Humility is “one of those virtues most needed by a disciple of Christ” and prayer “coming to life” is principally realised in “a coherent commitment to Christian charity” particularly towards the poor and sick “for forgiveness of offence lies therein”.These were two themes developed by a relatively unknown father of the Church, Aphraates, to whom Benedict XVI today dedicated his address delivered to the 15 thousand people present in St Peters square for the general audience.
At the end of the audience, the Pope also launched an appeal for the people of Mogadishu, Somalia, who live in a “precarious humanitarian situation” “afflicted by social insecurity and poverty”.
Benedict XVI asked “all political leaders” both internally and internationally, to find “a peaceful solution for those people”.
Continuing his reflections on the lives of the early fathers of the church the Pope spoke of Aphraate, known as “the wise”, Syrian “master” of the VI century, whom he defined as an “important and somewhat enigmatic figure”.
A native of Nineveh, there is little information regarding his life. 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, love, fasting, humility, and the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, the Old and New Testament”.
Aphraates was thus part of an ecclesial community “on the frontier between Judaism and the Greek world”, closely bound to the mother Church of Jerusalem at a time when Christianity “had yet to enter into contact with other currents of thought”, in particular with Greek thought.
The Pope recalled that he presented “Christ’s salvation as a cure, Christ as a doctor and sin as the wound that only penitence can heal” and in particular his teachings on prayer, on Christ as the “master of prayer” and “example of how to pray”. Thus in the Gospel passage which invites us to pray in secret, he highlights that “Our Saviour wants to show that God knows even the most intimate secrets and thoughts of our hearts”.
“According to this ancient Wiseman pray comes to life when Christ dwells in our hearts, inviting us to coherent gestures of charity towards our neighbour” and “prayers are good when our actions are good, and granted when they bring good”.
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