Pope Saint Damasus I was
PopeThe pope is the Bishop of Rome and, as such, is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church...
from 366 to 384.
He was born around 305, probably near the city of
Idanha-a-VelhaIdanha-a-Velha is a parish in the east of Portugal, in the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, and in the district Castelo Branco. It covers an area of 20.98 km² and had a population of 79 as of 2001.-History:...
(in
LusitaniaLusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...
,
HispaniaHispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior...
), in what is present-day
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
, or near the city of
Castelo BrancoCastelo Branco Municipality is located in Castelo Branco District, in Centro Region, Portugal. The name means "white castle". It contains the city of Castelo Branco....
(also in Lusitania, now Central Portugal), then part of the
Western Roman EmpireThe Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire....
. His life coincided with the rise of
Constantine ICaesar Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus , commonly known in English as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine , was Roman emperor from 306, and the sole holder of that office from 324 until his death in...
and the reunion and redivision of the
WesternThe Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire....
and Eastern Roman Empires as well as what is sometimes known as the
Constantinian shiftConstantinian shift is a term used by Anabaptist and Post-Christendom theologians to describe the political and theological aspects of the 4th-century process of Constantine's legalization of Christianity. The term was popularized by the Mennonite theologian John H...
, associated with the widespread legitimization of
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
and the later adoption of Christianity as the religion of the Roman state.
Damasus is known to have been raised in the service of the
BasilicaThe Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building , usually located in the forum of a Roman town. In Hellenistic cities, public basilicas appeared in the 2nd century BC.Basilicas were also used for religious purposes...
of
San Lorenzo fuori le MuraThe Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls is a Roman Catholic minor basilica, located in Rome, Italy. The basilica is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and one of the five Patriarchal basilica, each of which is assigned to a patriarchate. St...
in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
, and following the death of Pope
LiberiusThe name Liberius may refer to:* Liberius of Ravenna , Bishop of Ravenna and saint* Pope Liberius , European religious leader* Liberius , Roman government administrator...
, he succeeded to the Papacy amidst factional violence. A group of Damasus' supporters, previously loyal to the
Antipope Felix IIAntipope Felix II was installed as Pope in 355 after the Emperor Constantius II banished the reigning Pope, Liberius, for refusing to subscribe the sentence of condemnation against Saint Athanasius. In May 357 the Roman laity, which had remained faithful to Liberius, demanded that Constantius, who...
, attacked and killed rivals loyal to Liberius'
deaconDeacon is a role in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
UrsinusUrsicinus, also known as Ursinus, was elected pope in a violently contested election in 366 as a rival to Pope Damasus I. He ruled in Rome for several months in 366 – 367, was afterwards declared an antipope, and died after 381....
, in a
riotA riot is a form of civil disorder characterized by disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against people or property. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are typically chaotic and exhibit herd behavior.Riots often occur in reaction to a...
that required the intervention of Emperor
Valentinian IFlavius Valentinianus, known in English as Valentinian I, was Roman Emperor from 364 until his death. Valentinian is often referred to as the "last great western emperor"...
to quell.
Damasus faced accusations of murder and adultery (despite having not been married) 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
ArianismArianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heretic at the First Council of Nicea of 325, later exonerated in 335 at the First Synod of Tyre, and then pronounced a heretic again after his death at the First Council of Constantinople of 381...
. His personal problems were contrasted with his religious accomplishments, which included restoring Saint Lawrence outside the Walls, appointing
JeromeSaint Jerome was a Christian priest and apologist. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Strido, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
as his personal secretary and encouraging his
VulgateThe Vulgate is an early 5th-century Latin version of the Bible, largely the result of the labors of Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of old Latin translations...
translation of the
bibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
, and presiding over the
Council of RomeThe Council of Rome was a meeting of Catholic Church officials and theologians which took place in 382 under the authority of Pope Damasus I. The previous year, the Emperor Theodosius I had appointed the "dark horse" candidate Nectarius Archbishop of Constantinople...
in 382, which set down the
canon of scriptureA Biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list or set of Biblical books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community, generally in Judaism or Christianity. The term itself was first coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish sources...
. He also did much to encourage the veneration of the
martyrsA Christian martyr is one who is killed for following Christianity, through stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake or other forms of torture and capital punishment. The word "martyr" comes from the Greek word which means "witness."...
.
Early life
Damasus' parents were Antonius, a priest at the Church of San Lorenzo in Rome, and Laurentia. During Damasus' early years, Constantine I rose to rule first the
Western Roman EmpireThe Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire....
, presiding over the
Edict of MilanThe Edict of Milan was a letter signed by emperors Constantine I and Licinius that proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire...
(313) and winning religious freedom for Christians in all parts of the Roman Empire. A crisis precipitated by the rejection of religious freedom by
LiciniusValerius Licinianus Licinius was Roman emperor from 308 to 324.Of Dacian peasant origin, born in Moesia Superior, Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend, the Emperor Galerius, on the Persian expedition in 297. After the death of Flavius Valerius Severus, Galerius elevated Licinius to the...
, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, in favor of
paganismPaganism is a word with several different meanings.In its broadest definition, pagan denotes all non-Abrahamic religions, that is to say it denotes all religions other than Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.Other usages are:*Paganism may mean Polytheism: The group so defined includes most of the...
resulted in a civil war (324) that placed Constantine firmly in control of a reunited Empire, and led to the establishment of Christian religious supremacy in
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
, called
Nova RomaConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
as well as Rome, bringing new challenges to the authority of the Roman Church. Damasus would have been in his twenties at the time.
Rise in the Church
When Pope Liberius was banished by Emperor
Constantius IIFlavius Iulius Constantius, known in English as Constantius II was a Roman Emperor of the Constantinian dynasty.-Early life:...
to
BereaBerea or Beroea may mean:In Lesotho:*Berea DistrictIn South Africa:*Berea, Durban*Berea, GautengIn the United States:*Berea, Kentucky*Berea, Baltimore, Maryland*Berea, North Carolina*Berea, Ohio*Berea, South Carolina*Berea, West Virginia...
, in 354, Damasus was arch-
deaconDeacon is a role in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
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.
The succession crisis
In the early
ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
, new Bishops of Rome were elected or chosen by the
clergyClergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term ultimately comes from the Greek κλῆρος - klēros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "inheritence"....
and the people of the diocese in the presence of the other bishops in the province, which was the manner customarily used in other
dioceseIn some forms of Christianity, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a bishopric or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bishop,...
s. While this simple method worked well in a small community of Christians unified by persecution, as the congregation grew in size, the acclamation of a new bishop was fraught with division, and rival claimants and a certain class hostility between patrician and plebeian candidates unsettled some episcopal elections. At the same time, 4th century emperors expected to confirm each new pope.
On the death of Liberius, September 24, 366, one faction supported
UrsinusUrsicinus, also known as Ursinus, was elected pope in a violently contested election in 366 as a rival to Pope Damasus I. He ruled in Rome for several months in 366 – 367, was afterwards declared an antipope, and died after 381....
who had served as deacon to Liberius, while the other faction, previously loyal to the
Antipope Felix IIAntipope Felix II was installed as Pope in 355 after the Emperor Constantius II banished the reigning Pope, Liberius, for refusing to subscribe the sentence of condemnation against Saint Athanasius. In May 357 the Roman laity, which had remained faithful to Liberius, demanded that Constantius, who...
, supported Damasus. The upper-class partisans of Felix supported the election of Damasus, but the opposing supporters of Liberius, the
deaconDeacon is a role in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
s and
laityIn religious organizations, the laity comprises all persons who are not clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the term lay priest...
, supported Ursinus; the two were elected simultaneously (Damasus' election was held in
San Lorenzo in LucinaSan Lorenzo in Lucina is a basilica of Rome, dating back to the 4th century, and dedicated to Saint Lawrence, Roman deacon and martyr.The name Lucina comes from the Roman matron owner of the house on which the church was built....
), in an atmosphere of rioting. Supporters already clashed at the beginning of October. Such was the violence and bloodshed that the two prefects (praefecti) of the city were called in to restore order, and after a first setback, when they were driven to the suburbs and a massacre of 137 was perpetrated in the basilica of Sicininus (as cited in
Ammianus MarcellinusAmmianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian. His is the second-to-last major historical account written during Antiquity...
), the prefects banished Ursinus to
GaulGaul is a historical name used in the context of the Roman Empire in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France and Belgium, but also sometimes including the Po Valley, western Switzerland, and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River...
. There was further violence when he returned, which continued after Ursinus was exiled again.
Church historians, such as
St. JeromeSaint Jerome was a Christian priest and apologist. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Strido, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
and
RufinusRufinus may refer to:*Saints Rufinus, eleven saints named Rufinus in Roman Martyrology*Rufinus of Assisi, 3rd century saint and martyr*Rufinus , Christian martyr*Rufinus , 3rd century governor of Roman Britain...
, championed Damasus. At a
synodA synod is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application...
in 378 Ursinus was condemned and Damasus exonerated and declared the true pope. The former antipope continued to intrigue against Damasus for the next few years, and unsuccessfully attempted to revive his claim on Damasus's death. Ursicinus was among the
ArianArianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heretic at the First Council of Nicea of 325, later exonerated in 335 at the First Synod of Tyre, and then pronounced a heretic again after his death at the First Council of Constantinople of 381...
party in
MilanMilan in Italy, is the capital of the region of Lombardia and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while the urban area is the fifth largest in the E.U. with an estimated population of 4.3 million...
, according to
AmbroseSaint Ambrose was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the fourth century. He is counted as one of the four original doctors of the Church.-Political career:...
(
Epistle iv).
This dissension climaxed with a riot which led to a three-day massacre and to the rare intervention of Emperor
Valentinian IFlavius Valentinianus, known in English as Valentinian I, was Roman Emperor from 364 until his death. Valentinian is often referred to as the "last great western emperor"...
to uphold public order. 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 who were seeking refuge in the Liberian basilica, resulting in a massacre of one hundred and thirty seven supporters of Ursinus. Damasus was also accused of murder before a later prefect, but his rich friends secured the personal intervention of the emperor to rescue him from this humiliation. The reputations of both Damasus and the Roman church in general suffered greatly due to these two unseemly incidents.
Edward GibbonEdward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788...
writes, "The enemies of Damasus styled him
Auriscalpius Matronarum, the ladies' ear-scratcher."
Association with Jerome, defence of the Church against schism
Damasus I was active in defending the Roman Church against the threat of
schismThe word schism , from the Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , means a split or a division, usually in an organization or a movement. A schismatic is a person who creates or incites schism in an organization or who is a member of a splinter group...
s. In two Roman synods (368 and 369) he condemned Apollinarianism and Macedonianism, and sent legates to the
First Council of ConstantinopleThe First Council of Constantinople is recognised as the Second Ecumenical Council by the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Old Catholics, and a number of other Western Christian groups...
that was convoked in 381 to address these
heresiesHeresy is the rejection of one or more established beliefs of a religious body, or adherence to "other beliefs." Christian heresy refers to unorthodox practices and beliefs that were deemed to be heretical by one or more of the Christian churches. The term "heresy" most commonly refers to those...
.
Damasus appointed Church historian
JeromeSaint Jerome was a Christian priest and apologist. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Strido, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
, whom he appointed his confidential secretary. In Jerome's letter of 409 (letter cxx.10
http://www.ccel.org/fathers/NPNF2-06/letters/lette123.htm ), he remarks, "A great many years ago when I was helping Damasus, bishop of Rome with his ecclesiastical correspondence, and writing his answers to the questions referred to him by the councils of the east and west
[if "east and west" do not betray the passage as an interpolation] Jerome spent three years (382-385) in Rome in close intercourse with Pope Damasus and the leading Christians. Invited there originally to a
synodA synod is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application...
of 382 convened to end the
schismThe word schism , from the Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , means a split or a division, usually in an organization or a movement. A schismatic is a person who creates or incites schism in an organization or who is a member of a splinter group...
of
AntiochAntioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River...
, he made himself indispensable to the pope, and took a prominent place in his councils.
Damasus encouraged the highly respected scholar to revise the available
Old LatinOld Latin refers to the Latin language in the period before the age of Classical Latin; that is, all Latin before 75 BC...
versions of the
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
into a more accurate
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
on the basis of the Greek
New TestamentThe New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament, both terms being associated with Supersessionism...
and the
SeptuagintThe Septuagint , or simply "LXX", referred to in critical works by the abbreviation ...
, in order to put an end to the marked divergences in the western texts of that period, resulting in the
VulgateThe Vulgate is an early 5th-century Latin version of the Bible, largely the result of the labors of Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of old Latin translations...
. Jerome devotes a very brief notice to Damasus in
De Viris IllustribusDe viris illustribus is a collection of short biographies of 135 authors, written in Latin, by the 4th century Latin Church Father Jerome. He completed this work at Bethlehem in 392-3 CE. The work consists of a prologue plus 135 chapters, each consisting of a brief biography. Jerome himself is...
, written after Damasus' death: "he had a fine talent for making verses and published many brief works in heroic metre. He died in the reign of the emperor
TheodosiusFlavius Theodosius , also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great , was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern and Western Roman Empire...
at the age of almost eighty" (ch. 103).
St. Damasus sat in the Chair of St. Peter eighteen years and two months. His feast day is December 11.
Associates Roman glory with Christianity
Damasus also contributed greatly to the
liturgicalA liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions. The word may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Catholic Mass, or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish services...
and aesthetic enrichment of the city churches. He employed a calligrapher, one Furius Dionysius Philocalus, to adorn the shrines of martyrs and Roman bishops with epigrams.
These ceremonial embellishments and the emphasis on the Roman legacy of
PeterSimon Peter , Pétros “Rock”, Kephas in Hellenized Aramaic) was a leader of the early Christian Church, who features prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Peter was the son of John, and was from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee...
and
PaulPaul of Tarsus, also called Paul the Apostle, the Apostle Paul, or Saint Paul, Paul of Tarsus, also called Paul the Apostle, the Apostle Paul, or Saint Paul, Paul of Tarsus, also called Paul the Apostle, the Apostle Paul, or Saint Paul, ...
amounted to a general claim to the Roman upper classes that the real glory of Rome was Christian and not pagan. All this made it more socially acceptable for the upper classes to convert to
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
. Often, the women of the family were the first to abandon pagan ways, while the men tended to hold on to them longer, being generally more conservative in their idealised views on the greatness of the Empire.
Emperor Gratian
The reign of
GratianFlavius Gratianus , known usually by the anglicised name Gratian, was a Western Roman Emperor from 375 to 383....
, during Damasus' papacy, forms an important epoch in ecclesiastical history, since during that period (359-383),
Orthodox ChristianityThe term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* Correct theology or belief, such as the ancient, majority, or Trinitarian theologies of Christianity...
, for the first time became dominant throughout the empire. Under the influence of
AmbrosiusAmbrosius Ambrosius Ambrosius (a Latin adjective derived from the Ancient Greek word ambrotos (divine, immortal)This word might refer to:* Patriarch Ambrose of Georgia, Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia* Ambrosius Aurelianus, mythical king of Britain...
, Gratian prohibited
pagan worshipPaganism is a word with several different meanings.In its broadest definition, pagan denotes all non-Abrahamic religions, that is to say it denotes all religions other than Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.Other usages are:*Paganism may mean Polytheism: The group so defined includes most of the...
at
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
; refused to wear the insignia of the
pontifex maximusThe Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the Ancient Roman College of Pontiffs. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...
as unbefitting a Christian; removed the
Altar of VictoryThe Altar of Victory was located in the Roman Senate House bearing a gold statue of the goddess Victory. The altar was established by Octavian in 29 BC in honor of the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium. The statue depicted a winged woman, holding a palm and descending to present a laurel...
from the
SenateThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government...
at Rome, despite protests of the pagan members of the Senate, and confiscated its revenues; forbade legacies of real property to the Vestals; and abolished other privileges belonging to them and to the pontiffs.
Relations with other churches
The Eastern Church, in the person of
St. Basil of CæsareaBasil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, was the bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor . He was an influential 4th century Christian theologian and monastic...
, besought earnestly the aid and encouragement of Damasus against triumphant Arianism; Damasus I, however, cherished some degree of suspicion against the great Cappadocian Doctor. In the matter of the Meletian Schism at Antioch, Damasus, with St. Athanasius and Peter II of Alexandria, sympathized with the party of Paulinus as more sincerely representative of Nicene orthodoxy; on the death of Meletius he sought to secure the succession for Paulinus and to exclude
FlavianFlavian may refer to:* Any member of the Flavian dynasty of three Roman rulers of the late 1st-century CE* Religious leaders:** Flavian of Ricina , bishop in Italy** Bishops or patriarchs in Asia:*** Flavian I of Antioch Flavian may refer to:* Any member of the Flavian dynasty of three Roman rulers...
(Socrates, Hist. Eccl., V, xv). He sustained the appeal of the Christian senators to Emperor
GratianFlavius Gratianus , known usually by the anglicised name Gratian, was a Western Roman Emperor from 375 to 383....
for the removal of the altar of Victory from the Senate House (Ambrose, Ep. xvii, n. 10), and lived to welcome the famous edict of
Theodosius IFlavius Theodosius , also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great , was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern and Western Roman Empire...
, "De fide Catholica" (Feb 27., 380), which proclaimed as the religion of the Roman State that doctrine which
Saint PeterSimon Peter , Pétros “Rock”, Kephas in Hellenized Aramaic) was a leader of the early Christian Church, who features prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Peter was the son of John, and was from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee...
had preached to the Romans and of which Damasus was supreme head (Cod. Theod., XVI, 1, 2).
During his papacy Peter II was obliged for a while to seek refuge to
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
from the persecuting
AriansArianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heretic at the First Council of Nicea of 325, later exonerated in 335 at the First Synod of Tyre, and then pronounced a heretic again after his death at the First Council of Constantinople of 381...
. He was received by Pope Damasus I, who sympathised with him and gave him support against the Arians. This reconciled the relations between the
Church of RomeChurch of Rome may refer to:*The Holy See, the diocese of the city of Rome, of which the Pope is bishop*Roman Catholic Church, in post–Protestant Reformation polemics*The Latin church, which is a particular church sui generis in the Catholic Church...
and the
church of AntiochThe Church of Antioch is one of the five Christian churches that composed the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church before the East-West Schism.-History:...
, who supported the
Church of AlexandriaThe Church of Alexandria in Egypt is the particular church headed by the Patriarch of Alexandria. It is one of the original four Apostolic churches of Christianity, with Rome, Antioch and Jerusalem ....
.
Devotion to Saint Laurence
Damasus rebuilt or repaired a church named for
Saint LaurenceLawrence of Rome was one of the seven deacons of ancient Rome who were martyred during the persecution of Valerian in 258.-History:...
, known as
San Lorenzo fuori le MuraThe Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls is a Roman Catholic minor basilica, located in Rome, Italy. The basilica is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and one of the five Patriarchal basilica, each of which is assigned to a patriarchate. St...
("St Lawrence outside the walls"), which by the 7th century was a station on the itineraries of the graves of the Roman martyrs.
Damasus' devotion for the Roman martyr is attested also by the tradition, according to which the pope built a church devoted to Laurence in his own house,
San Lorenzo in DamasoSan Lorenzo in Damaso is a basilica church in Rome, one of several dedicated to the Roman deacon and martyr Saint Lawrence...
.
Letters of Jerome to Damasus
The alleged letters from Jerome to Damasus have sometimes been adduced as examples of the primacy of the seat of Peter:
- …Yet, though your greatness terrifies me, your kindness attracts me. From the priest I demand the safe-keeping of the victim, from the shepherd the protection due to the sheep. Away with all that is overweening; let the state of Roman majesty withdraw. My words are spoken to the successor of the fisherman, to the disciple of the cross. As I follow no leader save Christ, so I communicate with none but your blessedness, that is with the chair of Peter. For this, I know, is the rock on which the church is built! This is the house where alone the paschal lamb can be rightly eaten. This is the ark of Noah, and he who is not found in it shall perish when the flood prevails. But since by reason of my sins I have betaken myself to this desert which lies between Syria and the uncivilized waste, I cannot, owing to the great distance between us, always ask of your sanctity the holy thing of the Lord. Consequently I here follow the Egyptian confessors who share your faith, and anchor my frail craft under the shadow of their great argosies. I know nothing of Vitalis; I reject Meletius; I have nothing to do with Paulinus. He that gathers not with you scatters; he that is not of Christ is of Antichrist.
Some scholars disagree that this was a genuine letter from Jerome.
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