What was Damasus's impact on the church? Damasus understood and saw the power radiating from the holy ashes and the holy relics, and therefore he wanted to put the stamp of the Church on these tombs of the martyrs. Damasus had created a ring of holy sites around the city. But Christianity faced a stiffer challenge in the centre of Rome. Culturally, Romans were still attached to the rhythms and festivals of the pagan calendar, which promised feasting and fun. Christianity had to compete on a social level, too. By a mixture of accident and design, the Christian calendar began to overlap with the pagan. St Peter's birthday coincided with the Caristia, a pagan festival of banqueting and gift-giving. By the end of the fourth century, Romans could have two parties, one pagan, one Christian, on 14 days of the year. Some Christians even continued to participate in the shameless immodesty of the Lupercalia fertility festival, running half naked through the streets while whipping girls with strips of goat hide.


达马萨斯教皇对教会有哪些影响？他看清了圣灰和圣骸具有的辐射力，于是他想将教会的印记打在殉教者的坟墓之上。达马萨斯教皇还绕罗马城建了一圈圣址。但是基督教在罗马城中心遭受到了一个更严峻的挑战。在文化上，罗马人仍然是遵循异教徒制订的历法来过节气和节日，这种历法宣扬寻欢作乐。基督教也需要在社会层面与之竞争。既是偶然也是必然，基督教的历法开始和异教徒的重合了。圣彼得的生日和异教徒的宴会馈赠节——卡利斯蒂亚节在同一天。到了公元四世纪末，罗马人有了2个派对，一个是异教徒的，一个则是基督徒的，一年能有14天。有一些基督徒甚至会继续参加有伤风化的牧神节，人们一边半裸着跑过街道，一边抽打着穿着山羊皮条的女孩。