Saint of the Day – 11 December – St Pope Damasus I – c305-384) Priest and Pope
Pope St. Damasus I was elected as the 37th Pope in October 366. He was opposed by Ursicinus, antipope and was accussed of adultery but exonerated by Emperor Gratian himself. By a Roman synod of 44 bishops, the accusers were excommunicated. Damasus defended the Church against multiple schisms. In two Roman synods (368 and 369) he condemned the heresies of Apollinarianism and Macedonianism.
Damasus had an extraordinary devotion to Christian martyrs and went to great legnths to maintain and restore Roman catacombs. He had a great devotion to St. Laurence and to honour the saint, Damasus built a church in his own house, now the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso. Pope St. Damasus I built many of the great churches in Rome. One of his most notable achievements was his commission to St. Jerome to revise the Latin translation of Sacred Scripture on the basis of the original Greek and from this came the Latin Vulgate which became the official Bible of the Church.
Pope St. Damasus I died in 384 and was the last pope interred at the Cemetery of Callixtus. He is buried alongside his mother, Laurentia, and sister, Irene.
Video – Apostleship of Prayer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUCrMs1XyFA
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