CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY, FEBRUARY 21, 2010
St. Peter Damian dedicated his life to the purification of the Church and to the defence of the papacy. He was born the youngest of a large, poor family in Ravenna, Italy, in 1007. Orphaned at a young age, he did remarkably well in his studies and, at 25, was a famous teacher at Parma and Ravenna.
Unable to endure the scandals and distractions of university life, he decided to join a hermitage. He became known for his fervent faith and, in 1043, he became prior until his death.
Although living in a cloister, Peter watched the Church closely and strove for her purification. He would write to the pope, urging him to deal with the scandals of the Church in Italy. In 1051, Peter published his treatise on the vices of the clergy, “Liber Gomorrhianus”.
In 1057, Pope Stephen X elevated Peter to cardinal. Peter resisted but was finally forced, under threat of excommunication, to accept. In 1059, Pope Nicholas II sent Peter as legate to Milan to help remedy a scandalous situation. Early in 1072, he was sent to Ravenna to reconcile its people to the Holy See. They had been excommunicated for supporting their archbishop in the schism of Cadalous.
Upon his return, he was seized with fever. On the night before the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, he ordered the office of the feast to be recited, and, at the end of the Lauds, he died. In 1823, Pope Leo XII pronounced him a Doctor of the Church.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php?n=154
ST. PETER DAMIAN
St. Peter Damian dedicated his life to the purification of the Church and to the defence of the papacy. He was born the youngest of a large, poor family in Ravenna, Italy, in 1007. Orphaned at a young age, he did remarkably well in his studies and, at 25, was a famous teacher at Parma and Ravenna.
Unable to endure the scandals and distractions of university life, he decided to join a hermitage. He became known for his fervent faith and, in 1043, he became prior until his death.
Although living in a cloister, Peter watched the Church closely and strove for her purification. He would write to the pope, urging him to deal with the scandals of the Church in Italy. In 1051, Peter published his treatise on the vices of the clergy, “Liber Gomorrhianus”.
In 1057, Pope Stephen X elevated Peter to cardinal. Peter resisted but was finally forced, under threat of excommunication, to accept. In 1059, Pope Nicholas II sent Peter as legate to Milan to help remedy a scandalous situation. Early in 1072, he was sent to Ravenna to reconcile its people to the Holy See. They had been excommunicated for supporting their archbishop in the schism of Cadalous.
Upon his return, he was seized with fever. On the night before the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, he ordered the office of the feast to be recited, and, at the end of the Lauds, he died. In 1823, Pope Leo XII pronounced him a Doctor of the Church.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php?n=154