A Reflection for the Feast of St. Damasus, Pope and Confessor – III Class
Readings:
✠ 1 Peter 5:1–4; 5:10–11
✠ Matthew 16:13–19
On this day, Holy Church honors Sanctus Damasius Papa, the intrepid Shepherd of Rome who reigned in troubled times with unshakable fidelity to Christ and His flock. The Scriptures given in the Mass of this Confessor of the Faith—Prince of the Apostolic See—invite us to contemplate the dignity of the papal office and the humility demanded of those who govern in the Name of the Chief Shepherd.
I. The Elder among Elders (1 Peter 5:1–4)
Saint Peter, the first to sit upon the Roman See, exhorts his fellow presbyteri as one who not only shares in their office, but who also bears the cross of witness (testis Christi passionum) and the hope of future glory. His words are sober: “Feed the flock of God which is among you… not by constraint, but willingly.” Herein lies the rule of pastoral authority—not tyranny, but fatherhood; not dominion, but service.
St. John Chrysostom, in his homilies on this passage, insists:
“The priestly office is discharged on earth, but it ranks among heavenly ordinances. And this is the reason why it must be fulfilled with more purity than the rays of the sun.” (De Sacerdotio, II.4)
The Pope, as Supreme Pastor, must embody this apostolic ideal more than any other. St. Damasus, raised from the ranks of the Roman clergy and confirmed amid fierce schism and political tumult, bore his office not for gain, but for the Church’s integrity. It was under his care that the Latin tongue found its voice in Sacred Scripture, commissioning his secretary, St. Jerome, to revise the Old Latin Bible—thus sowing the seed of the Vulgate, the Bible of the West.
II. After You Have Suffered (1 Peter 5:10–11)
“But the God of all grace… after you have suffered a little, will himself perfect, confirm, and establish you.” These words may well have consoled St. Damasus, whose pontificate was born in persecution. He endured slander, physical attacks, and even bloodshed among the faithful, as rival claimants and schismatics sought to usurp Peter’s throne. Yet, as the Apostle promises, God confirmed him—and through him, the Roman See.
St. Augustine remarks:
“The Church is shaken, but not destroyed; she is scourged, but not overthrown; she is tried, but not vanquished.” (Enarrationes in Psalmos, Ps. 60)
The enduring unity and orthodoxy of the Church, even in stormy times, are not the fruit of human skill but of divine grace. The papal office, rightly understood, is the visible sign of this unity. Damasus did not invent doctrine; he defended what he had received. He convened synods, opposed Arianism, and bore witness to the Nicene Creed, affirming the divinity of Christ and the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father.
III. The Keys and the Rock (Matthew 16:13–19)
When Our Lord asked, “Whom do men say that the Son of Man is?”, He was not seeking information but preparing to reveal the foundation of His Church. Peter’s confession—“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”—draws from the Father’s revelation, not human insight. And in return, Christ bestows upon him a new name, a new role, and a new authority: “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church.”
St. Leo the Great, successor of Damasus and his theological heir, declares:
“The care of the universal Church should converge towards Peter’s one See, and nothing anywhere should be separated from its Head.” (Sermo 3, In Nativitate)
This primacy is not honorary, but essential. The authority to bind and loose, to open and shut heaven itself, belongs not to Peter as a man but to the divine office entrusted to him. The Papacy is thus not an invention of ecclesiastical polity, but a divinely instituted means for preserving unity and truth.
St. Damasus, recognizing the weight of this office, ruled not as a monarch but as a servant of this mystery. He inscribed tombs with dogmatic epigrams, affirmed the true Faith in Councils, and encouraged the veneration of martyrs, linking the Church of his day with that of the catacombs—the Church of blood and witness.
Conclusion: The Chief Shepherd and His Vicar
As we commemorate the Confessor Pope Damasus, the lessons of today’s liturgy converge: the call to shepherd the flock, the endurance of suffering for the Church, and the divine promise entrusted to Peter and his successors. It is no coincidence that this feast reaffirms both the Petrine primacy and the spiritual nobility of humility.
Let us heed the counsel of the Fathers and the example of the saints. The Papacy is not a relic of history or a throne of power—it is the servant’s seat beneath the shadow of the Cross. In St. Damasus we see the model of fidelity: to Christ, to doctrine, to the flock.
Let us pray, then, with the words of the Collect:
“O God, Who didst raise up Thy blessed Confessor and Pontiff Damasus to rule Thy Church, grant, we beseech Thee, that by his intercession we may be enabled to love what he believed and to practice what he taught.”
Sancte Damasi, ora pro nobis.