[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: December 11, 2012
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Grant, we pray, O Lord, that we may constantly exalt the merits of your Martyrs, whom Pope Saint Damasus so venerated and loved. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

• Skewered Beef Roman Style

ACTIVITIES

• Advent and the Year of the Eucharist
• Celebrating for the Feast of Pope St. Damasus I
• Namedays
• Religion in the Home for Elementary School: December
• Religion in the Home for Preschool: December
• What is a Nameday?

PRAYERS

• Advent Wreath Prayers I
• Advent Wreath Prayers II
• Roman Ritual Blessing Before and After Meals: Advent (2nd Plan)
• December Devotion: The Immaculate Conception
• Novena in Honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe
• Christmas Anticipation Prayer

LIBRARY

• Catacombs: Witness To Early Heroism | Pope John Paul II
• Eastern Orthodoxy: Primacy and Reunion | James Likoudis

Advent: December 11th

Optional Memorial of St. Damasus I, pope

Old Calendar: St. Damasus, pope and confessor

St. Damasus was Supreme Pontiff from 366 to 384. He was a very learned man, well versed in the Scriptures. He commissioned St. Jerome to complete the translation of the Bible into the Latin language. Shortly after his reign the 72 books of the Bible, hitherto scattered in different parts of the Orient, were collected into one volume. He defended the rights of the Holy See, and beautified the Roman resting places of the Christian dead and of the saints. He also confirmed the practice of singing the Psalms day and night in the churches and adding a Glory Be at the end of each Psalm.

Jesse Tree ~ Moses

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St. Damasus
On Liberius' death, riots broke out over the election of a successor. The majority favored Damasus, who was born in Rome of Spanish descent. He had served as a deacon under Liberius and upheld the Nicene Creed. In less than a month, Damasus was installed in the Lateran palace. A minority, however, refused to accept the decision; they set up the antipope Ursinus. As the violence continued, Emperor Valentinian, who now ruled the West, was compelled to intercede and expel the antipope.

Pope Damasus fostered the development of the Church during this period of peace by publishing a list of the books of both the Old and New Testaments. He also encouraged his longtime friend and secretary, St. Jerome, to translate the Bible into Latin. This Vulgate edition continues to serve the Church usefully. Damasus himself composed eloquent verse which he had inscribed on marble slabs and placed over the tombs of martyrs and popes alike. But Damasus is best known for his devoted project in the catacombs. He ardently searched for the tombs of martyrs which had been both blocked up and hidden during previous persecutions. He lighted the passages and stairwells of the catacombs, encouraging pilgrimages to the martyrs. He did much to beautify existing churches, such as building the baptistery in St. Peter's and laying down marble pavement in the basilica of St. Sebastian.

Damasus was a vigorous defender of the orthodoxy, as well. He condemned the heresies of such men as Macedonius and Apollinaris and continued the march against Eastern Arians. Although Emperor Valentinian was a Catholic, his less capable brother Valens was under the Arian influence. Valens kept the Eastern bishops in turmoil until his death in 378 by the determined Goths. Emperor Theodosius, who succeeded Valens, supported the orthodox and convened the Second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople in 381. The council settled the dispute by recondemning Arianism and adopting the pope's teachings.

The chair of St. Peter was never more respected than during the pontificate of Damasus. He tirelessly promoted the Roman primacy, successfully persuading the government to recognize the Holy See as a court of first instance, although it declined to give the pope himself any particular immunity against the civil courts. Next in hierarchy came Alexandria, founded by St. Mark, and then Antioch, where Peter reigned before leaving for Rome.

Pious Pope Damasus died in December of 384 after a reign of eighteen years.

— The Popes: A Papal History, J.V. Bartlett

Patron: Archeologists.

Things to Do:

• Learn more about St. Damasus.

• Read about the Catacombs of St. Callistus where Pope St. Damasus wrote an inscription on the tomb of Pope St Cornelius.

• St. Damasus I commissioned St. Jerome to revise a translation of Scripture. Spend some time reading the Bible.

• See Celebrating the Feast of St. Damasus for ideas.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Matthew 18:12-14

Saint Damasus I, Pope

“Will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?” (Matthew 18:12)

The parable of the lost sheep is one of the most powerful images from the whole New Testament. Long before they hung crosses in their homes, first-century believers prayed before pictures and sculp­tures of Jesus carrying a lamb over his shoulders.

And who can blame them? This story reminds all of us of Jesus’ unending love. It tells us about the lengths that he will go to in order to find us when we wander and become lost: It also gives us an image of the mercy and compassion Jesus shows us as he brings us back to safety.

Countless prayers, poems, hymns, and even plays have been written about Jesus, the Good Shepherd. They speak of him bind­ing up our wounds, strengthening us when we are weak, and lead­ing us to restful fields. They speak of his voice calling us by name, the firm but gentle hold he has on our lives, and his dogged determination to seek us out, even when we don’t want to be found.

One of the most moving prayers to the Good Shepherd was written in the fourth century by St. Gregory of Nyssa:

“Where are you pasturing your flock, O Good Shepherd, who carry the whole flock on your shoulders? For the whole of human nature is one sheep, and you have lifted it onto your shoulders. Show me the place of peace. Lead me to the good grass that will nourish me. Call me by name so that I, your sheep, can hear your voice. And by your speech give me eternal life… .

“Show me then (my soul says) where you pasture your flock, so that I can find that saving pasture too and fill myself with the food of heaven … and run to the spring and fill myself with the drink of God. You give it, as from a spring, to those who thirst—water pour­ing from your side cut open by the lance; water that, to whoever drinks it, is a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

“Jesus, shepherd of my soul, lead me and guide me today. Don’t let me stray from you, Lord. I know you are the only one who can keep me safe!”

Isaiah 40:1-11; Psalm 96:1-3, 10-13