The Life of St. Peter Damian (Or Damiani)
Doctor of the Church, Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia, b. at
Ravenna "five years after the death of the Emperor Otto III," 1007;
d. at Faenza, 21 Feb., 1072.
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| St. Peter Damian (or Damiani) |
He was the youngest of a large family; his parents were noble, but
poor. At his birth an elder brother
protested against this new charge on the resources of the family with such
effect that his mother refused to suckle him and the babe nearly died. A family retainer, however, fed the starving
child and by example and reproaches recalled his mother to her duty. Left an orphan in early years, he was at
first adopted by an elder brother, who ill-treated and under-fed him while
employing him as a swineherd. The child
showed signs of great piety and of remarkable intellectual gifts, and after
some years of this servitude another brother, who was archpriest at Ravenna,
had pity on him and took him away to be educated. this brother was called
Damian and it was generally accepted that St. Peter added this name to his own
in grateful recognition of his brother's kindness. He made rapid progress in his studies, first
at Ravenna, then at Faenza, finally at the University of Parma, and when about
twenty-five years old was already a famous teacher at Parma and Ravenna. But, though even then much given to fasting
and to other mortifications, he could not endure the scandals and distractions
of university life and decided (about 1035) to retire from the world. While meditating on his resolution he
encountered two hermits of Fonte-Avellana, was charmed with their spirituality
and detachment, and desired to join them. Encouraged by them Peter, after a
forty days' retreat in a small cell, left his friends secretly and made his way
to the hermitage of Fonte-Avellana. Here he was received, and, to his surprise,
clothed at once with the monastic habit.
Both as novice and as professed religious his fervour was remarkable
and led him to such extremes of penance that, for a time, his health was
affected. He occupied his convalescence
with a thorough study of Holy Scripture and, on his recovery, was appointed to
lecture to his fellow-monks. At the
request of Guy of Pomposa and other heads of neighbouring monasteries, for two
or three years he lectured to their subjects also, and (about 1042) wrote the
life of St. Romuald for the monks of Pietrapertosa. Soon after his return to Fonte-Avellana he was
appointed economus of the house by the prior, who also pointed him out as his
successor. This, in fact, he became in
1043, and he remained prior of Fonte-Avellana till his death. His priorate was
characterized by a wise moderation of the rule, as well as by the foundation of
subject-hermitages at San Severino, Gamugno, Acerata, Murciana, San Salvatore,
Sitria, and Ocri. It was remarkable,
too, for the introduction of the regular use of the discipline, a penitential
exercise which he induced the great abbey of Monte Cassino to imitate. There
was much opposition outside his own circle to this practice, but Peter's
persistent advocacy ensured its acceptance to such an extent that he was
obliged later to moderate the imprudent zeal of some of his own hermits. Another innovation was that of the daily
siesta, to make up for the fatigue of the night office. During his tenure of the priorate a cloister
was built, silver chalices and a silver processional cross were purchased, and
many books added to the library. (See Fonte-Avellana.)
Although living in the seclusion of the cloister, Peter Damian
watched closely the fortunes of the Church, and like his friend Hildebrand, the
future Gregory VII, he strove for her purification in those deplorable times. In
1045 when Benedict IX resigned the supreme pontificate into the hands of the
archpriest John Gratian (Gregory VI), Peter hailed the change with joy and
wrote to the pope, urging him to deal with the scandals of the church in Italy,
especially with the evil bishops of Pesaro, of Città di Castello, and of Fano
(see BENEDICT IX; GREGORY VI.) He was
present in Rome when Clement II crowned Henry III and his wife Agnes, and he
also attended a synod held at the Lateran in the first days of 1047, in which
decrees were passed against simony. After
this he returned to his hermitage (see CLEMENT II; DAMASUS II). Pope St. Leo IX was solemnly enthroned at
Rome, 12 Feb., 1049, to succeed Damasus II, and about two years later Peter
published his terrible treatise on the vices of the clergy, the "Liber
Gomorrhianus", dedicating it to the pope. It caused a great stir and aroused not a
little enmity against its author. Even
the pope, who had at first praised the work, was persuaded that it was
exaggerated and his coldness drew from Damian a vigorous letter of protest. Meanwhile the question arose as to the
validity of the ordinations of simoniacal clerics. The prior of Fonte-Avellana
was appealed to an wrote (about 1053) a treatise, the "Liber
Gratissimus", in favour of their validity, a work which, though much
combatted at the time, was potent in deciding the question in their favour
before the end of the twelfth century. In
June, 1055, during the pontificate of Victor II, Damian attended a synod held
at Florence, where simony and clerical incontinence were once more condemned. About two years later he fell ill at
Fonte-Avellana and nearly died, but suddenly, after seven weeks of pain,
recovered, as he believed, through a miracle…
Taken from an excerpt from Catholic Encyclopedia.
For the
Continuing and fascinating story of St.
Peter Damian, please go to-- http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11764a.htm
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