Origins and formation at Imola
Saint Peter Chrysologus was born at Imola, the ancient Forum Cornelii in northern Italy, about the year 406, though some sources place his birth as early as around 380. There the local bishop Cornelius baptized him, educated him in the sacred sciences, and ordained him deacon. Under Cornelius he grew in piety and learning, serving the Church of Imola and eventually being raised to the rank of archdeacon through the influence of the young Emperor Valentinian III. Already in these years he gained a reputation for eloquence and pastoral zeal that would mark his entire life.
Call to the see of Ravenna
Around 433 Pope Sixtus III appointed Peter Bishop of Ravenna, then the capital of the Western Roman Empire and a see that already held metropolitan rank. The traditional account preserved in the Roman Breviary relates that Sixtus had been shown in a vision Saint Peter the Apostle and Saint Apollinaris, first bishop of Ravenna, presenting a young man as the one chosen for the see; when a delegation from Ravenna arrived that included Bishop Cornelius and his archdeacon Peter, the Pope recognized the figure of his vision and consecrated him, setting aside the candidate elected by the local clergy and people. Thus Peter was sent to govern the Church in the imperial city not by popular choice but by papal authority.
Bishop in the imperial capital: preaching and patronage
As bishop of Ravenna, Peter governed with notable piety and pastoral energy. He preached short, clear, and theologically dense homilies, fearing to weary his hearers, and his first episcopal sermon so impressed the Empress Galla Placidia that tradition attributes to her the surname Chrysologus, "the golden-worded." She became his patroness and supported many of his works. Peter shared the confidence of Pope Leo the Great and labored to root out remaining pagan customs and moral disorders in the capital, warning his flock that "Anyone who wishes to frolic with the devil cannot rejoice with Christ." A contemporary mosaic portrait in the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista places him among the imperial family, a sign of the influence he exercised in that courtly setting.
Teacher of the faith: Incarnation, Creed, Mary, and Eucharist
In his preaching Peter unfolded the central mysteries of the faith with simplicity and precision. He explained the Incarnation against the errors of Arius, expounded the Apostles' Creed, defended the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and devoted series of homilies to her and to Saint John the Baptist. He taught the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and urged the faithful toward frequent, even daily, Communion. He called his people to repentance and the priority of the soul, reminding them, "We have given the whole year to sloth; let us give days to the soul." Throughout he insisted on the primacy of the Roman See as the rock of Peter.
Guardian of orthodoxy: the appeal of Eutyches
After the Synod of Constantinople condemned the archimandrite Eutyches for Monophysitism in 448, Eutyches sought the support of the Bishop of Ravenna. Peter refused. In a letter preserved in the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon he urged Eutyches to accept the judgment of the synod and to render obedience to the Bishop of Rome as successor of the Apostle Peter, thereby safeguarding the unity and orthodoxy of the Church.
Final journey to Imola and death
About the year 450 Peter returned to Imola, the city of his birth and early formation. There he died and was buried. The precise day is uncertain; an older tradition placed his death on 2 December, while a more recent reading of the ninth-century Liber pontificalis ecclesiae Ravennatis of Agnellus favors 31 July. The early biography by Agnellus itself remains scanty, and most of what is known of Peter must be drawn from his sermons and from the few contemporary notices that survive.
Homilies preserved and declaration as Doctor
In the early eighth century Archbishop Felix of Ravenna gathered a collection of 176 of Peter's homilies. Though some later interpolations entered the corpus and a number of genuine sermons circulated under other names, the authentic body of his preaching reveals a master of concise biblical exposition. His works were first printed at Bologna in 1534 and later edited more fully; they appear in volume 52 of Migne's Patrologia Latina and in modern English translations in the Fathers of the Church series. On the strength of these sermons Pope Benedict XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1729.
Cult and feast
Veneration of Peter Chrysologus as a saint is ancient. When he was named Doctor his feast was inserted in the General Roman Calendar on 4 December. In the reform of 1969 it was transferred to 30 July, as near as possible to the probable anniversary of his death, where it is observed as an optional memorial. He is invoked among the pastors and doctors of the Church, a model of golden-worded preaching, fidelity to the See of Peter, and pastoral care in an age of imperial power and doctrinal trial.
May Saint Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church intercede for us, and may we imitate today the holiness this Life has shown.
