21 Feb – Memorial for St. Peter Damian, bishop and doctor
St. Peter Damian (1007-1072) was the youngest child in a large family. When he was orphaned, he was sent to live with a brother where he was mistreated and forced to work as a swine-herd. He cared for another brother, a priest in Ravenna, Italy. He was well educated in Faenza and Parma, and became a professor, but lived a life of strict austerity.
He gave up his teaching to become a Benedictine monk. His health suffered, especially when he tried to replace sleep with prayer. He founded a hermitage. He was occasionally called on by the Vatican to make peace between arguing monastic houses, clergymen, and government officials, etc. He was made Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia, and he fought simony.
He tried to restore primitive discipline among priests and religious who were becoming more and more of the world. He was a prolific correspondent, and he also wrote dozens of sermons, seven biographies (including one of St. Romuald), and poetry, including some of the best Latin of the time. He tried to retire being a monk, but was routinely recalled as a papal legate.
He died on Feb 22, 1072 of fever at Ravenna, while surrounded by brother monks reciting the Divine Office. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1828.
- Patron Saint Index
Gen 11:1-9
Mk 8:34-9:1
‘So they are all a single people with a single language!’ said the Lord. ‘This is but the start of their undertakings! There will be nothing too hard for them to do. Come, let us go down and confuse their language on the spot so that they can no longer understand one another.’
Because of the Tower of Babel account, some assume that the different ethnicities and cultures in the world today are a product of sin. According to this narrative, God judged humanity for gathering to build a tower to heaven by confusing their language.
Like the Garden of Eden story, it is a tale of human pride and folly, reflective of Israel’s strong anti-urban bias. We are told that originally, the whole of humanity had just one language and one vocabulary. Then, the world’s people migrated from the east and settled in the plain of Shinar. This is ancient Sumer in southern Mesopotamia (today, southern Iraq), and also known as Babylonia.
Here, they developed construction techniques, learning how to make bricks instead of using stone and bitumen as mortar. Bricks were so easy to make and so convenient, when compared to the tedious process of cutting stone. Buildings could be bigger and constructed so much more quickly. Stone and mortar were used as building materials in Canaan, the rocky country where the Israelites lived. Stone was scarce in Mesopotamia, so mud brick and bitumen were used as determined by archaeological excavation.
These structures were intended to symbolise the holy mountain and resting place of the deity, and the builders were apparently seeking a means of meeting their God. But the biblical writer sees their project as an act of arrogant pride. They built this tower so that: we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:4)
God was not at all pleased with what he saw. They were all one people, united by a common language, and this was only the beginning of what they could do. Nothing would seem impossible. There would be no limits to their unrestrained rebellion against God. The kingdom of Man would try to displace and exclude the kingdom of God (something that is often seen today).
The result was that, divided by incomprehensible languages, they were scattered over the face of the earth, and the building of their city had to be abandoned. The very thing they feared ultimately took place!
Yet, despite all man’s folly, our ever loving Father, still unifies us through one distinct language – music!
The sounds that are produced do not change much across cultures, so emotions and ideas can be universally translated. “He who sings,” said St. Augustine, “prays twice.” The holy Bishop of Hippo meant that singing adds to our praise and worship of God — that our voices are gifts, with which we can make music to the Lord. Music is an art form that lifts up ordinary text to another level that inspires us and nurtures our souls.
My son, L, is 2 and a half years old. He loves to sing. We try to expose him to as many scriptural hymns as possible and his bedtime melody is a collection of Marian hymns. In fact, one of the earliest Marian hymns he learnt to sing is the hymn As I Kneel Before You. He would sing it with so much gusto in his baby voice, barely able to articulate the words comprehensibly. It was the melody he picked up.
My dear spouse and I believe that hymns give children a solid foundation in Christian doctrine, and learning hymns is extremely helpful in exposing them to these foundational truths in a way that they can understand and remember.
Both L and his sister M, who is 4 and a half years old, are able to participate in the singing, even if they are too young to read. The rich lyrics help our children to praise and worship God from their hearts, when perhaps they wouldn’t have had the words to do so otherwise. We believe that by intentionally studying hymns with our children, we can help them expand their vocabulary and be better able to understand the language of the Bible.
We still struggle with keeping both M and L engaged during mass, but the singing of the hymns engage them. I remember one sunset mass when M was singing the entire Gloria at the top of her voice. We received a mixture of warm smiles and annoyed glances. Fr Colin Tan who preached, noted her singing ‘with gusto’ during his homily and asked how many of us adults actually dare to praise God in song so loudly.
Brothers and sisters, God our Father has an interesting sense of humour. He ‘takes away’ mankind’s unity in language, but unifies us in another form to give Him praise. Let us endeavour to sing from our hearts during Mass each time we attend; after all, He is ever present and always ready to receive our praises.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Gerard Francis)
Prayer: We pray for those who are struggling to communicate with Our Heavenly Father. May they be guided towards our sacred hymns.
Thanksgiving: We give thanks for the gift of music to praise and worship Our Heavenly Father.
OXYGEN 
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