21ST FEBRUARY 2003
ST.PETER DAMIAN BISHOP CONFESSOR, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH (10071072) LIFE :Peter Onesti, the youngest of a large Ravenna family of noble ancestry, was orphaned at an early age & sent to tend swine.But his piety &intellectual gifts prompted one of his brothers, the Archpriest Damian of Ravenna , to pay for his education 7 peter , in gratitude , added the name Damian to his own. His subsequent progress wa s so rapid that at 25 he was already noted as a teacher at Ravenna and at Parma 9 Italy) But the life in these university towns was too wordly & distracting for him, and so he became in 1034 a hermitmonk in the Benedictine establishment of Fonte Avellana in the Apennines , which was known for austerities & sever rule . His zeal and extreme penances made him ill.,after which he was appointed to give spiritual discourse to the monks of his own and several neighbouring monasteries. St. Peter Damian was particularly devoted to our Lady.At the age of 36 he became abbot of Fonte Avellana and remained so until his death 29 years later.As such he wisely moderated the rule , established the regular use of the discipline & found a number of hermitages.Together with his friend Hildebrand, the future great reformerPope Gregory VIIhe strove continually by pen & word to combat and correct the scandalous abuses then widespreaded in the church; luxury and laxity among the clergy, the buying and selling of church benefices and papal schisms.He is best known for his terrible indictment of the clergy, the Liber Gomorrhianus`. In 1507,Pope Stephen X insisted the Abbot to accept cardinalate; and so he was made Cardinal bishop of Ostia .Besides being administrator of the diocese of Gubbio, he served seven successive Popes with remarkable success on various delicate missions , as papal legate & visitor of Bishoprics and Abbey`s & was in constant contact with all the eminent men of his age. Died in 1072 of fever at Ravenna while surrounded by brother monks reciting the Divine Office. Declared a Doctor of the Church in 1828.Wasn`t beatified, never formally canonized; cultus developed almost immediately after his death; cultus approved and extended to the whole Church in 1823 by Pope Leo XII . REFLECTION: " what u are ,I was ; What I am, you will be, Remember me, I pray for you. Have pity on the dust of Peter that lies here.."" ( Epitaph on the tomb of St.Peter Damian, written by himself) "Let us faithfully transmit to posterity the example of virtue which we have received from our forefathers." -Saint Peter Damian Oh! sweet Eucharist ! & beloved Mother keep me as thy own..... S.THOMAS NOTTINGHAM ENGLAND --------------------------------- With Yahoo! Mail you can get a bigger mailbox -- choose a size that fits your needs =============================================================================== This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ===============================================================================