St. Damasus

Election Amid Factional Strife

St. Damasus I was born around 305, probably in Rome to a family of Iberian origin; his father served the Roman Church as a priest. Damasus grew up in the service of the church of San Lorenzo in Rome and rose through the ranks of the clergy, becoming a deacon under Pope Liberius. On Liberius's death in 366 he was elected Bishop of Rome, though a rival faction set up the antipope Ursinus, and the early years of his pontificate were marked by violent factional strife that he worked to overcome.

Defender of Orthodox Faith

As pope for eighteen years, Damasus proved a vigorous defender of orthodox faith in a turbulent age. He condemned Arianism and Apollinarianism, supported the teaching later confirmed at the First Council of Constantinople in 381, and asserted the primacy of the See of Rome as the see of Peter. Under his pontificate Christianity was increasingly established in Roman public life, and a council held at Rome in 382 is traditionally associated with an early listing of the canonical books of Scripture.

Jerome, the Vulgate, and the Catacombs

Damasus is best remembered for two great works of Christian memory. First, he engaged the brilliant scholar St. Jerome as his secretary and commissioned him to revise the Latin text of the Bible—the beginning of the work that became the Vulgate, the Latin Bible of the Western Church for over a millennium. Second, he devoted himself to the tombs of the Roman martyrs, draining and restoring the catacombs, opening them to pilgrims, and composing elegant verse epitaphs, carved in beautiful lettering by the calligrapher Furius Dionysius Filocalus, many of which survive.

Death and Patron of Archaeologists

Damasus died in Rome on December 11, 384. Venerated as a saint from early times, he is honored on December 11 in the General Roman Calendar. Because of his loving care for the catacombs and the memorials of the martyrs, he is invoked as the patron of archaeologists, and his epigrams still greet pilgrims who descend into the catacombs along the Appian Way.

Significance

Two lasting gifts make this pope a figure of enduring importance: the Latin Bible that grew from the work he gave St. Jerome, and the care he lavished on the tombs of Rome's martyrs. In a time of division and doctrinal conflict, he defended the faith and strengthened the See of Peter. His verses still greet pilgrims in the catacombs, reminding the Church to treasure both Scripture and the memory of those who died for Christ.