Today The Pope Talks Syriac Christianity and Welcomes the All American Dance Team

The Pope at today's Wednesday Audience

Wow who knew that one could put "Syraic Christianity" , the Church Fathers, and the All American Dance team in one post. However in the World of the Vatican these things happen. A very intriguing talk today by the Holy Father. Thanks to the Ratzinger forum for the translation.

Here is a translation of the Holy Father's catechesis at the General Audience in St. Peter's Square today.
Dear brothers and sisters, In our excursion into the world of the Fathers of the Church, I wish today to guide you to a little-known part of this universe of faith, into the territories in which the Churches of the Semintic language flourished, before the influence of Greek thought.

These churches, throughout the fourth century, developed in the Near East, from the Holy Land to Lebanon and Mesopotamia. In that cnetury, which was a period of formation at the ecclesiastical and literary levels, these communities were characterized by an ascetic-monastic phenomenon with autocthonous characteristics which did not come under the influence of Egyptian monasticism. The Syriac community of the fourth century thus represented the Semitic world from which the Bible itself had come, an expression of a Christianity whose theological formation had not yet come in contact with various cultural currents, but lived on in their own forms of thought.

They are churches in which asceticism under various eremitic forms (in the desert, in caves, reclusess, stylites) and monasticism in the form of community life exercised a role of vital impotrance in the development of theological and spiritual thought. I wish to present this world in the great figure of Aphraates, also known as The Sage, one of the most important as well as most enigmatic personages of Syriac Christianity in the fourth Century. A native of the Nineveh-Mosul area, now in iraq, he lived during the first half of the fourth century. We have little information about his life, but he maintained close rapport with the ascetic-monastic circles of the Syriac Church, which kept records of his work and to which he dedicates part of his reflections. According to some sources, he was the head of a monastery before he was consecrated a bishop.

He wrote 23 dscourses known as Expositions or Demonstrations, in which he deals with various themse of Christian living, like faith, love, fasting, humility, prayer, the ascetic life itself, and even the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, between the Old and New Testaments. He wrote in a simple style, with brief sentences, parallelisms which usually pointed out contradictions, but he produced a coherent discoursde with a detailed development of the various issues that he confronts. Aphraates was part of an ecclesial community which was on the frontier between Judaism and Christianity.

It was closely related to the Mother Church in Jerusalem, and its bishops were traditionally chosen from among the so-called 'familiars' of Jacob, 'the Lord's brother' (cfr Mk 6,3): thus, they were persons linked by blood and faith to the Church of Jerusalem. Aphraates's native language was Syriac, a Semitic language like the Hebrew of the Old Testament and like the Aramaic spoken by Jesus himself. The ecclesial community in which Aphraates lived was a community that sought to remain faithful to the Judaeo-Christian tradition, of which it felt it was a daughter. Thus, it kept close ties with the Jewish world and its sacred books. Significantly, Aphraates defined himself as 'a disciple of Sacred Scripture', of the Old and New Testaments (Exposition 22,26), which he considered his only source of inspiration, referring to it so much as to make it the center of all his reflections. Aphraates treats of various themes in his Expositions.

Faithful to the Syriac tradition, he often presents the salvation worked by Christ as a healing, and therefore, Christ himself as a physician. He considrerd sin an injury that only penitence could heal. "A man who has been wounded in battle," Aphraates wrote, "is not ashamed to put himself into the hands of a wise physician... In the same way, whoever has been wounded by Satan should not be ashamed to recognize the injury and distance himself, asking for the medicine of penance" (Exposition, 7,3).

One other important aspect of Aphraates's work is his teaching on prayer, and particularly, on Jesus as a teacher of prayer. The Christian prays following the teaching of Christ and his example as a praying man: "Our Lord taught us to pray, saying 'Pray in secret to Himw ho is hidden but who sees everything', and also "Go into your room and pray to your Father in secret, and the Father who sees the secret will reward you' (Mt 6,6)....What our Lord wants to show us is that God knows the desires and thoughts in our hearts" (Exposition 4,10). For Aphraates, Christian life is centered on the imitation of Christ, in taking on his yoke and following him along the way of the Gospel. One of the virtues most appropriate for a disciple of Christ is humility. It is not a secondary aspect of Christian life: man's nature is humble, and it is God who exalts it to His glory. Humility, notes Aphraates, is not a negative value: "If man's roots are planted in the earth, its fruits will come before the Lord of greatness" (Exposition 9,14).

By staying humble, the Christian can enter into a relaitonship with the Lord even in the earthly reality in which he lives: "The humble man is humble, but his heart rises to the suoreme heights. The eyes of his face look on the earth but the eyes of his spirit see the supreme heights" (Exposition 9,2). The vision Aphraates had of man and his corporal reality is very positive: the human body, like Christ who was humble, is called to beauty, to joy, to light. "God comes near to the man who loves him, and it is right to love huility and to stay in a state of humility. The humble are simple, patient, quiet, peaceful, merciful, ready to repent, kind, profound, thoughtful, beautiful and desirable" (Exposition 9,14) In Aphraates, the Christian life is often presented in a clearly ascetic and spiritual dimension: its basis, its foundation, is faith, which makes of man a temple in which Christ himself dwells. Faith makes sincere charity possible, expressed in love for God and for one's neighbor. Another important aspect in Aphraates's teaching is fasting, which he understands in a very wide sense.

He speaks of fasting from meals as a practice that is necessary in order to be charitable and chaste; of fasting in the sense of (sexual) continence with a view to sanctity; of fasting from using vain and detestable words; of fasting from anger; of fasting from owning goods in the context of the priestly ministry; of fasting from sleep to devote more time to prayer.

Dear brothers and sisters, to conclude, let us return to Aphraates';s teaching on prayer. Acccording to this ancient Sage, prayer is realized when Christ lives in the heart of the Christian and invites him to a consistent commitment to love of neighbor. He wrote: "Give relief to the defeated, visit the sick. be concerned about the poor: that is prayer. Prayer is good, and its works are beautiful. Prayer is accepted if it gives relief to one's neighbor. Prayer is answered when it also forgives offenses. Prayer is strong when it is filled with the power of God." (Exposition 4,14-16) With these words, Aphaates invites us to prayer which becomes Christian living, a life realized, a life penetrated by faith, by an opening to God and therefore, to love for our neighbor.

Later, he gave an English synthesis of the catechesis:

Dear Brothers and Sisters, In this week’s catechesis we turn to Aphraates, an outstanding figure of fourth-century Syriac Christianity. The Syriac Churches, Semitic in their language and thought, remained close to the Jewish-Christian tradition, and were deeply influenced by native forms of asceticism and monasticism. Aphraates was thus part of an ecclesial community on the frontier between Judaism and the Greek world.

According to some sources, he was the head of a monastery and later consecrated a Bishop. He has left us twenty-three talks, known as Demonstrations, on various aspects of the Christian life. His style is vivid and close to that of the Bible. In the Syriac tradition, he presents Christ as the physician who heals us from the wounds of sin and our great teacher of prayer.

Aphraates presents a positive view of man, called in the flesh to beauty, joy and light by the imitation of Christ in his humility. The Christian life is seen in ascetic and spiritual terms, rooted in faith and flowering in the love of neighbour. Following the teaching of this great master of the spiritual life, let us strive to show charity and forgiveness to all, so that our prayers may be "strong with the strength of God" (cf. Dem. 4:16).

To all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors I extend a warm welcome. In a special way I greet Senior Staff members of the USS Harry S. Truman, deaconate candidates from the Diocese of Brownsville, and members of the All American Star Dance Team. May your visit to Rome be a time of growth and renewal. Upon all of you I cordially invoke an abundance of joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.

After greeting the various language groups present, the Pope made a special appeal about Somalia:

We have been getting sad news about the precarious humanitarian situation in Somalia, especially in Mogadishu, which is more and more afflicted by social insecurity and poverty. I am following developments with trepidation, and I appeal to all who have political responsiblity, at the local and international levels, so that peaceful solutions may be found and relief may be brought to the beloved Somali people. I also encourage the efforts of all those who, notwithstanding security threats and difficulties, remain in the region to bring help and relief to its residents.