Te nunc, piissime Deus, Vultu precamur cernuo: Illapsa nobis coelitus Largire dona Spiritus! Dudum sacrata pectora Tua replesti gratia, Dimitte nostra crimina, Et da quieta tempora! O God most merciful, to Thee Thy Spirit's heavenly grace! Already Thou with gifts divine Hast filled each hallowed breast, O banish sin from that pure shrine And grant us peaceful rest! DAMASUS Authorities differ as to the place of his birth, about 304 A.D., probably in Spain or Portugal. He was the thirty-ninth Bishop of Rome, consecrated 366 A.D., and died in 384. His character is of renowned or doubtful virtue, according to the prejudices of the historians. During his occupancy of the papal throne, a law was promulgated by the Emperor Valentinian prohibiting the clergy from permitting or influencing penitents to enrich them. Damasus had a conflict with the antipope, Ursinus, to maintain his position as pope, and the struggle resulted in bloodshed. Gibbon says that Damasus "had the good sense or the good fortune to engage in his service the zeal and abilities of the learned Jerome, and the grateful saint has celebrated the merit and purity of a very ambiguous character." Theodoret, however, places him "at the head of the famous doctors of the Latin Church." DAMASUS HYMNUS DE S. AGATHA Martyris ecce dies Agathae Stirpe decens, elegans specie, Fortior haec trucibusque viris Deliciae cui carcer erat, Pastor ovem Petrus hanc recreat; Inde gavisa magisque flagrans Cuncta flagella cucurrit ovans. |