An update on the card mailings

We are pleased to announce that as part of this effort we have mailed a St. Peter Damian holy card to every Latin Rite bishop in the United States. A few may have been missed because of recent changes in office.

Encouraging devotion to our patron, St. Peter Damian, is part of the core mission of the St. Peter Damian Society. We seek the intercession of the great Doctor of the Church against deviancy and abuse in the clergy, both evils that he fought in his own time.

The holy card features the icon painted by Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs and commissioned by the Society.

Each holy card has the following prayer on the back:

Saint Peter Damian, reformer of the Church, scourge of the wicked, come to our aid with your prayers! Great Doctor of the Church, intercede on our behalf before the throne of God. By your prayers and intercession, help us, O hater of sin, to fly from evil and embrace what is good. We also ask, great saint, that you intercede for the success of the St. Peter Damian Society. Pray for us, O monk, O cardinal, O servant of God! Amen.

Our letter to each bishop states as follows:

Your Excellency,

Greetings in Christ! We send you this card on behalf of the Saint Peter Damian Society. We are a lay society devoted to reform and renewal in the Catholic Church, with a focus on promoting purity in the clergy and the elimination of clerical sex abuse. It is our goal to promote a cleansing of the Church, and a return to holiness by all members of the Body of Christ.

In this spirit, we promote devotion to our patron, Saint Peter Damian, himself a great reformer and a determined enemy of deviancy and abuse in the priesthood. As an exercise of this devotion, we have commissioned this icon of Saint Peter Damian. We send it to you now, in the form of this holy card. A prayer to Saint Peter Damian is on the back of the card.

It is our hope that, in receiving this gift, you may be inspired to stand for reform and purification of the Church, as Saint Peter Damian once did. We hope the great saint, and our humble Society, may inspire you to rededicate yourself to the reform of the Church, and to serving Jesus Christ with a truly humble and obedient heart.

Yours in Christ,

The Saint Peter Damian Society