Saint Peter Damian

Peter was born in Ravenna, Italy, in 1007, the youngest of a large and poor family. Orphaned early, he was mistreated by one brother and made to tend pigs, until another brother, Damian, took him in and paid for his education; in gratitude Peter took his name. He became a successful teacher, but around 1035 he entered the hermitage of Fonte Avellana, where he lived a life of strict prayer and penance and later became prior.

Peter wrote powerfully against the corruption of his time, especially simony and the moral failings of clergy, and worked closely with popes and with the monk Hildebrand, the future Gregory VII, in reforming the Church. In 1057 he was made cardinal-bishop of Ostia, though he longed to return to his cell. He served as papal legate on difficult missions and always sought peace. He died at Faenza on February 22, 1072, and was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1828.

Faenza, where he died and where his relics rest in the cathedral, honors him as patron, and the monastery of Fonte Avellana keeps his memory alive.

His writings on the Church, on the eremitic life and on the Virgin Mary still inspire readers, and he is remembered as a model of reform rooted in prayer.