Venerable Peter the Monk of Damascus

Saint Peter of Damascus

The ninth of February in the Orthodox Church is the feast-day of Saint Peter of Damascus. There is some confusion, unfortunately, between several Syrian saints named Peter. One of them is the Bishop of Buṣrâ who was beheaded for speaking out against Islâmic doctrines during the eighth century. This Saint Peter, of Kapitōlias, suffered for the Lord in 715. His feast-day is the fourth of October. Another Saint Peter, a bishop of Damascus, was sent to southern Arabia for preaching Christianity during the reign of the same caliph, where he was tortured, mutilated and finally beheaded as well. But he reposed in 750, after the death of al-Walîd. Some accounts of this Saint Peter exist, but there appears to be some confusion between him and the Saint Peter of Damascus whom we celebrate today. This Saint Peter was not a martyr, but was a Syrian monk and spiritual writer who lived in the eleventh century. His writings make up a significant portion of the Philokalia.

Saint Peter of Damascus [Gk. Πέτρος, Syr. Peṭros ܦܛܪܘܣ, Ar. Buṭrus بطرس] was born probably in the year 1027. Peter was probably fairly poor, and did not have any formal education nor did he own any books, which makes the depth and clarity of his writing in the Philokalia all the more stunning. He lived in a small cœnobitic community, a skete, in the Syrian desert together with other monks. His writings, which are preserved in the Philokalia, are primarily concerned with the hesychastic method: silence, combined with the inward prayer of the heart. For this reason, Saint Peter’s writings were of key, indispensable importance to the mediæval ‘rediscovery’ of the way of inward prayer – of the sort popularised by Saint Grēgorios of Sinai, Saint Teodosii of Tărnovo, and later Saint Paisii of Neamț. But his writings have an importance also to the œcological witness of the Orthodox Church, particularly in their wonder on the beauty and harmony of God’s creation. Here is the brief biographical sketch provided by the Orthodox Fellowship of the Transfiguration:

A Syrian monk who writes primarily for other monks. St. Peter lived in a small skete (a monastic village) in the Syrian desert. He tells us that he does not know what he will write until he picks up his writing implement and it is actually touching paper…. He never owned any books. His writings depict a cosmos infused with the presence of God and he finds everywhere the love of God dwelling in all things. St. Peter of Damascus is important for ecological awareness because he reflects a cosmological vision in which “God’s providence embraces the whole of creation.” This becomes accessible to us, he writes, as we mold ourselves into the likeness of God through the acquisition of the virtues and contemplation. From St. Peter of Damascus we learn that the world is a manifestation of divinity; that through creation we can discern the Word which sustains every creature; that through examination of both the little things and the large, we find the continuing work of our Lord Jesus Christ while still in this world. In accordance with the monastic style of his time, his writing is deliberately asystematic which requires the reader to restore the original internal harmony to arrive at his or her own view of their place in spiritual formation.

Saint Peter reposed in the Lord at the age of eighty, probably in the year 1107. Holy and venerable Peter, blessed tutor in inward prayer and wonder at the outward glory of God, pray unto Christ our Lord for us sinners!