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May
14
General Audience
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Wednesday, 7 May 2008
Greeting to His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
It is my great joy today to greet His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, and the distinguished delegation accompanying him. Your Holiness, I pray that the light of the Holy Spirit will illumine your pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the important meetings you will have here, and particularly our personal conversations. I ask all who are present today to pray for God’s blessing upon this visit.
Your Holiness, I thank you for your personal commitment to the growing friendship between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Catholic Church. In 2000, soon after your election, you came to Rome to meet Pope John Paul II, and a year later, you graciously received him in Holy Etchmiadzin. You came once again to Rome together with many Church leaders from East and West, for the funeral liturgy of Pope John Paul II. I am sure that this spirit of friendship will be further deepened during the coming days.
In an external niche of Saint Peter’s Basilica, there is a fine statue of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, founder of the Armenian Church. It serves to remind us of the severe persecutions suffered by Armenian Christians, especially during the last century. Armenia’s many martyrs are a sign of the power of the Holy Spirit working in times of darkness, and a pledge of hope for Christians everywhere.
Your Holiness, dear Bishops and dear friends, together with you I implore Almighty God, through the intercession of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, to help us grow in unity, in one holy bond of Christian faith, hope and love.
* * *
Pentecost
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As you see we have with us this morning His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, and a distinguished delegation. I renew the expression of my joy at the possibility of welcoming him which has been granted to me this morning. His presence today rekindles our hope for the full unity of all Christians. I gladly take this opportunity also to thank him for the friendly welcome he recently offered my Cardinal Secretary of State in Armenia. It is likewise a pleasure for me to recall the Catholicos’ unforgettable visit to Rome in 2000, just after his election. On meeting him, my beloved Predecessor John Paul II gave him a famous relic of St Gregory the Illuminator and later went to Armenia to reciprocate his visit.
The efforts made by the Armenian Apostolic Church for ecumenical dialogue are well known, and I am sure that this visit of the venerable Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians will help to intensify the relations of fraternal friendship that bind our Churches. These days of immediate preparation for the Solemnity of Pentecost encourage us to rekindle our hope in the Holy Spirit’s help so that we may advance on the path of ecumenism. We are certain that the Lord Jesus will never abandon us in our quest for unity, since his Spirit is tirelessly at work to sustain our efforts in striving to overcome every division and mend every tear in the living fabric of the Church.
It was precisely this that Jesus promised his disciples in the last days of his earthly mission, as we have just heard in the Gospel passage: he assured them of the help of the Holy Spirit that he would send to continue to make them aware of his presence (cf. Jn 14: 16-17). This promise became reality when, after the Resurrection, Jesus entered the Upper Room, greeted the disciples with the words, “Peace be with you”, and breathing on them said: “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20: 22). He authorized them to forgive sins. Here, therefore, the Holy Spirit, appears as a power for the forgiveness of sins, for renewing our hearts and our lives; and thus he renews the earth and creates unity where there was division. Furthermore, on the Feast of Pentecost the Holy Spirit showed himself in other signs: in the sign of a mighty wind, tongues of fire, and the Apostles’ ability to speak all languages. This was a sign that the Babylonian dispersion, the result of pride that separates men and women, had been overcome in the Spirit who is love and gives unity in diversity. Since the very first moment of her existence the Church has spoken in all languages - thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit and the tongues of fire - and has lived in all cultures, she does not destroy any of the various gifts, of the different charisms, but draws all of them together in a great, new unity that reconciles: unity and multiformity.
The Holy Spirit, who is eternal charity, the bond of unity in the Trinity, with his power of divine charity unites scattered humanity thereby creating the vast multiform community of the Church throughout the world. In the days following the Ascension of the Lord until Pentecost Sunday, the disciples, with Mary, were gathered in the Upper Room to pray. They knew that they themselves could not create or organize the Church: the Church had to be born and organized by divine initiative; she is not created by us, she is a gift of God. And this is likewise the only way in which she creates unity, a unity that must grow. The Church in every time - and particularly in these nine days between the Ascension and Pentecost - is spiritually united in the Upper Room with the Apostles and Mary to ceaselessly implore the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Driven onwards by his mighty wind she will thus be able to proclaim the Gospel to the very ends of the earth.
This is why even in the face of difficulties and divisions, Christians cannot be resigned nor yield to discouragement. The Lord asks this of us: to persevere in prayer in order to keep alive the flame of faith, love and hope which nourishes the desire for full unity. “Ut unum sint!”, says the Lord. May Christ’s invitation always resound in our hearts, an invitation I was able to relaunch on my recent Apostolic Journey in the United States of America, when I referred to the centrality of prayer in the ecumenical movement. In this epoch of globalization and at the same time of fragmentation, “without [prayer], ecumenical structures, institutions and programs would be deprived of their heart and soul” (Ecumenical Prayer Service and Meeting, St Joseph’s Church, New York, 18 April 2008). Let us give thanks to the Lord for the goals reached in ecumenical dialogue thanks to the Holy Spirit’s action; let us be docile, listening to his voice so that our hearts, filled with hope, may continuously seek the path that leads to the full communion of all Christ’s disciples.
In his Letter to the Galatians, St Paul recalls that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5: 22-23). These are the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we also implore today for all Christians, so that in the common and generous service to the Gospel, they may be a sign of God’s love for humanity in the world. Let us turn our gaze confidently to Mary, the Shrine of the Holy Spirit and through her pray: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love”. Amen.
* * *
To special groups
I offer a warm welcome to the Delegates taking part in the Annual Conference of the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland. I am also pleased to greet the pilgrims from Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Qatar. Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims, especially those from England, Scotland, Australia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Canada, Guam and the United States, I cordially invoke Almighty God’s abundant blessings of joy and peace.
Lastly, I would like to greet the young people, the sick and the newly weds. Dear young people, in this month of May that has just begun and that popular tradition dedicates to Mary, may you learn from her to do God’s will always. In contemplating the Mother of the Crucified Christ, may you, dear sick people, be able to recognize the saving value of every cross; and you, dear newly weds, may you entrust yourselves to the Blessed Virgin’s protection in order to create in your family that atmosphere of prayer and serenity that prevailed in the House of Nazareth.
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Appeal for the Myanmar people
I make my own the cry of pain, the cry for help of the beloved people of Myanmar who have seen a vast number of lives claimed as well as their property and livelihood suddenly destroyed by the horrifying violence of Cyclone Nargis.
As I have already assured them in my Message of solidarity sent to the President of the Bishops’ Conference, I am spiritually close to the people afflicted. I would also like to repeat to everyone the invitation to open their hearts to compassion and generosity so that the suffering caused by such a terrible calamity may be alleviated, thanks to the collaboration of all who are able and desire to go to their rescue.
Mar
6
GENERAL AUDIENCE: Saint Leo the Great
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GENERAL AUDIENCE
Paul VI Audience Hall
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
Saint Leo the Great
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Continuing our catechesis on the Fathers of the Church, we turn to Saint Leo the Great, one of the most influential Popes in history. He was born in Tuscia and became Bishop of Rome in 440 during times of severe social unrest. Since the Roman Emperor’s authority had practically disappeared in the West, and Italy was suffering from frequent Barbarian incursions, Pope Leo took it upon himself to protect Rome. His courageous meeting in Mantua with Attila the Hun, whom he convinced to desist from his plans to devastate the city, is the most well known, but not the only event of its kind. Pope Leo promoted the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome as the successor of the Apostle Peter, and exercised this ministry in the East and the West with great prudence, pastoral sensitivity and wisdom. The Bishops attending the important Council of Chalcedon in 451, acclaimed the text he sent concerning faith in Jesus, true God and true man, with the words: “Peter has spoken through the mouth of Leo”. Thanks to Pope Leo’s sermons and letters, we can still appreciate his zeal and charity as pastor of the Church, and his theological depth and clarity. He also shares with us his profound understanding of the liturgy, where he sees the mysteries of salvation as present to our time and influential in our everyday realities. May the life and example of Pope Saint Leo always remind us that the encounter with God in Christ is the source of our joy and our salvation!
* * *
I offer a warm welcome to all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims attending today’s audience, including the groups from England, Denmark, Sweden, Indonesia, Canada and the United States. I extend particular greetings to the visitors from Christendom College, and to the many student groups present. May this Lenten season purify your hearts and renew your faith and your hope in the mystery of Christ our Redeemer. God bless you all!
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Feb
6
God Is Love and His Love Is the Secret of Our Happiness
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Greetings to a group of predominantly young people gathered in St Peter’s Basilica:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am happy to greet you and to address my cordial welcome to each one of you, with a special greeting for the many school children present here.
Today, Lent begins, a “powerful” liturgical season, a time of peace and of commitment to serving our brothers and sisters, to be lived keeping our gaze always fixed on Jesus, who is setting out towards his death and Resurrection.
Dear young people, take this invitation as if Christ were addressing it personally to each one of you and accept it generously.
By faithfully taking the austere Lenten journey, you will be able to become aware of the risks to which your spiritual life is exposed and will be encouraged to fulfil your Christian vocation joyfully.
Mary is beside you, the Woman of Hope who sustains you and guides you with her motherly tenderness during the 40 days that lead us to Easter.
With her help, renewed within the great Paschal Mystery, you will be able to celebrate the central event of salvation and the supreme revelation of God’s merciful love.
A good Lent to you all!
***
Ash Wednesday
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Ash Wednesday, which we are celebrating today, is a special day for us Christians, marked by an intense spirit of recollection and reflection. In fact, we are setting out on the journey of Lent, which consists in listening to the Word of God and in prayer and penance.
For 40 days the liturgy will help us relive the salient phases of the mystery of salvation. As we know, man was created to be a friend of God; but the sin of our first parents destroyed this relationship of trust and love and consequently rendered humankind incapable of fulfilling its original vocation.
Yet, thanks to Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, we were saved from the power of evil: indeed, Christ, the Apostle John wrote, made himself a victim of expiation for our sins (cf. I Jn 2: 2); and St Peter added: he died for our sins once and for all (cf. I Pt 3: 18).
Dead in Christ to sin, the baptized person is reborn to new life, freely re-established with his dignity as a child of God. For this reason, in the primitive Christian community Baptism was considered as “the first resurrection” (cf. Rv 20: 5; Rom 6: 1-11; Jn 5: 25-28).
From the outset, therefore, Lent was lived as the season of immediate preparation for Baptism, to be solemnly administered during the Easter Vigil. The whole of Lent was a journey towards this important encounter with Christ, this immersion in Christ, this renewal of life. We have already been baptized but Baptism is often not very effective in our daily life.
Therefore, Lent is a renewed “catechumenate” for us too, in which once again we approach our Baptism to rediscover and relive it in depth, to return to being truly Christian.
Lent is thus an opportunity to “become” Christian “anew”, through a constant process of inner change and progress in the knowledge and love of Christ. Conversion is never once and for all but is a process, an interior journey through the whole of life.
This process of evangelical conversion cannot, of course, be restricted to a specific period of the year: it is a daily journey that must embrace the entire span of existence, every day of our life.
In this perspective, for each Christian and for all Ecclesial Communities, Lent is the favourable spiritual season for training ourselves to seek God with greater tenacity, opening our heart to Christ.
St Augustine once said that our life is a unique exercise of the desire to draw close to God, of becoming able to let God into our being. “The entire life of the fervent Christian”, he says, “is holy desire”.
If this is the case, we are further inspired in Lent to “tear out the roots of vanity from our desires”, to teach the heart to desire, that is, to love God.
“God”, St Augustine says further, “this simple syllable is all we desire” (cf. Tract in Iohn.,4). And let us hope that we may truly begin to desire God and thus to desire true life, love itself and the truth.
Then, Jesus’ exhortation, recorded by the Evangelist Mark, rings out more timely than ever: Repent, and believe in the Gospel (cf. Mk 1: 15). The sincere desire for God prompts us to reject evil and to do good.
This conversion of the heart is primarily a free gift from God, who created us for himself and redeemed us in Jesus Christ: our true happiness consists in dwelling in him (cf. Jn 15: 3).
For this reason he himself anticipates our desire with his grace and accompanies our efforts for conversion.
What does “to be converted” actually mean? It means seeking God, moving with God, docilely following the teachings of his Son, Jesus Christ; to be converted is not a work for self-fulfilment because the human being is not the architect of his own eternal destiny. We did not make ourselves.
Therefore, self-fulfilment is a contradiction and is also too little for us. We have a loftier destination.
We might say that conversion consists precisely in not considering ourselves as our own “creators” and thereby discovering the truth, for we are not the authors of ourselves.
Conversion consists in freely and lovingly accepting to depend in all things on God, our true Creator, to depend on love. This is not dependence but freedom.
To be converted thus means not pursuing one’s own personal success - that is something ephemeral - but giving up all human security, treading in the Lord’s footsteps with simplicity and trust so that Jesus may become for each one, as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta liked to say, “my All in all”.
Those who let themselves by conquered by him do not fear losing their life, for on the Cross he loved us and gave himself for us. It is precisely by losing our life for love that we rediscover it.
In my Message for Lent, published a few days ago, I wanted to highlight the immense love God has for us, so that Christians of every community can pause in spirit during the Lenten Season with Mary and John, the beloved disciple, beside the One who on the Cross consummated the sacrifice of his life for humanity (cf. Jn 19: 25).
Yes, dear brothers and sisters, the Cross is the definitive revelation of love and divine mercy for us as well, men and women of this epoch, all too often distracted by earthly and transient apprehensions and concerns.
God is love, and his love is the secret of our happiness. So it is that there is no other way to enter into this mystery of love than to lose ourselves, to give ourselves: the way of the Cross.
“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mk 8: 34).
This is why the Lenten liturgy, while it invites us to reflect and to pray, spurs us to hold penance and sacrifice in greater esteem, to reject sin and evil and to conquer selfishness and indifference.
Prayer, fasting and penance, and charitable works for our brethren thus become spiritual paths on which to start out in order to return to God, in response to the repeated appeals to conversion that today’s liturgy also contains (cf. Jl 2: 12-13; Mt 6: 16-18).
Dear brothers and sisters, may the Lenten Season, which we are beginning today with the austere and significant Rite of the Imposition of Ashes, be a renewed experience of the merciful love of Christ, who poured out his Blood for us on the Cross.
Let us docilely attend his school, to learn in turn to “give anew” his love to our neighbours, especially those who are suffering and in difficulty. This is the mission of every disciple of Christ, but to carry it out it is essential to continue listening to his Word and to be assiduously nourished by his Body and his Blood.
May the Lenten journey, which in the ancient Church was a journey towards Christian initiation, towards Baptism and the Eucharist, be a “Eucharistic” Season for us in which we participate with greater fervour in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.
May the Virgin Mary, who after sharing in the sorrowful Passion of her divine Son experienced the joy of his Resurrection, accompany us during this Lent towards the Mystery of Easter, the supreme Revelation of God’s Love.
A good Lent to you all!
***
To special groups
I am pleased to greet the pilgrimage group from the Diocese of Jelgava in Latvia, led by Bishop Antons Justs. Upon all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, especially those from England, Wales, Ireland, Finland, Japan and the United States, I cordially invoke God’s Blessings for a fruitful and spiritually enriching Lent.
Lastly, my thoughts go to the sick and the newly-weds. Welcome, dear friends. The Pope has a special place in his heart for you. To all of you and to your loved ones I address my affectionate greeting, which I accompany with a special Blessing.
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Jan
3
GENERAL AUDIENCE
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BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Paul VI Audience Hall
Wednesday, 2 January 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
At the beginning of this New Year, I offer prayerful good wishes to all of you and to your families! Yesterday, the Church joyfully celebrated the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. This ancient title of Our Lady – Theotokos – reflects the truth that Jesus, her Son, is true God and true man. The confirmation of this title at the Council of Ephesus in the fifth century led to ever greater devotion to Mary and the dedication of numerous churches in her honour, including the Basilica of Saint Mary Major here in Rome. During this Christmas season, we can sense the close relationship between the Incarnation and our Lady’s dignity as the Mother of God. Indeed, the title “Mother of God” expresses Mary’s special mission in the history of salvation and her particular role in the mystery of Christ and the Church. Our Lady’s divine motherhood is in fact the basis of every other title by which the Church honours her. Mother of God and Mother of the Church, Mary was also entrusted by Christ to be the Mother of each of his disciples (cf. Jn 19:27). In this New Year, may we turn to her with confidence and, through her protection and prayers, be strengthened in our love for Jesus her Son and our service to the coming of his Kingdom.
* * *
I greet the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, especially those from Ireland and the United States. I especially greet the various pilgrimages of priests and seminarians, and the many student groups in our midst. I also thank the choirs for their praise of God in song. May the New Year bring God’s richest blessings to you and your families!
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Dec
5
BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Paul VI Audience Hall
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
Saint Chromatius
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our continuing catechesis on the writers of the early Church, we now turn to Saint Chromatius, the Bishop of Aquileia in northern Italy. At the end of the fourth century, the Church in Aquileia played a significant role in the struggle against Arianism, thanks to the celebrated Synod held there. Born of a devout Christian family, Chromatius became a priest, attended the Synod as an expert and was then ordained Bishop of Aquileia. He was a zealous pastor, governing his enormous diocese during the turbulent time of the invasions of the Goths and the Huns. Chromatius assisted Saint Jerome in the preparation of the Vulgate and left behind a number of sermons and a series of tracts on the Gospel of Matthew. His teaching emphasized the mystery of the Blessed Trinity, the work of the Holy Spirit, the divinity and integral humanity of Christ, the dignity of the Virgin Mary and the unity of the Church. In a lively Latin, filled with striking imagery, he proclaimed the truths of the faith, sustained his flock in hope amid the uncertainties of the times, and, above all, taught them to pray with confidence in the Lord’s victory over evil and his unfailing mercy toward his holy ones.
* * *
I am pleased to welcome the Marist and Marianist Brothers visiting Rome for a programme of spiritual renewal. I also greet the African-American Methodist Choir, with gratitude for their praise of God in song. Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors, especially those from Sweden and the United States, I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace.
© Copyright 2007 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Nov
14
GENERAL AUDIENCE: Saint Jerome
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BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE | Saint Peter’s Square |
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
Saint Jerome (2)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In this week’s catechesis we continue our reflections on Saint Jerome, the priest and scholar who was responsible for the Latin translation of the Bible known as the Vulgate. Convinced that “ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ”, Jerome everywhere urged the daily, prayerful study of the word of God. He insisted that the correct interpretation of the Scriptures demands not only the interior assistance of the Holy Spirit but also conformity to the Church’s authoritative teaching. Jerome stressed the importance for all Christians, but especially for preachers, of ensuring that their lives accord with the ethical teaching offered in the sacred texts. Devotion to the word of God also shaped Jerome’s ascetic doctrine, which emphasized the virtue of obedience and encouraged the pious practice of pilgrimage, particularly to the Holy Land. Finally, by his spiritual counsel, especially to parents, he emphasized the importance of a broad and disciplined Christian education for the young, including women. Jerome’s integration of the enduring values of classical civilization and the wisdom of the inspired word of God made him one of the great figures of the emerging Christian culture of late antiquity.
* * *
I am pleased to greet the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, especially those from England, Denmark, Japan, Canada and the United States of America. I greet especially the Sisters of Saint Anne of Tiruchirapalli, who are preparing to celebrate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of their foundation. Upon all of you I cordially invoke an abundance of joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Oct
24
Saint Ambrose of Milan
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BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Saint Peter’s Square | Wednesday, 24 October 2007
Saint Ambrose of Milan
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our catechesis on the teachers of the ancient Church, we now turn to Saint Ambrose of Milan. Born into a Christian family in the middle of the fourth century, Ambrose was educated in Rome and sent as governor to Milan, where, although a catechumen, he was soon acclaimed as Bishop. He set about mastering the Scriptures, guided by the writings of Origen and the practice of lectio divina, a form of prayerful meditation on the word of God. It was Ambrose who introduced this practice to the West, and it deeply permeated his life and preaching. Saint Augustine, who was converted in Milan and baptized by Ambrose, relates the profound impression which Ambrose’s engagement with the word of God left upon him. Ambrose, contrary to the custom of the time, did not read the Scriptures aloud, which Augustine interpreted as a sign of how deeply the inspired word had penetrated the holy Bishop’s mind and heart. This image can serve as an “icon” of Ambrose as a catechist: his teaching was inseparable from his prayer and his entire life. For Ambrose, Christ was everything – Omnia Christus est nobis! – and so it must be for every catechist and indeed for every one of the Lord’s disciples.
* * *
I am happy to greet the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother who are gathered in Rome for their Twentieth General Chapter. I also cordially welcome an ecumenical pilgrimage of Catholics and Evangelical Lutherans from the United States of America. Upon all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims I invoke God’s abundant blessings of peace and joy.
Oct
17
EUSEBIUS OF VERCELLI: IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF THE WORLD
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VATICAN CITY, OCT 17, 2007 (VIS) - St. Eusebius of Vercelli was the subject of Benedict XVI’s catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in St. Peter’s Square in the presence of 30,000 people.
The saint, born in Sardinia at the beginning of the 4th century and educated in Rome, was elected as bishop of Vercelli in the year 345. He showed great commitment and dedication in evangelizing largely-pagan rural areas and founded a priestly community - inspired by the model of the early monastic communities - from which many bishops and saints arose.
The Pope explained how St. Eusebius was “solidly formed in the Nicene Creed, in the faith in the Trinitarian God.” He defended the “full divinity of Jesus Christ” against the pro-Arian politics of the Emperor Constantius for whom Arianism “was more politically useful.” This led to the saint being exiled, first in Palestine and later in Cappodocia and Thebaid.
Despite his exile, the bishop maintained a correspondence with his own community of faithful, said the Holy Father, “asking them in his letters also to greet those who are outside the Church yet who nonetheless … nourish sentiments of love for us.” The Pope added: “It is evident that the bishop’s relationship with his city was not limited to the Christians but that it also extended to the people who, … in some way, recognized his spiritual authority and loved this exemplary man.”
When Constantius was succeeded as emperor by Julian the Apostate, Eusebius was able to return home. There he educated the clergy of his diocese in “the observance of monastic rules even though they lived in the city” because he felt that “the bishop and clergy had to share the problems of citizens in a credible way” at the same time cultivating “a different citizenship, that of heaven.” In this manner, said Benedict XVI, they created “a shared solidarity.”
“The pastor and the faithful of the Church are in the world but they are not of the world,” said the Pope. “For this reason pastors must exhort the faithful not to consider the cities of the world as their stable home, but to seek the … definitive celestial Jerusalem. … This decision enables pastors and faithful to safeguard a correct scale of values without bowing before the fashions of the moment and the unjust impositions of political power.”
“The authentic scale of values,” the Holy Father concluded, “does not come from yesterday’s emperor, or from today’s, but from Jesus Christ, the perfect man, equal to the Father in divinity and a man like us. For this reason, Eusebius recommends the faithful always ‘to protect the faith with care, to maintain harmony and to be assiduous in prayer.’ From the bottom of my heart, I also recommend these perennial values to you.”
Oct
10
Saint Hilary of Poitiers
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BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Saint Peter’s Square, Wednesday, 10 October 2007
Saint Hilary of Poitiers
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The subject of today’s catechesis is Saint Hilary of Poitiers. He was born around the year 310, baptized when he was about thirty-five, and became Bishop of Poitiers some eight years later. In opposition to the Arians, who believed Jesus was a created being, Hilary dedicated his life to defending our faith in the divinity of Christ. While exiled to Frigia, because of the stance he took against the Arians at the Synod of Béziers, he began his most important work, De Trinitate. In this text he demonstrates how both the old and new testaments clearly attest the divinity of the Son and his equality with the Father with whom he shares one nature. In his De Synodis Hilary maintained a conciliatory spirit with those who used deficient theological formulations, while leading them to accept fully the Nicean creed. In 360 he returned home, took up his pastoral duties, and continued to write. The influence of his teaching spread and many were strengthened in their resistance to Arian thought, realising that Christ is our Saviour precisely because he is true God and true man. Fundamental to Hilary’s insight was the importance of our Trinitarian baptismal faith. Let us join him in praying to the Lord that we remain faithful to this confession, and always bear joyful witness to our baptismal call!
* * *
I welcome all the English speaking visitors present today, including members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, participants in the Nato Defence College Senior Course, and the student groups from Scotland and Denmark May your time in Rome be one of spiritual renewal. Upon all of you I invoke God’s abundant blessings of joy and peace.
Oct
3
Saint Cyril of Alexandria
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BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Saint Peter’s Square | Wednesday, 3 October 2007
Saint Cyril of Alexandria
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The subject of today’s catechesis is Saint Cyril of Alexandria, known as the “pillar of faith” and the “seal of all the Fathers”. He was born somewhere between 370 and 380, and at a young age became Bishop of Alexandria. Cyril was a zealous defender of the faith. He took care to ensure that his theology was firmly situated within the tradition of the Church by referring to preceding ecclesiastical authorities, especially Athanasius. Through a series of letters countering the position of Nestorius, the Bishop of Constantinople, Cyril made a very significant contribution to Christology defending the divinity and humanity of Christ united in the one Lord, Christ and Son. He was also of utmost influence at the Council of Ephesus, supporting the recognition of the Virgin Mary as the “Mother of God”. This led to the deposition of Nestorius as Bishop of Constantinople. Saint Cyril, a prolific writer whose works were read throughout the Church, was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1882. May our remembrance of this outstanding figure in the history of Christianity remind us that the centre of our faith is the encounter with Jesus Christ, who gives each one of us a new horizon and a decisive direction!
*****
I am pleased to welcome the English-speaking pilgrims present at this Audience, especially those from Australia, Denmark, Scotland and the United States. In a special way I greet the Maryknoll Missionaries, the priests from the Diocese of Wheeling–Charleston, the students from the Pontifical Beda College and Deacon Candidates from the Pontifical North American College. May God continue to strengthen you as you strive to serve his people. Upon all of you I invoke God’s abundant blessings of joy and peace.
