Thursday, December 11, 2008

Pope Saint Damasus I

Today is the feast of Pope Saint Damasus I. Although he is not very well known, he did have great influence upon the Church. He was the one who commissioned Saint Jerome to translate the Bible which resulted in the Vulgate translation of the Bible. He also decreed the canon of the New Testament, ie what books officially make up the New Testament.

He is buried in Rome in the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso. I was able to visit him my last time in Rome. It is not an easy place to find. I walked past it once before I found it. The outside isn't really that "churchy". The name of the church comes from the fact that it is believed that the pope himself founded this church on his own home and dedicated it to Saint Lawrence.


However, the inside is simple (well for a church in Rome), but beautiful. It's also nice and quiet.


He is buried under the altar here.


And when I got there, I noticed there is another Saint buried there as well.


Saint Eutychius, Martyr. Unfortunately, I can't really find any information about him. I think he is the Saint Eutychius whose feast is on February 4th.


Pope Saint Damasus I and Saint Eutychius, orate pro nobis.

RS

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was born on 11 December (so today is my birthday). I chose Saint Damasus as my patron at Confirmation, without knowing very much about him. The more I read about him, the happier I become about my choice.

Thanks for making this post. I'm visiting Rome in about a month, so I'll know where to go to offer a prayer to my favorite pontiff.

Roman Sacristan said...

Happy Birthday.

The church is on the Corso Vittorio Emanuele about half way between Chiesa Nuova and Sant'Andrea delle Valle.

The entrance is not on the Corso Vittorio Emanuele side, but is in the Piazza di San Lorenzo in San Damaso. If you look at the picture of the front in the above post, the Corso will be on your right.

Here's a link to a satellite shot of the piazza with the church entrance from google maps. You can zoom in and out and move around to get your bearings with other more well known landmarks.

Roman Sacristan said...

Oops, the above link works better if you right click on the link and select "Open in New Window"