Memorial of St. Peter Damian, bishop and doctor

Today we celebrate the Memorial of St. Peter Damian, bishop and doctor of the Church.

St. Peter Damian must be numbered among the greatest of the Church's reformers in the Middle Ages. In Damian the scholar, men admire wealth of wisdom: in Damian the preacher of God's word, apostolic zeal; in Damian the monk, austerity, and self-denial; in Damian the priest, piety, and zeal for souls; in Damian the cardinal, loyalty, and submission to the Holy See together with generous enthusiasm and devotion for the good of Mother Church. He was a personal friend of Pope Gregory VII.

He died in 1072 at the age of 65.

In his poem, the Divine Comedy, Dante places Damian in the "seventh heaven." That was his place for holy people who loved to think about or contemplate God.

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Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we may so follow the teaching and example of the Bishop Saint Peter Damian, that, putting nothing before Christ and always ardent in the service of your Church, we may be led to the joys of eternal light.