Gospel in Art: Saint Damasus I, Pope

Saint Jerome presents the Bible to Pope Damasus I, Illumination from the Brantwood Bible, (British Library shelfmark BL YT 22), Historiated initial 'F'(rater) with Jerome and Pope Damasus

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 11 December 2025
Matthew 11:11-15

At that time: Jesus said to the crowd: 'Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John and, if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'

Reflection on the Illuminated Manuscript Page

Today we celebrate Pope Damasus I (305-384). He is one of the great early popes whose decisions shaped the Church in a major way. He became Bishop of Rome at a crucial moment, just after Christianity was legalised by Emperor Constantine and the Church was finding her voice in a changing world. Damasus defended the true faith boldly during the Arian controversy. The Arian controversy was one of the great crises of our early Church. Arius, a priest from Alexandria, taught that Jesus was not fully God, but a created being - higher than humans, but not equal to the Father. This teaching spread rapidly and caused deep division among Christians. Pope Damasus I confronted the issue head-on by firmly upholding the full divinity of Christ. At the Council of Rome in 382, he clearly reaffirmed the teaching of the Council of Nicaea: that the Son is true God from true God, equal to the Father, eternal and consubstantial.

One of Damasus's further great contributions was his support of St Jerome, whom he commissioned to produce a unified Latin translation of the Scriptures. This translation, known as the Vulgate, became the Bible of the Western Church for more than a thousand years. Thanks to Damasus, generations of Christians were able to hear and pray with one consistent, reliable text of Scripture. We celebrate Pope Damasus during Advent, and this carries a quiet significance. Advent is a season of waiting, preparing, and returning to what is essential. Damasus spent his life helping the Church define what was the essence of the Christian faith: the truth of Christ, the unity of believers, the treasure of the Scriptures, and the witness of the saints.

Our illumination is taken from The Brantwood Bible. The Brantwood Bible is the informal name for a beautiful 13th-century Latin Vulgate Bible. It is a complete medieval Bible, handwritten and illuminated, created at a time when small, portable "Paris Bibles" were becoming popular among scholars and preachers. These small Bible were developed in Paris and were small, portable, containing thin parchment and tiny script. They were the first truly compact complete Bibles designed for study and preaching. The Brantwood Bible manuscript became part of the personal collection of John Ruskin, the great Victorian art critic, writer, and social thinker. Ruskin kept this Bible at his home, Brantwood, in England's Lake District, hence the name.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-11-11-15-2025/