February 23 — Saint Peter Damian

the Church.' How could we despair ? Did we not know, that it was God's inspiration which made thee choose Eome for the fixed resting-place of thy throne ? No human will can put asunder what God has united ; the bishop of Rome must ever be the vicar of Christ ; and the vicar of Christ, let sacrilege and persecution banish him as they will, must ever be the bishop of Eome. Holy apostle ! calm the wildness of the tempest, lest the weak should take scandal. Beseech our Lord that He permit not the residence of thy successor to be disturbed in that holy city, which has been chosen for so great an honour. If it be that her inhabitants deserve punishment for their offences, spare them for the sake of their brethren of the rest of the world ; and pray for them, that their faith may once more become what it was when St. Paul praised it, and said to them : ' Your faith is spoken of in the whole world.' 1

February 28

SAINT PETEE DAMIAN, CARDINAL AND DOCTOE OP THE CHUECH

It is the feast of the austere reformer of the eleventh century, Peter Damian, the precursor of the holy pontiff Gregory VII., that we are called upon to celebrate to-day. To him is due in part that glorious regeneration, which was effected at that troubled period when judgment had to begin at the house of God. 2 The life he had led under the monastic rule had fitted him for the great contest. So zealously did he withstand the disorders and abuses of his times, that we may attribute to him, at least in great measure, the ardent faith of

1 Kom. i. 8. * 1 St. Peter iv. 17. the two centuries which followed the scandals of the tenth. The Church ranks him among her doctors, on account of his admirable writings : and his penitential life ought to excite us to be fervent in the work we have in hand, the work of our conversion. *

The following lessons, read by the Church, on this feast, give us a sketch of our saint's life :

Petrus, Ravennae honestis parentibus natus, adhuc lactens a matre numerosae prolis pertaesa abjicitur, sed domesticae mulieris opera semivivus exceptus ac recreates, genitrici ad humanitatis sensum revocatae redditiir. Utroque orbatus parente, tamquam vile rnancipium sub aspera fratris tutela duram servitutem exercuit. ReligionisinDeum ac pietatis erga patrem egregium tunc specimen dedit; inventum siquidem forte nummum non propriae mediae sublevandae, sed sacerdoti qui divinum sacrificium ad illius expiationem offerret, erogavit. A Damiano fratre, a quo, uti fertur, cognomentum accepit, benigne receptus, ejus cur a litteris eruditur, in quibus brevi tantum profecit, ut magistris admirationi esset. Quum autem liberalibus scientiis floreret et nomine, eas cum laude docuit. Interim ut corpus rationi subderet, sub mollibus vestibus cilicium adhibuit. jejuniis, vigiliis, et orationibus solerter insistens. Calente juventa, dum carnis stimulis

Peter was born at Ravenna, of respectable parents. His mother, wearied with the care of a large family, abandoned him when a babe ; but one of her female servants found him in an almost dying state, and took care of him, until such time as the mother, repenting of her unnatural conduct, consented to treat him as her child. After the death of his parents, one of his brothers, a most harsh man, took him as a servant, or more truly as his slave. It was about this period of his life that he performed an action, which evinced his virtue and his filial piety. He happened to find a sum of money : but instead of using it for his own wants, he gave it to a priest, begging him to offer up the holy sacrifice for the repose of his father's soul. Another of his brothers, called Damian (after whom, it is said, he was named), had him educated ; and so rapid and so great was the progress he made in his studies, that he was the admiration of his masters. He became such a proficient in the liberal sciences, that he was made to teach them in the public acriter urgeretur, insultan- schools, which he did with tium libidinum faces rigen- great success. During all this tibus fluvii inersus aquis time, it was his study to bring noctu extinguebat : turn his body into subjection to the venerabilia quaeque loca spirit ; and to this end, he wore obire, totumque psalterium a hair-shirt under an out- recitare consueverat. Ope wardly comfortable dress, and assidua pauperes levabat, practised frequent fasting, quibus frequenter pastis watching, and prayer. Being convivio, propriis ipse mani- in the very ardour of youth, bus ministrabat. and being cruelly buffeted by plunge himself into a frozen pool of water, that he might quench the impure flame which tormented him ; or he would make pilgrimages to holy sanctuaries, and recite the entire psalter. His charities to the poor were unceasing, and when he provided them with a meal, which was frequently, he would wait upon them himself.

Perficiendse magis vitse causa, in Avellanensi Eugubinse dicecesis ceenobio, a Ordini monachorum sanctse Crucis Fontis Avellanae, Gubbio, a beato Ludulpho sancti Romualdi discipulo fundato, tavellana, nomen dedit. Non ita multo Ludolphus, a post in monasterium Pomposianum, mox in ccenobium Sancti Vincentii Petrse Pertusse ab abbate suo missus, tery utrumque asceterium verbo sacro, prseclaris bus et moribus excoluit. ad- Ad suos revocatus, post mirable praesidis obitum Avellanitarum familise praeficitur, quam novis variis in locis extructis domiciliis, et sanctissimis institutis ita auxit, ut alter ejus Ordinis parens

Out of a desire to lead a still more perfect life, he became religious in the monastery of Avellino, in the diocese of of the Order of the monks of holy Cross of Fonwhich was founded by the blessed disciple of St. Romuald. Being sent by his abbot, not very long after, first to the inonasof Pomposia, and then to that of Saint Vincent of Pietrainstitution^ Pertusa, he edified both houses by his preaching, teaching, and holy life. At the death of the abbot of Avellino, he was recalled to that monastery, and was made its superior. The institute was so benefited by his government, not only by

19—2 ac praecipuum ornamentum jure sit habitus. Salutarem Petri sollicitudinem alia quoque diversi instituti coenobia, canonicorum conventus, et populi sunt experti. Urbinati dioecesi non uno nomine profuit : Theuzoni episcopo in causa gravissima assedit, ipsumque in recte administrando episcopatu consilio et opera juvit. Divinorum contemplatione, corporis macerationibus, caeterisque spectatae sanctimoniae exemplis excelluit. His motus Stephanus Nonus, Pontifex maximus, eum licet invitum et reluctantem sanctae Eomanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem creavit, et Ostiensem episcopum. Quas Petrus dignitates splendidissimis virtutibus, et consent aneis episcopali ministerio operibus gessit.

Difficillimo tempore Eomanae Ecclesise summisque Pontificibus doctrina, legationibus, aliisque susceptis laboribus mirifice adfuit. Adversus Nicolaitarum et Simoniacam haereses ad mortem usque strenue decertavit. Hujusmodi depulsis malis, Mediolanensem Ecclesise Eomanae conciliavit. Benedicto, et Cadaloo, falsis Pontificibus, the new monasteries which he founded in several places, but also by the very saintly regulations he drew up, that he was justly looked upon as the second founder of the Order, and its brightest ornament. Houses of other Orders, canons, yea, entire congregations of the faithful, were benefited by Peter's enlightened zeal. He was a benefactor, in more ways than one, to the diocese of Urbino : he aided the bishop Theuzo in a most important suit, and assisted him, both by advice and work, in the right administration of his diocese. His spirit of holy contemplation, his corporal austerities, and the saintly tenor of his whole conduct, gained for him so high a reputation, that Pope Stephen IX., in spite of Peter's extreme reluctance, created him Cardinal of the holy Eoman Church and bishop of Ostia. The saint proved himself worthy of these honours by the exercise of the most eminent virtues, and by the faithful discharge of his episcopal office.

It would be impossible to describe the services he rendered to the Church and the sovereign Pontiffs, during those most trying times, by his learning, his prudence as legate, and his untiring zeal. His life was one continued struggle against simony, and the heresy of the Nicolaites. He purged the Church of Milan of these disorders, and brought her into subjection fortiter restitit. Henricum quartum Germanise regem ab iniquo uxoris divortio deterruit : Kavennates ad debita Eomano Pontifici obsequia revocatos sacris restituit. Canonicos Veliternos ad sanctions vitae leges cornposuit. In provincia praesertim Urbinate vix ulla fuit episcopalis ecclesia, de qua Petrus non sit bene meritus : Eugubinam, quam aliquando creditam habuit, multis levavit incommodis : alias alibi, quando oportuit, perinde curavit, ac si suae essent tutelae commissae. Cardinalatu, et episcopali dignitate depositis, nihil de pristina juvandi proximos sedulitate remisit. Jejunium sextae feriae in honorem sanctae crucis Jesu Christi, horarias beatae Dei Genitricis preces, ej usque die Sabbat o cultum propagavit. Inferendae quoque sibi verberationis morem ad patratorum scelerum expiationem provexit. Demum sanctitate, doctrina, miraculis, et praeclare actis illustris, dum e Eavennate legatione rediret, Faventiae octavo Kalendas Martii migravit ad Christum. Ejus corpus ibidem apud Cistercienses multis miraculis clarum frequenti populorum veneratione colitur. Ipsum Faventini non semel in praesenti discrimine propitium experti, patronum apud Deum delegerunt: Leo vero duodecimus, Pontifex maximus, Omcium Missamque in ejus to the Holy See. He courageously resisted the anti-popes Benedict and Cadolaus. He deterred Henry IV., king of Germany, from an unjust divorce of his wife. He restored the people of Eavenna to their allegiance to the Eoman Pontiff, and absolved them from 'interdict. He reformed the abuses which had crept in among the canons of Velletri. There was scarcely a singlo cathedral church in the province of Urbino that had not experienced the beneficial effects of Peter's holy zeal : thus, that of Gubbio, which was for some time under his care, was relieved by him of many evils ; and other churches, that needed his help, found him as earnest for their welfare as though he were their own bishop. When he obtained permission to resign his dignity as Cardinal and his bishopric, he relented nothing of his former charity, but was equally ready in doing good to all. He was instrumental in propagating many devout practices ; among these may be mentioned, fasting on Fridays in honour of the holy cross ; the reciting the Little Office of our Lady ; the keeping the Saturday as a day especially devoted to Mary ; the taking of the discipline in expiation of past sins. At length, after a life which had edified the world by holiness, learning, miracles, and glorious works, on his return from Eavenna, whither he had been sent as legate, honorem tamquam confessoris pontificis, quae aliquibus in dioecesibus, atque in OrdineCanialdulensiumjam celebrabantur, ex Sacrorum Eituum Congregationis consulto, addita doctoris qualitate, ad universam extendit Ecclesiam. he slept in Christ, on the eighth of the Calends of March (February 23), at Faenza. His relics, which are kept in the Cistercian church of that town, are devoutly honoured by the faithful, and many miracles are wrought at the holy shrine. The inhabitants of Faenza have chosen him as the patron of their city, having several times experienced his protection when threatened by danger. His Mass and Office, which were kept under the rite of confessor and bishop, had been long observed in several dioceses, and by the Camaldolese Order; but they were extended to the whole Church by a decree of the Congregation of Sacred Bites, which was approved by Pope Leo XII., who also added to the name of the saint the title of Doctor.

Thy soul was inflamed by the zeal of God's house, 0 Peter ! God gave thee to His Church in those sad times when the wickedness of the world had robbed her of well-nigh all her beauty. Thou hadst the spirit of an Elias within thee, and it gave thee courage to waken the servants of the Lord : they had slept, and while they were asleep, the enemy came, and the field was oversown with tares. 1 Then did better days dawn for the bride of Christ ; the promises made by our Lord were fulfilled ; but who was the friend of the bridegroom ? 2 Who was the chief instrument used by God to bring back to His house its ancient beauty ? A saint who bore the glorious name of Peter Damian ! In those days, the i St. Matt. xiii. 25. 2 St. John iii. 29. sanctuary was degraded by secular interference. The princes of the earth said : ' Let us possess the sanctuary of God for an inheritance.' 1 The Church, which God intended to be free, was but a slave, in the power of the rulers of this world ; and the vices, which are inherent to human weakness, defiled the temple. But God had pity on the bride of Christ, and for her deliverance He would use human agency : He chose thee, Peter, as His principal co-operator in restoring order. Thy example and thy labours prepared the way for Gregory, the faithful and dauntless Hildebrand, into whose hands the keys were no sooner placed, than the work of regeneration was completed. Thou hast fought the good fight ; thou art now in thy rest ; but thy love of the Church, and thy power to help, are greater than ever. Watch, then, over her interests. Obtain for her pastors that apostolic energy and courage, which alone can cope with enemies so determined as hers are. Obtain for her priests the holiness which God demands from them that are the salt of the earth. 2 Obtain for the faithful the respect and obedience they owe to those who direct them in the path of salvation. Thou wast not only the apostle, thou wast moreover the model, of penance in the midst of a corrupt age ; pray for us, that we may be eager to atone for our sins by works of mortification. Excite within our souls the remembrance of the sufferings of our Eedeemer, that so His Passion may urge us to repentance and hope. Increase our confidence in Mary, the refuge of sinners, and make us, like thyself, full of filial affection towards her, and of zeal that she may be honoured and loved by those who are around us.