Today (in the traditional Benedictine calendar) is the feast of Saint Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (1007-1072). Monk, cardinal, and reformer, Saint Peter Damian is best known for his denunciations of the vices and sexual immorality rampant among the clergy of his day, but the saint does more than denounce vice and turpitudes. He announces the mercy of God and calls sinners to confidence in the life-transforming grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He is, after all, a Benedictine saint and, as such, he repeats the Holy Patriarch's most heartening injunction: "And never to despair of God's mercy" (RSB 4:72). Here is an extract from Saint Peter Damian's famous Letter XXXI.
Christ Will Enlighten You
Rouse yourself, I tell you, arise and be awake, you who were overcome by the sleep of pathetic pleasure; come alive at last, you who fell before the deadly sword of your enemies. The apostle Paul is here. Listen to him as he briskly demands a hearing, knocking at your door and calling to you in clear cut words: "Wake up from your sleep," he says, "and rise from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you." (Ephesians 5:14)
Why Feel Uncertain of Your Restoration
If you hear Christ who restores life, why do you feel uncertain of your restoration? Listen to his own words: "If anyone believes in me," he says, "even though he die he will live." (John 11:25) If life-endowing Life itself seeks to raise you up, why do you further tolerate lying dead?
Your Heart Should Beat With Confidence in God's Love
Your heart should beat with confidence in God's love and not grow hard and impenitent in the face of your great crime. It is not sinners, but the wicked who should despair; it is not the magnitude of one's crime, but contempt of God that dashes one's hopes. If, indeed, the devil is so powerful that he is able to hurl you into the depths of this vice, how much more effective is the strength of Christ to restore you to the lofty position from which you have plummeted? "Shall he that has fallen never get up again?" (Psalm 40:9). "If the ass of your flesh has fallen amuck under its load," (cf. Exodus 23:5) it is the goad of penance that urges it and the hand of the spirit that manfully draws it free. . . .
Do Not Utterly Despair
If your impure flesh has deceived you . . . if it has stolen the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, if it has distinguished not merely the light of your countenance but that of your spirit, do not be depressed and utterly despair. Once again collect your forces, bestir yourself like a man, dare to perform great deeds, and by so acting you will have the strength, through the mercy of God to triumph over your enemies.