Saint of the Day

01 · Read · A life to discover

St. Damasus I

Damasus became bishop of Rome in 366 amid a disputed election and violent conflict between his supporters and those of Ursinus. His pontificate strengthened Rome's ecclesiastical standing and defended Nicene teaching during continuing theological disputes. These achievements belong alongside, rather than erase, the troubled circumstances of his accession.

Damasus grew up in the Roman church associated with Saint Lawrence. His later attention to martyrs’ graves connected church leadership with places visited by ordinary believers. Verse inscriptions and restored burial sites made the memory of earlier persecution visible within Rome’s developing Christian landscape.

His support for biblical revision should be distinguished from personally producing the Vulgate: Jerome’s translation and revision work developed over time. Likewise, Damasus’s commemorative poems are evidence for fourth-century devotion, but they are not automatically eyewitness reports of the earlier martyrs whose stories they celebrate.

He employed Jerome as secretary and encouraged revision of the Latin biblical text, an important stage in the development of the Vulgate. Damasus also honored the Roman martyrs through inscriptions and the restoration of their burial places, helping preserve their memory in the city's Christian landscape. He died in 384 and is commemorated on December 11.

This saint is included on this recurring date in the U.S. Roman Rite calendar published by the USCCB. This reading guide gives U.S. calendar saints priority; the Mass celebrated on a particular year’s date can differ because of Sundays, seasons or higher-ranking celebrations.