in favor of Theodosius, yielded up Eastern
Illyricum, that is, Greece and Dacia, to the Eastern empire: the popes
maintained that this country still belonged to the Western patriarchate,
and reserved to themselves the confirmation of its bishops and other
patriarchal rights. St. Damasus appointed St. Ascholius, bishop of
Thessalonica, (who frequently preserved Macedon from the Goths with no
other arms but his prayers,) his vicar over those churches: and in a letter
to him, which is yet extant, gave him strict charge to be watchful that
nothing should be done in the church of Constantinople prejudicial to the
faith, or against the canons: and he condemned the illegal intrusion of
Maximus the Cynic into that important see. When Nectarius was chosen
archbishop of Constantinople, Theodosius sent deputies to Rome, to entreat
pope Damasus to confirm his election. When St. Jerome accompanied St.
Epiphanius and St. Paulinus of Antioch to Rome, Damasus detained him till
his death, three years after, near his person, employing him in quality of
secretary, to write his letters, and answer consultations. This pope, who
was himself a very learned man, and well skilled in the holy scriptures,
encouraged St. Jerome in his studies. That severe and holy doctor calls him
"an excellent man;" and in another place, "an incomparable person, learned
in the scriptures, a virgin doctor of the virgin church, who loved
chastity, and heard its eulogiums with pleasure. Theodoret calls him the
celebrated Damasus," and places him at the head of the famous doctors of
divine grace in the Latin church. The oriental bishops in 431, profess that
they follow the holy example of Damasus, Basil, Athanasius, Ambrose, and
others who have been eminent for their learning. The general council of
Chalcedon styles Damasus, for his piety, the honor and glory of Rome."
Theodoret says, "He was illustrious by his holy life, and ready to preach,
and to do all of the apostolic doctrine."
This pope rebuilt, or at least repaired, the church of St. Laurence neat
Pompey's theater, where he had officiated after his father, and which to
this day is called from St. Laurence, in Damaso. He beautified it with
paintings of sacred history, which were remaining four hundred years
afterwards." He presented it with a paten of silver weighing fifteen
pounds, a wrought vessel of ten pounds weight, five silver chalices
weighing three pounds each, five silver sconces to hold wax lights, of
eight pounds each, and candlesticks of brass, of sixteen pounds weight. He
also settled upon it several houses that were near the church, and a piece
of land. St. Damasus likewise drained all the springs of the Vatican which
ran over the bodies that were buried there, and he decorated the sepulchers
of a great number of martyrs in the cemeteries, and adorned them with
epitaphs in verse, of which a collection of almost forty is extant. Some of
these belong not to him; those which are his work, are distinguished by a
peculiar elegance and elevation, and justify the commendation which St.
Jerome gives to his poetical genius. In the few letters of this pope which
we have in the editions of the councils, out of the great number which he
wrote, it appears that he was a man of genius and taste, and wrote with
elegance. The ancients particularly commend his constancy in maintaining
the purity of our holy faith, the innocence of his manners, his Christian
humility, his compassion for the poor, his piety in adorning holy places,
especially the tombs of the martyrs, and his singular learning. Having sat
eighteen years and two months, he died on the 10th of December in 384,
being near fourscore years of age. A pontifical kept in the Vatican
library, quoted by Merenda, says, that the saint burning with an ardent
desire to be dissolved, and be with Christ, he was seized with a fever, and
having received the body and blood of the Lord, lifting up his eyes and
hands to heaven, he expired in devout prayer. His intercession is
particularly implored in Italy by persons that are sick of fevers." He was
buried near his mother and sister, in an oratory which he had built and
adorned at the catacombs near the Ardeatin Way, between that road and the
cemetery of Calixtus or Praetextatus. Marangonus describes his sepulcher
and those of his mother and sister, as they were discovered in the year 1736.
Learning, the great accomplishment and improvement of the human mind, is
often made its bane. This sometimes happens by the choice which a man makes
of his studies, and much oftener by the manner in which he pursues them. As
to the choice, there is no sloth more trifling or vain than the studies of
some learned men; to whom we may apply what Plato said to the charioteer,
whose dexterity in the circus struck the spectators with astonishment. But
the philosopher declared he deserved to be publicly chastised for the loss
of so much time as was necessary for him to have attained that dexterity in
so trifling; useless an exercise. A perfect knowledge of our own, and some
foreign and learned languages, is a necessary instrument, and a key to much
useful knowledge, but of little use if it be not directed to higher
purposes. Holy David, St. Ambrose, St. Damasus Prudentius, St. Paulinus,
and many others consecrated poetry to the divine praises. The belles
letters in all their branches, give an elegance to a man's mind and
thoughts, and help us to communicate with dignity our most useful knowledge
to others. But if made an employment of life, especially when the proper
studies or occupations of a state ought to have banished them, they become
a pernicious idleness, and so much entertain the heart as to ruin devotion
and the taste of duties. and to occupy our reason in trifles. They are
particularly condemned by the fathers and councils, in clergymen, as
trespassing upon their obligations and destructive of the spirit of their
profession. Logic gives a justness and clearness to our thoughts teaches
accurate reasoning, and exceedingly improves the judgment and other
faculties of the mind. Yet, if its rules are made too prolix or spun into
refined subtilties, they puzzle and confound the understanding. The same is
to be said of metaphysics, which ought properly to be called the generals
of science: a just acquaintance with which is, above all other studies and
accomplishments, the means of improving the mind to the highest perfection,
especially its ruling faculty, the judgment, and fitting it for success and
accuracy in all other sciences and arts. The principles of Aristotlei in
logic and metaphysics are solid, exact, complete, and far preferable to all
others; but the exposition must be concise, methodical, profound,
infinitely accurate, clear, elegant, or free from a Gothic dress, which
disfigures the best attainments, and is the characteristic of barbarism.
Skill in useless knotty problems or questions which some start, is compared
by an elegant writer to a passion for breaking hard stones with a man's
teeth, merely to show their goodness. All studies, he they ever so
methodically conducted and regulated, must, in imitation of the saints, be
directed to a holy end and serious purpose, and sanctified by a life of
prayer. If fondness for any science degenerates into passion, it becomes a
dangerous and vicious branch of curiosity, drains the heart, hinders holy
meditation and prayer, captivates the soul, and produces all the disorders
of inordinate passions.