Jeremiah 14.17-22; Psalm 78; Matthew 13.36-43
Peter was born c380 in Imola and was ordained a deacon there. At the urging of Emperor Valentinian III he was made archdeacon, and around 433 pope Sixtus III appointed him Bishop of Ravenna, overlooking the candidate elected by the people of the diocese. Peter acquired the sobriquet ‘Chrysologus’, which means the man of ‘golden words’ (perhaps first accorded to him by Empress Galla Placidia) because of his concise homilies which were both expositions of scripture and denunciations of popular heresies which competed with the Gospels for the people’s allegiance. He advocated daily reception of Holy Communion, and taught the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the perpetual virginity of Our Lady, and the primacy of St Peter and his successors. He was a confidant of Pope Leo I, and like Leo, he was declared a Doctor (teacher) of the Church (by Pope Benedict XIII in 1729). He died around the year of 450 on a return visit to his home town of Imola.