“Without God man loses his greatness; without God there is no true humanism,” said the Pope in a warning voiced during Wednesday’s general audience in which he talked about Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, an accomplished 4th century theologian known for “his eloquence and “refined and sensible” poetic mind.Saint Gregory liked “to hush his senses and leave the flesh of the world,” reaching up to the heavens “to talk with angels” despite being tied to an earthly life and the “suffering” that it entails. His example joins “the path set by Saint Basil” with whom he shared the same “cultural background and mystical fervour” and “whom he remembered in his writings.”
In the Orthodox Church Saint Gregory is celebrated as Gregory the “Theologian” for the strength and confidence with which he delivered his views on doctrine. His “theology,” writes Benedict XVI, “is not just a purely human reflection but stems from a lifetime of prayer and saintliness as well as a laboured dialogue with God.”
Whilst attending the Ecumenical Council of 381, Gregory was elected bishop of Constantinople and began chairing the council. But “he immediately faced strong opposition,” the Pope noted, “which soon became unbearable for such a sensible soul.”
In his noted farewell address to the city “so much loved by Christ,” he urged the faithful “to guard what has been entrusted to you (cf Tim, 6:20).”
Saint Gregory spent the last few years of his life “in solitude in his native land,” dedicating himself to study and the ascetic life. In Nazianzus he wrote an autobiography in verses (De vita sua) in which he summed up “the spiritual and human journey in a world shot through with conflicts.”
In greeting the faithful present at the audience, the Pope directed his attention to “young people” so that they may “place their trust in Christ” and to the sick that they “may participate with faith to the salvific power of His Cross”, inviting them “to be a luminous image of God through mutual faithfulness.”
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