St. Damasus I

Their story

Damasus was born in Rome around 305, the son of a priest who served at the church of St. Lawrence. He grew up serving the Church and was elected pope in 366. His election was bitterly disputed by a rival group, and the early years of his pontificate were marked by conflict and even violence in the city. Damasus led the Church through a time when many still denied the full divinity of Christ, and he worked to defend the faith handed down from the apostles. He also made a lasting contribution to the Bible: he asked his secretary, St. Jerome, to revise the Latin translation of the Gospels, the beginning of the work that became the Vulgate, the Latin Bible used in the West for more than a thousand years. Damasus had a deep love for the martyrs of Rome. He restored the catacombs where they were buried, made their tombs accessible to pilgrims, and composed verses in their honor that were carved in beautiful lettering on marble. Some of these inscriptions can still be seen today. He died in 384.