Peter Damian
Biographical Details:
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Biography:
Peter Damian (1007-1073 A.D.) was a Benedictine monk and cardinal. Dante placed him in one of the highest circles of Paradiso as a great predecessor of Francis of Assisi. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1828. Although living in the seclusion of the cloister, Peter Damian was a strong advocate for Church Reform. When the scandalous Pope Benedict IX resigned the pontificate into the hands of John Gratian (Pope Gregory VI) in 1045, Peter Damian hailed the change with joy and wrote to the new pope, urging him to deal with the scandals of the church in Italy, especially the wicked bishops of Pesaro, of Città di Castello and of Fano. Peter Damian also published a constant stream of open letters on a variety of theological and disciplinary controversies. About 1050, he wrote Liber Gomorrhianus addressed to Pope Leo IX, containing a scathing indictment of the practice of sodomy, as threatening the integrity of the clergy.
Around the end of 1059, the state of things in Milan were so bad that benefices (a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services) were openly bought and sold, and the clergy publicly married the women with whom they lived. Peter Damian was then sent as legate to Milan by Pope Nicholas II. The party of the irregular clerics took alarm to this and raised the cry that Rome had no authority over Milan. Peter boldly confronted the rioters in the cathedral and proved to them the authority of the Holy See with such effect that all parties submitted to his decision. He exacted first a solemn oath from the archbishop and all his clergy that for the future no preferment should be paid for; then, imposing a penance on all who had been guilty, he reinstated in their benefices all who undertook to live in celibacy.
Extant Writings:
- De Divina Omnipotentia
- Officium Beatae Virginis, also known as “Hours of the Virgin”
- Dominus vobiscum (The Book of “The Lord be with You”)
- Life of Romauld
Quotes and Excerpts:
On Mary’s Immaculate Conception:
“First a house had to be built, into which the King of heaven would come down and deign to be a guest. I mean the house of which it is said through Solomon, “Wisdom has built herself a house, she has set up her seven pillars” (Prov 9:1). For this virginal house is supported by seven pillars because the venerable Mother received the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.” –Sermon 45; PL 144, 741BC.
On Mary, the New Eve:
“‘Blessed are you among women!’ Through a woman, the earth was filled with a curse; through a woman, blessing is restored to the earth. The hand of a woman offered the cup of bitter death; the hand of a woman offered the chalice of sweet life. The abundant stream of the new blessing wiped away the contagion of the ancient curse.” –Sermon 46; PL 144, 758AB.
On the Fruit of Mary’s Womb, the Eucharist:
“Because of a food, we were cast out of the loveliness of paradise, but by means of another food we have been restored to the joys of paradise. Eve ate the food by which she condemned us to the hunger of an eternal fast. Mary brought forth the food that opened for us the entrance to the banquet of heaven.” –Sermon 45; PL 144, 743C.
On the Assumption of Mary and John:
“Even if we dare not state it categorically, nevertheless it is pious to think that, just as it is believed of the Blessed Mother of God, so too it may be asserted as probable that blessed John rose. Since both shared in virginal integrity, so they may rightly appear equal with regard to an anticipated resurrection. Nor should there be a difference in their resurrection, since they had such a unity in their way of life. For if both John and Mary were blessed virgins, and did not rise at all, why do their bodies not lie buried in their graves, when the bodies of blessed Peter, Paul, and other apostles and martyrs are known to be buried in their tombs?”-Sermo de sancto Joanne; PL I44, 870CD