Priest-Martyr Peter of Damascus

Life

Regarding this saint some think he lived in the eighth century, and others in the twelfth. This difference in opinions surely comes from the fact that there were two Peters of Damascus. This one of whom we speak was a great ascetic. Selfless to the extreme, he did not have a single book of his own, but borrowed and read. And he read tirelessly, gathering wisdom as a bee gathers honey. He was for some time bishop in Damascus, but because he spoke against Mohammedanism and the Manichaean heresy, the Arabs cut out his tongue and sent him deep into Arabia into exile. But God gave him the power of speech so that even in exile he preached the Gospel and converted many to the Christian faith. He composed and left to posterity one precious book on the spiritual life. He died as confessor and martyr and departed to the Kingdom of Christ.