28. Aphraates, "the Sage"
19
Saint John Chrysostom (1)
his year is the sixteenth centenary of St. John Chrysostom's death (407-2007). It can be said that John of Antioch, nicknamed "Chrysostom," that is, "golden-mouthed," because of his eloquence, is also still alive today because of his works. An anonymous copyist said of his writings that "they cross the whole globe like flashes of lightning."
He was born in about the year 349 in Antioch in Syria (today Antakya in southern Turkey). He carried out his priestly ministry there for about eleven years, until 397, when, appointed bishop of Constantinople, he exercised his episcopal ministry in the capital of the empire prior to his two exiles, which succeeded one close upon the other - in 403 and 407. Let us limit ourselves today to examining the years Chrysostom spent in Antioch.
He lost his father at a tender age and lived with Anthusa, his mother, who instilled in him exquisite human sensitivity and a deep Christian faith.
After completing his elementary and advanced studies crowned by courses in philosophy and rhetoric, he had as his teacher, Libanius, a pagan and the most famous rhetorician of that time. At his school John became the greatest orator of late Greek antiquity.
He was baptized in 368 and trained for the ecclesiastical life by Bishop Meletius, who instituted him as lector in 371. This event marked Chrysostom's official entry into the ecclesiastical cursus. From 367 to 372, he attended the Asceterius, a sort of seminary in Antioch, together with a group of young men, some of whom later became bishops, under the guidance of the exegete Diodore of Tarsus, who initiated John into the literal and grammatical exegesis characteristic of Antiochene tradition.
The Lord, his biographer explains, intervened with the illness at the right moment to enable John to follow his true vocation. In fact, he himself was later to write that were he to choose between the troubles of Church government and the tranquility of monastic life, he would have preferred pastoral service a thousand times:3 it was precisely to this that Chrysostom felt called.
It was here that he reached the crucial turning point in the story of his vocation: a full-time pastor of souls! Intimacy with the Word of God, cultivated in his years at the hermitage, had developed in him an irresistible urge to preach the Gospel, to give to others what he himself had received in his years of meditation. The missionary ideal thus launched him into pastoral care, his heart on fire.
Between 378 and 379, he returned to the city. He was ordained a deacon in 381 and a priest in 386, and became a famous preacher in his city's churches. He preached homilies against the Arians, followed by homilies commemorating the Antiochene martyrs and other important liturgical celebrations: this was an important teaching of faith in Christ and also in the light of his saints.
The year 387 was John's "heroic year," that of the so-called "revolt of the statues." As a sign of protest against levied taxes, the people destroyed the emperor's statues. It was in those days of Lent and the fear of the em peror's impending reprisal that Chrysostom gave his twenty-two vibrant Homilies on the Statues, whose aim was to induce repentance and conversion. This was followed by a period of serene pastoral care (387-97).
Chrysostom is among the most prolific of the Fathers: seventeen treatises, more than 70o authentic homilies, commentaries on Matthew and on Paul (Letters to the Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians, and Hebrews) and 241 letters are extant. He was not a speculative theologian.
Nevertheless, he passed on the Church's tradition and reliable doctrine in an age of theological controversies, sparked above all by Arianism or, in other words, the denial of Christ's divinity. He is therefore a trustworthy witness of the dogmatic development achieved by the Church from the fourth to the fifth centuries.
His is a perfectly pastoral theology in which there is constant concern for consistency between thought expressed via words and existential experience. It is this in particular that forms the main theme of the splendid catecheses with which he prepared catechumens to receive baptism.
On approaching death, he wrote that the value of the human being lies in "exact knowledge of true doctrine and in rectitude of life."4 Both these things, knowledge of truth and rectitude of life, go hand in hand: knowledge has to be expressed in life. All his discourses aimed to develop in the faithful the use of intelligence, of true reason, in order to understand and to put into practice the moral and spiritual requirements of faith.
Indeed, "it is precisely at this early age that inclinations to vice or virtue are manifest." Thus, God's law must be impressed upon the soul from the outset "as on a wax tablet":6 this is indeed the most important age. We must bear in mind how fundamentally important it is that the great orientations which give man a proper outlook on life truly enter him in this first phase of life.
He recalls the aims of marriage, enriching them - referring to virtue and temperance - with a rich fabric of personal relationships. Properly prepared spouses therefore bar the way to divorce: everything takes place with joy, and children can be educated in virtue. Then when the first child is born, he is "like a bridge; the three become one flesh, because the child joins the two parts,"10 and the three constitute "a family, a Church in miniature.""
Chrysostom's preaching usually took place during the liturgy, the "place" where the community is built with the Word and the Eucharist. The assembly gathered here expresses the one Church,12 the same word is addressed everywhere to all,13 and Eucharistic Communion becomes an effective sign of unity.14
From this stems the fundamental duty of the mission, because each one is to some extent responsible for the salvation of others: "This is the principle of our social life ... not to be solely concerned with ourselves!"" This all takes place between two poles: the great Church and the "Church in miniature," the family, in a reciprocal relationship.
As you can see, dear brothers and sisters, Chrysostom's lesson on the authentically Christian presence of the lay faithful in the family and in society is still more timely than ever today. Let us pray to the Lord to make us docile to the teachings of this great master of the faith.
20
St. John Chrysostom (2)
et us continue our reflection on St. John Chrysostom. After the period
he spent in Antioch, in 397 he was appointed bishop of Constantinople, the capital of the Roman Empire of the East. John planned the reform
of his church from the outset: the austerity of the episcopal residence had
to be an example for all - clergy, widows, monks, courtiers, and the rich.
Unfortunately, many of those he criticized distanced themselves from him.
Attentive to the poor, John was also called "the Almoner." Indeed, he was
able as a careful administrator to establish highly appreciated charitable
institutions. For some people, his initiatives in various fields made him a
dangerous rival but as a true pastor, he treated everyone in a warm, fatherly way. In particular, he always spoke kindly to women and showed
special concern for marriage and the family. He would invite the faithful to
take part in liturgical life, which he made splendid and attractive with brilliant creativity.
Despite his kind heart, his life was far from peaceful. He was the pastor of the capital of the empire, and often found himself involved in political affairs and intrigues because of his ongoing relations with the authorities and civil institutions. Then, within the church, having removed six bishops in Asia in 401 who had been improperly appointed, he was accused of having overstepped the boundaries of his own jurisdiction and thus he easily became the target of accusations. Another accusation against him concerned the presence of some Egyptian monks, excommunicated by Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria, who had sought refuge in Constantinople. A heated argument then flared up on account of Chrysostom's criticism of the Empress Eudoxia and her courtiers who reacted by heaping slander and insults upon him. Thus, they proceeded to his removal during the synod organized by the same Patriarch Theophilus in 403, which led to his condemnation and his first, brief exile. After Chrysostom's return, the hostility he had instigated by his protests against the festivities in honor of the empress, which the bishop considered as sumptuous pagan celebrations, and by his expulsion of the priests responsible for the baptisms during the Easter Vigil in 404, marked the beginning of the persecution of Chrysostom and his followers, the so-called "Johannites."
John then denounced the events in a letter to Innocent I, bishop of Rome, but it was already too late. In 406, he was once again forced into exile, this time to Cucusus in Armenia. The pope was convinced of his innocence but was powerless to help him. A council desired by Rome to establish peace between the two parts of the empire and among their churches could not take place. The grueling journey from Cucusus to Pityus, a destination that he never reached, was meant to prevent the visits of the faithful and to break the resistance of the worn-out exile: his condemnation to exile was a true death sentence! The numerous letters from his exile in which John expressed his pastoral concern in tones of participation and sorrow at the persecution of his followers are moving. His journey towards death stopped at Comana in Pontus. Here, John, who was dying, was carried into the chapel of the martyr St. Basiliscus, where he gave up his spirit to God and was buried, one martyr next to the other.' It was 14 September 407, the feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross. He was rehabilitated in 438 through Theodosius II. The holy bishop's relics, which had been placed in the Church of the Apostles in Constantinople, were later, in 1204, translated to the first Constantinian Basilica in Rome, and now rest in the chapel of the choir of the canons in St. Peter's Basilica. On 24 August 2004, Pope John Paul II gave a large part of the saint's relics to Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. The saint's liturgical memorial is celebrated on 13 September. Blessed John XXIII proclaimed him patron of the Second Vatican Council.
It is said of John Chrysostom that when he was seated upon the throne of the New Rome, that is, Constantinople, God caused him to be seen as a second Paul, a doctor of the universe. Indeed, there is in Chrysostom a substantial unity of thought and action, in Antioch as in Constantinople. It is only the role and situations that change. In his commentary on Genesis, in meditating on God's eight acts in the sequence of six days, Chrysostom desired to restore the faithful from the creation to the Creator: "It is a great good," he said, "to know the creature from the Creator." He shows us the beauty of the creation and God's transparency in his creation, which thus becomes, as it were, a "ladder" to ascend to God in order to know him. To this first step, however, is added a second: this God Creator is also the God of "indulgence" (synkatabasis). We are weak in "climbing," our eyes grow dim. Thus, God becomes an indulgent God who sends to fallen man, foreign man, a letter, Sacred Scripture, so that the creation and Scripture may complete each other. We can decipher creation in the light of Scripture, the letter that God has given to us. God is called a "tender father" (philostorgios),2 a healer of souls,3 a mother,4 and an affectionate friend.' But in addition to this second step - first, the creation as a "ladder" to God, and then, the indulgence of God through a letter which he has given to us, Sacred Scripture - there is a third step. God does not only give us a letter: ultimately, he himself comes down to us, he takes flesh, becomes truly "God-with-us," our brother until his death on a cross. And to these three steps - God is visible in creation, God gives us a letter, God descends and becomes one of us - a fourth is added at the end. In the Christian's life and action, the vital and dynamic principle is the Holy Spirit (Pneuma) who transforms the realities of the world. God enters our very existence through the Holy Spirit and transforms us from within our hearts.
Against this background, in Constantinople itself, John proposed in his continuing Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles the model of the primitive Church (Acts 4:32-37) as a pattern for society, developing a social "utopia" (almost an "ideal city"). In fact, it was a question of giving the city a soul and a Christian face. In other words, Chrysostom realized that it is not enough to give alms, to help the poor sporadically, but it is necessary to create a new structure, a new model of society, a model based on the out look of the New Testament. It was this new society that was revealed in the newborn Church. John Chrysostom thus truly became one of the great Fathers of the Church's social doctrine: the old idea of the Greek polis ("city") gave way to the new idea of a city inspired by Christian faith. With Paul (cf. i Cor. 8:11), Chrysostom upheld the primacy of the individual Christian, of the person as such, even of the slave and the poor person. His project thus corrected the traditional Greek vision of the polis, the city in which large sectors of the population had no access to the rights of citizenship while in the Christian city all are brothers and sisters with equal rights. The primacy of the person is also a consequence of the fact that it is truly by starting with the person that the city is built, whereas in the Greek polis the homeland took precedence over the individual who was totally subordinated to the city as a whole. So it was that a society built on the Christian conscience came into being with Chrysostom. And he tells us that our polis [city] is another, "our commonwealth is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20) and our homeland, even on this earth, makes us all equal, brothers and sisters, and binds us to solidarity.
At the end of his life, from his exile on the borders of Armenia, "the most remote place in the world," John, linking up with his first preaching in 386, took up the theme of the plan for humanity that God pursues, which was so dear to him: it is an "indescribable and incomprehensible" plan, but certainly guided lovingly by him.6 Of this we are certain. Even if we are unable to unravel the details of our personal and collective history, we know that God's plan is always inspired by his love. Thus, despite his suffering, Chrysostom reaffirmed the discovery that God loves each one of us with an infinite love and therefore desires salvation for us all. For his part, throughout his life the holy bishop cooperated generously in this salvation, never sparing himself. Indeed, he saw the ultimate end of his existence as that glory of God which - now dying - he left as his last testament: "Glory be to God for all things."'
21
Saint Cyril of Alexandria
ontinuing our journey following the traces left by the Fathers of the
'Church, we meet an important figure: St. Cyril of Alexandria. Linked
to the Christological controversy which led to the Council of Ephesus in
431 and the last important representative of the Alexandrian tradition in
the Greek Orient, Cyril was later defined as "the guardian of exactitude" -
to be understood as guardian of the true faith - and even the "seal of the
Fathers." These ancient descriptions express clearly a characteristic feature
of Cyril: the bishop of Alexandria's constant reference to earlier ecclesiastical authors (including, in particular, Athanasius), for the purpose of showing the continuity with tradition of theology itself. He deliberately, explicitly inserted himself into the Church's tradition, which he recognized as
guaranteeing continuity with the Apostles and with Christ himself. Venerated as a saint in both East and West, in 1882 St. Cyril was proclaimed a
Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII, who at the same time also attributed this title to another important exponent of Greek patristics, St. Cyril
of Jerusalem. Thus are revealed the attention and love for the Eastern
Christian traditions of this pope, who later also chose to proclaim St. John
Damascene a Doctor of the Church, thereby showing that both the Eastern
and Western traditions express the doctrine of Christ's one Church.
We have almost no information on Cyril's life prior to his election to the important see of Alexandria. He was a nephew of Theophilus, who had governed the diocese of Alexandria as bishop since 385 with a prestigious and iron hand. It is likely that Cyril was born in this Egyptian metropolis between 37o and 380, was initiated into ecclesiastical life while he was still very young, and received a good education, both culturally and theologi cally. In 403, he went to Constantinople in the retinue of his powerful uncle. It was here that he took part in the so-called "Synod of the Oak" which deposed the bishop of the city, John (later known as "Chrysostom"), and thereby marked the triumph of the Alexandrian see over its traditional rival, the see of Constantinople, where the emperor resided. Upon his uncle Theophilus's death, the still young Cyril was elected in 412 as bishop of the influential church of Alexandria, which he governed energetically for thirty-two years, always seeking to affirm her primacy throughout the East, strong also because of her traditional bonds with Rome.
Two or three years later, in 417 or 418, the bishop of Alexandria showed himself to be realistic in mending the broken communion with Constantinople, which had lasted by then since 406 as a consequence of Chrysostom's deposition. But the old conflict with the see of Constantinople flared up again about ten years later, when in 428 Nestorius was elected, a severe and authoritarian monk trained in Antioch. The new bishop of Constantinople, in fact, soon provoked opposition because he preferred to use as Mary's title in his preaching "Mother of Christ" (Christotokos) instead of "Mother of God" (Theotokos), already very dear to popular devotion. One reason for Bishop Nestorius's decision was his adherence to the Antiochene type of Christology, which, to safeguard the importance of Christ's humanity, ended by affirming the division of the Divinity. Hence, the union between God and man in Christ could no longer be true, so naturally it was no longer possible to speak of the "Mother of God."
The reaction of Cyril - at that time the greatest exponent of Alexandrian Christology, who intended on the other hand to stress the unity of Christ's person - was almost immediate, and from 429 he left no stone unturned, even addressing several letters to Nestorius himself. In the second of Cyril's letters to Nestorius,' written in February 430, we read a clear affirmation of the duty of pastors to preserve the faith of the people of God. This was his criterion, moreover, still valid today: the faith of the people of God is an expression of tradition, it is a guarantee of sound doctrine. This is what he wrote to Nestorius: "It is essential to explain the teaching and interpretation of the faith to the people in the most irreproachable way, and to remember that those who cause scandal even to only one of the little ones who believe in Christ will be subjected to an unbearable punishment."
And soon the bishop of Alexandria, thanks to shrewd alliances, obtained the repeated condemnation of Nestorius: by the See of Rome, consequently with a series of twelve anathemas which he himself composed,3 and finally, by the Council held in Ephesus in 431, the Third Ecumenical Council. The assembly, which went on with alternating and turbulent events, ended with the first great triumph of devotion to Mary and with the exile of the bishop of Constantinople, who had been reluctant to recognize the Blessed Virgin's right to the title of "Mother of God" because of an erroneous Christology that brought division to Christ himself. After thus prevailing against his rival and his doctrine, by 433 Cyril was nevertheless already able to achieve a theological formula of compromise and reconciliation with the Antiochenes. This is also significant: on the one hand is the clarity of the doctrine of faith, but in addition, on the other, the intense search for unity and reconciliation. In the following years he devoted himself in every possible way to defending and explaining his theological stance, until his death on 27 June 444.
Cyril's writings - truly numerous and already widely disseminated in various Latin and Eastern translations in his own lifetime, attested to by their instant success - are of the utmost importance for the history of Christianity. His commentaries on many of the New and Old Testament books are important, including those on the entire Pentateuch, Isaiah, the Psalms, and the Gospels of John and Luke. Also important are his many doctrinal works, in which the defense of the Trinitarian faith against the Arian and Nestorian theses recurs. The basis of Cyril's teaching is the ecclesiastical tradition and in particular, as I mentioned, the writings of Athanasius, his great predecessor in the see of Alexandria. Among Cyril's other writings, the books Against Julian deserve mention. They were the last great response to the anti-Christian controversies, probably dictated by the bishop of Alexandria in the last years of his life to respond to the work Against the Galileans, composed many years earlier in 363 by the emperor known as the "Apostate" for having abandoned the Christianity in which he was raised.
The Christian faith is first and foremost the encounter with Jesus, "a Person, which gives life a new horizon."4 St. Cyril of Alexandria was an unflagging, staunch witness of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, emphasizing above all his unity, as he repeats in 433 in his first letter 5 to Bishop Succensus: "Only one is the Son, only one the Lord Jesus Christ, both before the Incarnation and after the Incarnation. Indeed, the Logos born of God the Father was not one Son and the one born of the Blessed Virgin another; but we believe that the very One who was born before the ages was also born according to the flesh and of a woman." Over and above its doctrinal meaning, this assertion shows that faith in Jesus the Logos born of the Father is firmly rooted in history because, as St. Cyril affirms, this same Jesus came in time with his birth from Mary, the Theotokos, and in accordance with his promise will always be with us. And this is important: God is eternal, he is born of a woman, and he stays with us every day. In this trust we live, in this trust we find the way for our life.
22
Saint Hilary of Poitiers
would like to talk about a great Father of the Church of the West, St.
Hilary of Poitiers, one of the important episcopal figures of the fourth
century. In the controversy with the Arians, who considered Jesus the Son
of God to be an excellent human creature but only human, Hilary devoted
his whole life to defending faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ, Son of God,
and God as the Father who generated him from eternity.
We have no reliable information on most of Hilary's life. Ancient sources say that he was born in Poitiers, probably in about the year 310. From a wealthy family, he received a solid literary education, which is clearly recognizable in his writings. It does not seem that he grew up in a Christian environment. He himself tells us of a quest for the truth which led him little by little to recognize God the Creator and the incarnate God who died to give us eternal life. Baptized in about 345, he was elected bishop of his native city around 353-54. In the years that followed, Hilary wrote his first work, Commentary on St. Matthew's Gospel. It is the oldest extant commentary in Latin on this Gospel. In 356, Hilary took part as a bishop in the Synod of Beziers in the south of France, the "synod of false apostles," as he himself called it since the assembly was in the control of philo-Arian bishops who denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. "These false apostles" asked the Emperor Constantius to have the bishop of Poitiers sentenced to exile. Thus, in the summer of 356, Hilary was forced to leave Gaul.
Banished to Phrygia in present-day Turkey, Hilary found himself in contact with a religious context totally dominated by Arianism. Here too, his concern as a pastor impelled him to work strenuously to re-establish the unity of the Church on the basis of right faith as formulated by the Council of Nicea. To this end he began to draft his own best-known and most important dogmatic work: De Trinitate (On the Trinity). Hilary explained in it his personal journey towards knowledge of God and took pains to show that not only in the New Testament but also in many Old Testament passages, in which Christ's mystery already appears, Scripture clearly testifies to the divinity of the Son and his equality with the Father. To the Arians he insisted on the truth of the names of Father and Son, and developed his entire Trinitarian theology based on the formula of baptism given to us by the Lord himself: "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
The Father and the Son are of the same nature. And although several passages in the New Testament might make one think that the Son was inferior to the Father, Hilary offers precise rules to avoid misleading interpretations: some scriptural texts speak of Jesus as God, others highlight instead his humanity. Some refer to him in his pre-existence with the Father; others take into consideration his state of emptying of self (kenosis), his descent to death; others, finally, contemplate him in the glory of the Resurrection. In the years of his exile, Hilary also wrote the Book of Synods in which, for his brother bishops of Gaul, he reproduced confessions of faith and commented on them and on other documents of synods which met in the East in about the middle of the fourth century. Ever adamant in opposing the radical Arians, St. Hilary showed a conciliatory spirit to those who agreed to confess that the Son was essentially similar to the Father, seeking of course to lead them to the true faith, according to which there is not only a likeness but a true equality of the Father and of the Son in divinity. This too seems to me to be characteristic: the spirit of reconciliation that seeks to understand those who have not yet arrived and helps them with great theological intelligence to reach full faith in the true divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In 360 or 361, Hilary was finally able to return home from exile and immediately resumed pastoral activity in his church, but the influence of his magisterium extended in fact far beyond its boundaries.
A synod celebrated in Paris in 360 or 361 borrows the language of the Council of Nicea. Several ancient authors believe that this anti-Arian turning point of the Gallic episcopate was largely due to the fortitude and do cility of the bishop of Poitiers. This was precisely his gift: to combine strength in the faith and docility in interpersonal relations. In the last years of his life he also composed the Tractates on the Psalms, a commentary on fifty-eight Psalms interpreted according to the principle highlighted in the introduction to the work: "There is no doubt that all the things that are said in the Psalms should be understood in accordance with Gospel proclamation, so that, whatever the voice with which the prophetic spirit has spoken, all maybe referred nevertheless to the knowledge of the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Incarnation, Passion and Kingdom, and to the power and glory of our resurrection.."' He saw in all the Psalms this transparency of the mystery of Christ and of his Body which is the Church. Hilary met St. Martin on various occasions: the future bishop of Tours founded a monastery right by Poitiers, which still exists today. Hilary died in 367. His liturgical memorial is celebrated on 13 January. In 1851 Blessed Pius IX proclaimed him a Doctor of the universal Church.
To sum up the essentials of his doctrine, I would like to say that Hilary found the starting point for his theological reflection in baptismal faith. In De Trinitate, Hilary writes: Jesus "has commanded us to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (cf. Matt. 28:19), that is, in the confession of the Author, of the Only-Begotten One and of the Gift. The Author of all things is one alone, for one alone is God the Father, from whom all things proceed. And one alone is Our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things exist (cf. i Cor. 8:6), and one alone is the Spirit (cf. Eph. 4:4), a gift in all.... In nothing can be found to be lacking so great a fullness, in which the immensity in the Eternal One, the revelation in the Image, joy in the Gift, converge in the Father, in the Son and in the Holy Spirit."2 God the Father, being wholly love, is able to communicate his divinity to his Son in its fullness. I find particularly beautiful the following formula of St. Hilary: "God knows not how to be anything other than love, he knows not how to be anyone other than the Father. Those who love are not envious and the one who is the Father is so in his totality. This name admits no compromise, as if God were father in some aspects and not in others."3
For this reason the Son is fully God without any gaps or diminishment. "The One who comes from the perfect is perfect because he has all, he has given all."4 Humanity finds salvation in Christ alone, Son of God and Son of man. In assuming our human nature, he has united himself with every man, "he has become the flesh of us all" ;5 "he took on himself the nature of all flesh and through it became true life, he has in himself the root of every vine shoot."6 For this very reason the way to Christ is open to all - because he has drawn all into his being as a man - , even if personal conversion is always required: "Through the relationship with his flesh, access to Christ is open to all, on condition that they divest themselves of their former self (cf. Eph. 4:22), nailing it to the Cross (cf. Col. 2:14); provided we give up our former way of life and convert in order to be buried with him in his baptism, in view of life (cf. Col. 1:12; Rom. 6:4)."'
Fidelity to God is a gift of his grace. Therefore, St. Hilary asks, at the end of his treatise on the Trinity, to be able to remain ever faithful to the baptismal faith. It is a feature of this book: reflection is transformed into prayer and prayer returns to reflection. The whole book is a dialogue with God.
23
Saint Eusebius of Vercelli
invite you to reflect on St. Eusebius of Vercelli, the first bishop of northern Italy of whom we have reliable information. Born in Sardinia at the beginning of the fourth century, he moved to Rome with his family at a tender age. Later, he was instituted lector: he thus came to belong to the clergy of the city at a time when the Church was seriously troubled by the Arian heresy. The high esteem that developed around Eusebius explains his election in 345 to the episcopal see of Vercelli. The new bishop immediately began an intense process of evangelization in a region that was still largely pagan, especially in rural areas. Inspired by St. Athanasius - who had written the Life of St. Antony, the father of monasticism in the East - he founded a priestly community in Vercelli that resembled a monastic community. This coenobiuml impressed upon the clergy of northern Italy a significant hallmark of apostolic holiness and inspired important episcopal figures such as Limenius and Honoratus, successors of Eusebius in Vercelli, Gaudentius in Novara, Exuperantius in Tortona, Eustasius in Aosta, Eulogius in Ivrea, and Maximus in Turin, all venerated by the Church as saints.
With his sound formation in the Nicene faith, Eusebius did his utmost to defend the full divinity of Jesus Christ, defined by the Nicene Creed as "of one being with the Father." To this end, he allied himself with the great Fathers of the fourth century - especially St. Athanasius, the standardbearer of Nicene orthodoxy - against the philo-Arian policies of the emperor. For the emperor, the simpler Arian faith appeared politically more useful as the ideology of the empire. For him it was not truth that counted but rather political opportunism: he wanted to exploit religion as the bond of unity for the empire. But these great Fathers resisted him, defending the truth against political expediency.
Eusebius was consequently condemned to exile, as were so many other bishops of the East and West: such as Athanasius himself, Hilary of Poitiers - of whom we have already spoken - and Hosius of Cordoba. In Scythopolis in Palestine, to which he was exiled between 355 and 360, Eusebius wrote a marvelous account of his life. Here too, he founded a monastic community with a small group of disciples. It was also from here that he attended to his correspondence with his faithful in Piedmont, as can be seen in the second of the three letters of Eusebius recognized as authentic. Later, after 360, Eusebius was exiled to Cappadocia and the Thebaid, where he suffered serious physical ill-treatment. After his death in 361, Constantius II was succeeded by the Emperor Julian, known as "the Apostate," who was not interested in making Christianity the religion of the empire but merely wished to restore paganism. He rescinded the banishment of these bishops and thereby also enabled Eusebius to be reinstated in his see. In 362 he was invited by Athanasius to take part in the Council of Alexandria, which decided to pardon the Arian bishops as long as they returned to the secular state. Eusebius was able to exercise his episcopal ministry for another ten years, until he died, creating an exemplary relationship with his city which did not fail to inspire the pastoral service of other bishops of northern Italy, whom we shall reflect upon in future catecheses, such as St. Ambrose of Milan and St. Maximus of Turin.
The bishop of Vercelli's relationship with his city is illustrated in particular by two testimonies in his correspondence. The first is found in the letter cited above, which Eusebius wrote from his exile in Scythopolis "to the beloved brothers and priests missed so much, as well as to the holy people with a firm faith of Vercelli, Novara, Ivrea and Tortona.."2 These first words, which demonstrate the deep emotion of the good pastor when he thought of his flock, are amply confirmed at the end of the letter in his very warm fatherly greetings to each and every one of his children in Vercelli, with expressions overflowing with affection and love. One should note first of all the explicit relationship that bound the bishop to the sanctae plebes,' not only of Vercellae l Vercelli - the first and subsequently for some years the only diocese in the Piedmont - but also of Novaria / Novara, Eporedia / Ivrea, and Dertona / Tortona, that is, of the Christian communities in the same diocese which had become quite numerous and acquired a certain consistency and autonomy. Another interesting element is provided by the farewell with which the letter concludes. Eusebius asked his sons and daughters to give his greeting "also to those who are outside the Church, yet deign to nourish feelings of love for us: etiam hos, quiforis sunt et nos dignantur diligere." This is an obvious proof that the bishop's relationship with his city was not limited to the Christian population but also extended to those who - outside the Church - recognized in some way his spiritual authority and loved this exemplary man.
The second testimony of the bishop's special relationship with his city comes from the letter St. Ambrose of Milan wrote to the Vercellians in about 394, more than twenty years after Eusebius's death.4 The Church of Vercelli was going through a difficult period: she was divided and lacked a bishop. Ambrose frankly declared that he hesitated to recognize these Vercellians as descending from "the lineage of the holy fathers who approved of Eusebius as soon as they saw him, without ever having known him previously and even forgetting their own fellow citizens." In the same letter, the bishop of Milan attested to his esteem for Eusebius in the clearest possible way: "Such a great man," he wrote in peremptory tones, "well deserves to be elected by the whole of the Church." Ambrose's admiration for Eusebius was based above all on the fact that the bishop of Vercelli governed his diocese with the witness of his life: "With the austerity of fasting he governed his Church." Indeed, Ambrose was also fascinated, as he himself admits, by the monastic ideal of the contemplation of God which, in the footsteps of the prophet Elijah, Eusebius had pursued. First of all, Ambrose commented, the bishop of Vercelli gathered his clergy in vita communise and educated its members in "the observance of the monastic rule, although they lived in the midst of the city." The bishop and his clergy were to share the problems of their fellow citizens and did so credibly, precisely by cultivating at the same time a different citizenship, that of heaven (cf. Heb. 13:14). And thus, they really built true citizenship and true solidarity among all the citizens of Vercelli.
While Eusebius was adopting the cause of the sancta plebes6 of Vercelli, he lived a monk's life in the heart of the city, opening the city to God. This trait, though, in no way diminished his exemplary pastoral dynamism. It seems among other things that he set up parishes in Vercelli for an orderly and stable ecclesial service and promoted Marian shrines for the conversion of the pagan populations in the countryside. This "monastic feature," however, conferred a special dimension on the bishop's relationship with his hometown. Just like the Apostles, for whom Jesus prayed at his Last Supper, the pastors and faithful of the Church "are in the world" (John 17:14), but not "of the world." Therefore, pastors, Eusebius said, must urge the faithful not to consider the cities of the world as their permanent dwelling place but to seek the future city, the definitive heavenly Jerusalem. This "eschatological reserve" enables pastors and faithful to preserve the proper scale of values without ever submitting to the fashions of the moment and the unjust claims of the current political power. The authentic scale of values - Eusebius's whole life seems to say - does not come from emperors of the past or of today but from Jesus Christ, the perfect Man, equal to the Father in divinity, yet a man like us. In referring to this scale of values, Eusebius never tired of "warmly recommending" his faithful "to jealously guard the faith, to preserve harmony, to be assiduous in prayer."7
24
Saint Ambrose of Milan
oly Bishop Ambrose - about whom I shall speak to you - died in Milan in the night between 3 and 4 April 397. It was dawn on Holy Saturday. The day before, at about five o'clock in the afternoon, he had settled down to pray, lying on his bed with his arms wide open in the form of a cross. Thus, he took part in the solemn Easter Triduum, in the death and Resurrection of the Lord. "We saw his lips moving," said Paulinus, the faithful deacon who wrote his Life at St. Augustine's suggestion, "but we could not hear his voice." The situation suddenly became dramatic. Honoratus, bishop of Vercelli, who was assisting Ambrose and was sleeping on the upper floor, was awakened by a voice saying again and again, "Get up quickly! Ambrose is dying...." "Honoratus hurried downstairs," Paulinus continues, "and offered the saint the Body of the Lord. As soon as he had received and swallowed it, Ambrose gave up his spirit, taking the good Viaticum with him. His soul, thus refreshed by the virtue of that food, now enjoys the company of angels."' On that Good Friday 397, the wide open arms of the dying Ambrose expressed his mystical participation in the death and Resurrection of the Lord. This was his last catechesis: in the silence of the words, he continued to speak with the witness of his life.
Ambrose was not old when he died. He had not even reached the age of sixty, since he was born in about 340 in Trier, where his father was Prefect of the Gauls. His family was Christian.
Upon his father's death while he was still a boy, his mother took him to Rome and educated him for a civil career, assuring him a sound instruc tion in rhetoric and jurisprudence. In about 37o he was sent to govern the provinces of Emilia and Liguria, with headquarters in Milan. It was precisely there that the struggle between orthodox and Arians was raging and became particularly heated after the death of the Arian bishop Auxentius. Ambrose intervened to pacify the members of the two opposing factions; his authority was such that although he was merely a catechumen, the people acclaimed him bishop of Milan.
Until that moment, Ambrose had been the most senior magistrate of the empire in northern Italy. Culturally well educated but at the same time ignorant of the Scriptures, the new bishop briskly began to study them. From the works of Origen, the indisputable master of the "Alexandrian School," he learned to know and to comment on the Bible. Thus, Ambrose transferred to the Latin environment the meditation on the Scriptures which Origen had begun, introducing in the West the practice of lectio divina.2 The method of lectio served to guide all of Ambrose's preaching and writings, which stemmed precisely from prayerful listening to the Word of God. The famous introduction of an Ambrosian catechesis shows clearly how the holy bishop applied the Old Testament to Christian life: "Every day, when we were reading about the lives of the Patriarchs and the maxims of the Proverbs, we addressed morality," the bishop of Milan said to his catechumens and neophytes, "so that formed and instructed by them you may become accustomed to taking the path of the Fathers and to following the route of obedience to the divine precepts."3 In other words, the neophytes and catechumens, in accordance with the bishop's decision, after having learned the art of a well-ordered life, could henceforth consider themselves prepared for Christ's great mysteries. Thus, Ambrose's preaching - which constitutes the structural nucleus of his immense literary opus - starts with the reading of the Sacred Books ("the Patriarchs" or the historical books and "Proverbs," or in other words, the Wisdom books) in order to live in conformity with divine revelation.
It is obvious that the preacher's personal testimony and the level of exemplarity of the Christian community condition the effectiveness of the preaching. In this perspective, a passage from St. Augustine's Confessions is relevant. He had come to Milan as a teacher of rhetoric; he was a skeptic and not Christian. He was seeking the Christian truth but was not capable of truly finding it.
Augustine learned from the life and example of Bishop Ambrose to believe and to preach. We can refer to a famous sermon of the African, which centuries later merited citation in the conciliar Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum: "Therefore, all clerics, particularly priests of Christ and others who, as deacons or catechists, are officially engaged in the ministry of the Word," Dei Verbum recommends, "should immerse themselves in the Scriptures by constant sacred reading and diligent study. For it must not happen that anyone becomes" - and this is Augustine's citation - "`an empty preacher of the Word of God to others, not being a hearer of the Word in his own heart.."'s Augustine had learned precisely from Ambrose how to "hear in his own heart" this perseverance in reading Sacred Scripture with a prayerful approach, so as truly to absorb and assimilate the Word of God in one's heart.
Dear brothers and sisters, I would like further to propose to you a sort of "patristic icon," which, interpreted in the light of what we have said, effectively represents "the heart" of Ambrosian doctrine. In the sixth book of the Confessions, Augustine tells of his meeting with Ambrose, an encounter that was indisputably of great importance in the history of the Church. He writes in his text that whenever he went to see the bishop of Milan, he would regularly find him taken up with catervae6 of people full of problems for whose needs he did his utmost. There was always a long queue waiting to talk to Ambrose, seeking in him consolation and hope. When Ambrose was not with them, with the people (and this happened for the space of the briefest of moments), he was either restoring his body with the necessary food or nourishing his spirit with reading. Here Augustine marvels because Ambrose read the Scriptures with his mouth closed, only with his eyes.' Indeed, in the early Christian centuries reading was conceived of strictly for proclamation, and reading aloud also facilitated the reader's understanding. That Ambrose could scan the pages with his eyes alone suggested to the admiring Augustine a rare ability for reading and familiarity with the Scriptures. Well, in that "reading under one's breath," where the heart is committed to achieving knowledge of the Word of God - this is the "icon" to which we are referring - one can glimpse the method of Ambrosian catechesis; it is Scripture itself, intimately assimilated, which suggests the content to proclaim that will lead to the conversion of hearts.
Thus, with regard to the magisterium of Ambrose and of Augustine, catechesis is inseparable from witness of life. What I wrote on the theologian in the Introduction to Christianity' might also be useful to the catechist. An educator in the faith cannot risk appearing like a sort of clown who recites a part "by profession." Rather - to use an image dear to Origen, a writer who was particularly appreciated by Ambrose - he must be like the beloved disciple who rested his head against his Master's heart and there learned the way to think, speak and act. The true disciple is ultimately the one whose proclamation of the Gospel is the most credible and effective.
Like the Apostle John, Bishop Ambrose - who never tired of saying: "Omnia Christus est nobis! To us Christ is all!"- continues to be a genuine witness of the Lord. Like this, let us conclude our catechesis with his same words, full of love for Jesus: "Omnia Christus est nobis! If you have a wound to heal, he is the doctor; if you are parched by fever, he is the spring; if you are oppressed by injustice, he is justice; if you are in need of help, he is strength; if you fear death, he is life; if you desire Heaven, he is the way; if you are in the darkness, he is light.... Taste and see how good is the Lord: blessed is the man who hopes in him!"9 Let us also hope in Christ. We shall thus be blessed and shall live in peace.
25
Saint Maximus of Turin
etween the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the fifth,
another Father of the Church after St. Ambrose made a great contribution to the spread and consolidation of Christianity in northern Italy:
St. Maximus, whom we come across in 398 as bishop of Turin, a year after
St. Ambrose's death. Very little is known about him; in compensation, we
have inherited a collection of about ninety of his sermons. it is possible to
perceive in them the bishop's profound and vital bond with his city, which
attests to an evident point of contact between the episcopal ministry of
Ambrose and that of Maximus.
At that time serious tensions were disturbing orderly civil coexistence. In this context, as pastor and teacher, Maximus succeeded in obtaining the Christian people's support. The city was threatened by various groups of barbarians. They entered by the eastern passes, which went as far as the western Alps. Turin was therefore permanently garrisoned by troops and at critical moments became a refuge for the populations fleeing from the countryside and urban centers where there was no protection. Maximus's interventions in the face of this situation testify to his commitment to respond to the civil degradation and disintegration. Although it is still difficult to determine the social composition of those for whom the sermons were intended, it would seem that Maximus's preaching - to avoid the risk of vagueness - was specifically addressed to a chosen nucleus of the Christian community of Turin, consisting of rich landowners who had property in the Turinese countryside and a house in the city. This was a clear-sighted pastoral decision by the bishop, who saw this type of preaching as the most effective way to preserve and strengthen his own ties with the people.
In the next sermon, the eighteenth, Maximus condemns the recurring forms of exploitation of others' misfortunes. "Tell me, Christian," the bishop reprimands his faithful, "tell me why you snatched the booty abandoned by the plunderers? Why did you take home `ill-gotten gains' as you yourself think, torn apart and contaminated?" "But perhaps," he continues, "you say you have purchased them, and thereby believe you are avoiding the accusation of avarice. However, this is not the way to equate purchasing with selling. It is a good thing to make purchases, but that means what is sold freely in times of peace, not goods looted during the sack of a city.... So act as a Christian and a citizen who purchases in order to repay."' Without being too obvious, Maximus thus managed to preach a profound relationship between a Christian's and a citizen's duties. In his eyes, living a Christian life also meant assuming civil commitments. Vice versa, every Christian who, "despite being able to live by his own work, seizes the booty of others with the ferocity of wild beasts"; who "tricks his neighbor, who tries every day to nibble away at the boundaries of others, to gain possession of their produce," does not compare to a fox biting off the heads of chickens but rather to a wolf savaging pigs.3
In comparison with the cautious, defensive attitude that Ambrose adopted to justify his famous project of redeeming prisoners of war, the historical changes that occurred in the relationship between the bishop and the municipal institutions are clearly evident. By now sustained through legislation that invited Christians to redeem prisoners, Maximus, with the collapse of the civil authority of the Roman Empire, felt fully authorized in this regard to exercise true control over the city. This control was to become increasingly extensive and effective until it replaced the irresponsible evasion of the magistrates and civil institutions. In this context, Maximus not only strove to rekindle in the faithful the traditional love for their home town, but he also proclaimed the precise duty to pay taxes, however burdensome and unpleasant they might appear.4 In short, the tone and substance of the sermons imply an increased awareness of the bishop's political responsibility in the specific historical circumstances. He was "the lookout tower" posted in the city. Whoever could these watchmen be, Maximus wonders in sermon 92, "other than the most blessed bishops set on a lofty rock of wisdom, so to speak, to defend the peoples and to warn them about the evils approaching in the distance?" And in sermon 89 the bishop of Turin describes his tasks to his faithful, making a unique comparison between the bishop's function and the function of bees: "Like the bee," he said, bishops "observe bodily chastity, they offer the food of heavenly life using the sting of the law. They are pure in sanctifying, gentle in restoring and severe in punishing." With these words, St. Maximus described the task of the bishop in his time.
In short, historical and literary analysis show an increasing awareness of the political responsibility of the ecclesiastical authority in a context in which it continued de facto to replace the civil authority.
Indeed, the ministry of the bishop of northwest Italy, starting with Eusebius who dwelled in his Vercelli "like a monk" to Maximus of Turin, positioned "like a sentinel" on the highest rock in the city, developed along these lines. It is obvious that the contemporary historical, cultural, and social context is profoundly different. Today's context is rather the context outlined by my venerable predecessor, Pope John Paul II, in the PostSynodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Europa, in which he offers an articulate analysis of the challenges and signs of hope for the Church in Eu rope today.5 In any case, on the basis of the changed conditions, the believer's duties to his city and his homeland still remain effective. The combination of the commitments of the "honest citizen" with those of the "good Christian" has not in fact disappeared.
In conclusion, to highlight one of the most important aspects of the unity of Christian life, I would like to recall the words of the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes: consistency between faith and conduct, between Gospel and culture. The Council exhorts the faithful "to perform their duties faithfully in the spirit of the Gospel. It is a mistake to think that, because we have here no lasting city, but seek the city which is to come, we are entitled to shirk our earthly responsibilities; this is to forget that by our faith we are bound all the more to fulfill these responsibilities according to the vocation of each one."6 In following the magisterium of St. Maximus and of many other Fathers, let us make our own the Council's desire that the faithful may be increasingly anxious to "carry out their earthly activity in such a way as to integrate human, domestic, professional, scientific, and technical enterprises with religious values, under whose supreme direction all things are ordered to the glory of God"7 and thus for humanity's good.
26
Saint Jerome (1)
e turn our attention to St. Jerome, a Church Father who centered his life on the Bible: he translated it into Latin, commented on it in his works, and above all, strove to live it in practice throughout his long earthly life, despite the well-known difficult, hot-tempered character with which nature had endowed him.
Jerome was born into a Christian family in about 347 in Stridon.1 He was given a good education and was even sent to Rome to fine-tune his studies. As a young man he was attracted by the worldly life,2 but his desire for and interest in the Christian religion prevailed.
He received baptism in about 366 and opted for the ascetic life. He went to Aquileia and joined a group of fervent Christians that had formed around Bishop Valerian and which he described as almost "a choir of blesseds."3 He then left for the East and lived as a hermit in the Desert of Chalcis, south of Aleppo,' devoting himself assiduously to study. He perfected his knowledge of Greek, began learning Hebrews and transcribed codices and Patristic writings.' Meditation, solitude, and contact with the Word of God helped his Christian sensibility to mature. He bitterly regretted the indiscretions of his youth? and was keenly aware of the contrast be tween the pagan mentality and the Christian life: a contrast made famous by the dramatic and lively "vision" - of which he has left us an account - in which it seemed to him that he was being scourged before God because he was "Ciceronian rather than Christian."8
In 382 he moved to Rome: here, acquainted with his fame as an ascetic and his ability as a scholar, Pope Damasus engaged him as secretary and counselor; the Pope encouraged him, for pastoral and cultural reasons, to embark on a new Latin translation of the biblical texts. Several members of the Roman aristocracy, especially noblewomen such as Paula, Marcella, Asella, Lea, and others, desirous of committing themselves to the way of Christian perfection and of deepening their knowledge of the Word of God, chose him as their spiritual guide and teacher in the methodical approach to the sacred texts. These noblewomen also learned Greek and Hebrew.
After the death of Pope Damasus, Jerome left Rome in 385 and went on pilgrimage, first to the Holy Land, a silent witness of Christ's earthly life, and then to Egypt, the favorite country of numerous monks.9 In 386 he stopped in Bethlehem, where male and female monasteries were built through the generosity of the noblewoman, Paula, as well as a hospice for pilgrims bound for the Holy Land, "remembering Mary and Joseph who had found no room there."" He stayed in Bethlehem until he died, continuing to do a prodigious amount of work: he commented on the Word of God; he defended the faith, vigorously opposing various heresies; he urged the monks on to perfection; he taught classical and Christian culture to young students; he welcomed with a pastor's heart pilgrims who were visiting the Holy Land. He died in his cell close to the Grotto of the Nativity on 30 September 419-20.
Jerome's literary studies and vast erudition enabled him to revise and translate many biblical texts: an invaluable undertaking for the Latin Church and for Western culture. On the basis of the original Greek and Hebrew texts, and thanks to the comparison with previous versions, he revised the four Gospels in Latin, then the Psalter and a large part of the Old Testament. Taking into account the original Hebrew and Greek texts of the Septuagint, the classical Greek version of the Old Testament that dates back to pre-Christian times, as well as the earlier Latin versions, Jerome was able, with the assistance later of other collaborators, to produce a better translation: this constitutes the so-called "Vulgate," the "official" text of the Latin Church which was recognized as such by the Council of Trent and which, after the recent revision, continues to be the "official" Latin text of the Church. It is interesting to point out the criteria which the great biblicist abided by in his work as a translator. He himself reveals them when he says that he respects even the order of the words of the Sacred Scriptures, for in them, he says, "the order of the words is also a mys- tery,"11 that is, a revelation. Furthermore, he reaffirms the need to refer to the original texts: "Should an argument on the New Testament arise between Latins because of interpretations of the manuscripts that fail to agree, let us turn to the original, that is, to the Greek text in which the New Testament was written. Likewise, with regard to the Old Testament, if there are divergences between the Greek and Latin texts we should have recourse to the original Hebrew text; thus, we shall be able to find in the streams all that flows from the source .1112 Jerome also commented on many biblical texts. For him the commentaries had to offer multiple opinions "so that the shrewd reader, after reading the different explanations and hearing many opinions - to be accepted or rejected - may judge which is the most reliable, and, like an expert moneychanger, may reject the false coin.""
Jerome refuted with energy and liveliness the heretics who contested the tradition and faith of the Church. He also demonstrated the importance and validity of Christian literature, which had by then become a real culture that deserved to be compared with classical literature: he did so by composing his De Viris Illustribus (On Illustrious Men), a work in which Jerome presents the biographies of more than a hundred Christian authors. Further, he wrote biographies of monks, comparing among other things their spiritual itineraries as well as monastic ideals. In addition, he translated various works by Greek authors. Lastly, in the important Epistulae (Letters), a masterpiece of Latin literature, Jerome emerges with the profile of a man of culture, an ascetic, and a guide of souls.
What can we learn from St. Jerome? It seems to me, this above all: to love the Word of God in Sacred Scripture. St. Jerome said: "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ."" It is therefore important that every Christian live in contact and in personal dialogue with the Word of God given to us in Sacred Scripture. This dialogue with Scripture must always have two dimensions: on the one hand, it must be a truly personal dialogue because God speaks with each one of us through Sacred Scripture and it has a message for each one. We must not read Sacred Scripture as a word of the past but as the Word of God that is also addressed to us, and we must try to understand what it is that the Lord wants to tell us. However, to avoid falling into individualism, we must bear in mind that the Word of God has been given to us precisely in order to build communion and to join forces in the truth on our journey towards God. Thus, although it is always a personal Word, it is also a Word that builds community, that builds the Church. We must therefore read it in communion with the living Church. The privileged place for reading and listening to the Word of God is the liturgy, in which, celebrating the Word and making Christ's Body present in the Sacrament, we actualize the Word in our lives and make it present among us. We must never forget that the Word of God transcends time. Human opinions come and go. What is very modern today will be very antiquated tomorrow. On the other hand, the Word of God is the Word of eternal life; it bears within it eternity and is valid for ever. By carrying the Word of God within us, we therefore carry within us eternity, eternal life.
27
Saint Jerome (2)
e continue the presentation of the figure of St. Jerome. As we said, he dedicated his life to studying the Bible, so much so that he was recognized by my predecessor, Pope Benedict XV, as "an outstanding doctor in the interpretation of Sacred Scripture.."' Jerome emphasized the joy and importance of being familiar with biblical texts: "Does one not seem to dwell, already here on earth, in the Kingdom of Heaven when one lives with these texts, when one meditates on them, when one does not know or seek anything else? "I In reality, to dialogue with God, with his Word, is in a certain sense a presence of Heaven, a presence of God. To draw near to the biblical texts, above all the New Testament, is essential for the believer, because "ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ." This is his famous phrase, cited also by the Second Vatican Council in the Constitution Dei Verbum.3
Truly "in love" with the Word of God, he asked himself: "How could one live without the knowledge of Scripture, through which one learns to know Christ himself, who is the life of believers?"4 The Bible, an instrument "by which God speaks every day to the faithful,"5 thus becomes a stimulus and source of Christian life for all situations and for each person. To read Scripture is to converse with God: "If you pray," he writes to a young Roman noblewoman, "you speak with the Spouse; if you read, it is he who speaks to you."6 The study of and meditation on Scripture renders man wise and serene.' Certainly, to penetrate the Word of God ever more profoundly, a constant and progressive application is needed. Hence, Jerome recommends to the priest Nepotian: "Read the divine Scriptures frequently; rather, may your hands never set the Holy Book down. Learn here what you must teach."8 To the Roman matron Leta he gave this counsel for the Christian education of her daughter: "Ensure that each day she studies some Scripture passage.... After prayer, reading should follow, and after reading, prayer.... Instead of jewels and silk clothing, may she love the divine Books."9 Through meditation on and knowledge of the Scriptures, one "maintains the equilibrium of the soul."10 Only a profound spirit of prayer and the Holy Spirit's help can introduce us to understanding the Bible: "In the interpretation of Sacred Scripture we always need the help of the Holy Spirit.""
A passionate love for Scripture therefore pervaded Jerome's whole life, a love that he always sought to deepen in the faithful, too. He recommends to one of his spiritual daughters: "Love Sacred Scripture and wisdom will love you; love it tenderly, and it will protect you; honor it and you will receive its caresses. May it be for you as your necklaces and your earrings." 12 And again: "Love the science of Scripture, and you will not love the vices of the flesh.""
For Jerome, a fundamental criterion of the method for interpreting the Scriptures was harmony with the Church's Magisterium. We should never read Scripture alone because we meet too many closed doors and could easily slip into error. The Bible has been written by the people of God and for the people of God under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Only in this communion with the people of God do we truly enter into the "we," into the nucleus of the truth that God himself wants to tell us. For him, an authentic interpretation of the Bible must always be in harmonious accord with the faith of the Catholic Church. It does not treat of an exegesis imposed on this Book from without; the Book is really the voice of the pilgrim people of God and only in the faith of this people are we "correctly attuned" to understand Sacred Scripture. Therefore, Jerome admonishes: "Remain firmly attached to the traditional doctrine that you have been taught, so that you can preach according to right doctrine and refute those who contradict it."14 In particular, given that Jesus Christ founded his Church on Peter, every Christian, he concludes, must be in communion "with St. Peter's See. I know that on this rock the Church is built.."15 Consequently, without approximations, he declared: "I am with whoever is united to the teaching of St. Peter.""
Obviously, Jerome does not neglect the ethical aspect. Indeed, he often recalls the duty to harmonize one's life with the divine Word, and only by living it does one also find the capacity to understand it. This consistency is indispensable for every Christian, and particularly for the preacher, so that his actions may never contradict his discourses nor be an embarrassment to him. Thus, he exhorts the priest Nepotian: "May your actions never be unworthy of your words; may it not happen that, when you preach in church, someone might say to himself: `Why does he therefore not act like this?' How could a teacher, on a full stomach, discuss fasting; even a thief can blame avarice; but in the priest of Christ the mind and words must harmonize."" In another epistle Jerome repeats: "Even if we possess a splendid doctrine, the person who feels condemned by his own conscience remains disgraced." 18 Also on the theme of consistency he observes: the Gospel must translate into truly charitable behavior, because in each human being the Person of Christ himself is present. For example, addressing the presbyter Paulinus (who then became bishop of Nola and a saint), Jerome counsels: "The true temple of Christ is the soul of the faithful: adorn it and beautify this shrine, place your offerings in it and receive Christ. What is the use of decorating the walls with precious stones if Christ dies of hunger in the person of the poor?"19 Jerome concretizes the need "to clothe Christ in the poor, to visit him in the suffering, to nourish him in the hungry, to house him in the homeless."20 The love of Christ, nourished with study and meditation, makes us rise above every difficulty: "Let us also love Jesus Christ, always seeking union with him: then even what is difficult will seem easy to us."21
Prosper of Aquitaine, who defined Jerome as a "model of conduct and teacher of the human race,"22 also left us a rich and varied teaching on Christian asceticism. He reminds us that a courageous commitment towards perfection requires constant vigilance, frequent mortifications, even if with moderation and prudence, and assiduous intellectual and manual labor to avoid idleness,23 and above all obedience to God: "Nothing ... pleases God as much as obedience ... , which is the most excellent and sole virtue."24 The practice of pilgrimage can also be part of the ascetical journey. In particular, Jerome gave an impulse to it in the Holy Land, where pilgrims were welcomed and housed in the lodgings that were built next to the monastery of Bethlehem, thanks to the generosity of the noblewoman Paula, a spiritual daughter of Jerome.25
Lastly, one cannot remain silent about the importance that Jerome gave to the matter of Christian pedagogy.26 He proposed to form "one soul that must become the temple of the Lord,"27 a "very precious gem" in the eyes of God.28 With profound intuition he advises to preserve oneself from evil and from the occasions of sin, and to exclude equivocal or dissipating friendship S.29
Above all, he exhorts parents to create a serene and joyful environ ment around their children, to stimulate them to study and work also through praise and emulation,30 encouraging them to overcome difficulties, foster good habits and avoid picking up bad habits, so that, and here he cites a phrase of Publius Syrus31 which he heard at school: "it will be difficult for you to correct those things to which you are quietly habituating yourself."32 Parents are the principal educators of their children, the first teachers of life. With great clarity Jerome, addressing a young girl's mother and then mentioning her father, admonishes, almost expressing a fundamental duty of every human creature who comes into existence: "May she find in you her teacher, and may she look to you with the inexperienced wonder of childhood. Neither in you, nor in her father should she ever see behavior that could lead to sin, as it could be copied. Remember that ... you can educate her more by example than with words."33 Among Jerome's principal intuitions as a pedagogue, one must emphasize the importance he attributed to a healthy and integral education beginning from early childhood, with the particular responsibility belonging to parents, the urgency for a serious moral and religious formation and the duty to study for a complete human formation. Moreover, an aspect rather disregarded in ancient times but held vital by our author is the promotion of the woman, to whom he recognizes the right to a complete formation: human, scholastic, religious, professional. We see precisely today how the education of the personality in its totality, the education to responsibility before God and man, is the true condition of all progress, all peace, all reconciliation and the exclusion of violence. Education before God and man: it is Sacred Scripture that offers us the guide for education and thus of true humanism.
We cannot conclude these quick notes on the great Father of the Church without mentioning his effective contribution to safeguarding the positive and valid elements of the ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Roman cultures for nascent Christian civilization. Jerome recognized and assimilated the artistic values of the richness of the sentiments and the harmony of the images present in the classics, which educate the heart and fantasy to noble sentiments. Above all, he put at the center of his life and activity the Word of God, which indicates the path of life to man and reveals the secrets of holiness to him. We cannot fail to be deeply grateful for all of this, even in our day.