Saint Peter Chrysologus

Peter was born in Forum Cornelii — today’s Imola — at the end of the fourth century. He was baptized and educated by Bishop Cornelius, who started him on literary and legal studies in Ravenna and Bologna and ordained him a deacon. In 433 Pope Sixtus III made him bishop of Ravenna, which in those years was the capital of the Western Empire and had recently become a metropolitan see: his jurisdiction ran from Forlì to Piacenza. He enjoyed the trust of Pope Leo the Great and the protection of the empress Galla Placidia. He earned his nickname in the pulpit: Chrysologus, “the golden-worded.” Around one hundred seventy of his homilies survive, and it is for them that he is a doctor of the Church. They are very short — he himself explains in one of them that he would rather say little and be listened to than wear people out — concrete, and full of images taken from everyday life. One of those homilies contains the line that sums him up: “Christ knocks, and we keep him outside the door of our house.” Eutyches, the monk condemned for heresy, also wrote to him looking for support; Peter answered that he should listen to the bishop of Rome, and that letter is one of the most frequently cited ancient documents on the primacy of Rome. He died in Imola on December 2, 450. His memorial is celebrated on July 30. If your name is Peter, today is your name day.