The Pope returned to Jerome today. Here’s a news report from CNS. I’ll post full text as soon as I find a translation.

Pope, at audience, encourages Christians to read Bible

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — To know God and to know how to live their lives, Christians must read the Bible, Pope Benedict XVI said.

“Drawing close to the biblical texts, especially the New Testament, is essential for believers because ‘ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ,'” the pope said, quoting St. Jerome.

At his Nov. 14 weekly general audience, the pope continued a talk begun the week before about the importance of the teaching of St. Jerome, the fourth-century doctor of the church.

Reading the Bible teaches believers the way they are to live their lives, the pope said, but the Scriptures must be read in a spirit of prayer and must be understood the way the church understands them.

“For Jerome, a fundamental criterion for the interpretation of Scriptures was harmony with the magisterium of the church,” he said.

Pope Benedict said the books of the Bible “were written by the people of God, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,” so “only in harmony with the faith of this people can we understand the sacred Scripture.”

The pope said St. Jerome also emphasized the importance of “a healthy, integrated education” in religion, morality and culture for all Christians, including women, which was unusual in ancient times.

St. Jerome, he said, recognized the “right of women to have a complete human, scholastic, religious and professional formation.”

Education, the pope said, especially regarding one’s “responsibilities before God and other human beings, is the real prerequisite for true progress, peace, reconciliation and the exclusion of all violence.”

“The sacred Scriptures offer us guidance for education and, therefore, for true humanism,” the pope said.

On Sunday the Pope threw us all a curveball and covered one of the Fathers during his weekly Angelus address. (Till now he’s been doing them on Wednesdays. Tricky guy. Keeps us on our toes.) Phil will be happy to hear it’s St. Martin of Tours. The unofficial Zenit translation follows.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Today, Nov. 11, the Church remembers St. Martin, bishop of Tours, one of the most celebrated and venerated saints in Europe. Born around 316 to pagan parents in Pannonia, present-day Hungary, he was directed by his father to a military career.

When he was still an adolescent, Martin encountered Christianity and, overcoming many difficulties, he registered among the catechumens to prepare himself for baptism. He received the sacrament around the age of 20 but still had to remain for some time in the military, where he gave testimony to his new way of life: Respectful and understanding toward all, he treated his servant as a brother and he avoided vulgar entertainments.

Leaving military service, he went to stay with the holy Bishop Hilary at Poitiers in France. Ordained deacon and priest by Hilary, Martin began a monastery at Liguge with some disciples. Martin’s is the oldest known monastic foundation in Europe. About 10 years later, the Christians of Tours, being without a pastor, acclaimed Martin bishop. From that point on, Martin dedicated himself with ardent zeal to the evangelization of the countryside and the formation of the clergy.

Although many miracles are attributed to him, St. Martin is famous above all for an act of fraternal charity. While still a young soldier, he met a poor man along the road who was frozen and trembling from the cold. Martin took his own cloak and cutting it with his sword, gave half of it to the man. That night Jesus appeared to Martin in a dream, smiling and wrapped in the cloak.

Dear brothers and sisters, St. Martin’s charitable gesture inscribes itself in the same logic that moved Jesus to multiply the loaves of bread for the famished crowds, but above all to leave himself in food for humanity in the Eucharist, supreme sign of God’s love, “sacramentum caritatis.” It is in the logic of sharing that the love of neighbor is concretely expressed. May St. Martin help us to understand that it is only through a common commitment to sharing that it is possible to respond to the great challenge of our time: that of building up a world of peace and justice in which every man can live with dignity. This can happen if a global model of authentic solidarity prevails, one that is able to assure all the inhabitants of the planet food, water, necessary medicines, and also work and energy resources, as well as cultural goods and scientific and technological knowledge.

We turn now to the Virgin Mary to implore that she help all Christians to be, like St. Martin, generous witnesses of the Gospel of charity and tireless builders of solidary sharing.

Phoenix Ancient Art, an antiquities dealer, has posted a fascinating solid-gold Byzantine wedding ring for sale. They’re estimating it’s fifth or sixth century. Go look at the picture. “The square bezel of the ring is engraved with a cross between the face busts of a groom and a bride. The couple is blessed by the bust of Christ above them and the Greek inscription ‘concord in God’ (ӨEOY OMONOIA).” If they’re right about the date, this may testify to a transitional period in wedding customs. In the olden days, “Roman marrigae contracts were signed before the Emperor’s image.” On this ring and in other fifth-century items, the image of Christ has replaced the emperor.

While you’re at Phoenix, check out this bronze weight depicting an archangel and a bagfull of Christian symbols (sixth or seventh century). It’s only $28,500. I don’t know if that price includes postage.

As for the solid-gold ring, they don’t bother posting a price. If you have to ask …

• Bryn Mawr Classical Review reviews a new volume of The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Longtime, truly obsessed visitors to this site will recall past posts on St. Isidore. You can start here and follow links back.

• Jim Davila at PaleoJudaica points us to some new patristic titles and translations of apocrypha.

• And Capuchin Father Thomas Weinandy — a patrologist whose praise I have often hymned on this site — now has a website. Can blogging be far off? Proably, yeah, very far off. Father Tom has published excellent work on Cyril and is prepping a book on Athanasius to appear in the next year or so. More on that as it develops.

Continuing his celebration of my birthweek, Pope Benedict XVI made public the text of a letter marking the 1,600th anniversary of the death of St. John Chrysostom. So far, the Vatican has posted it only in Italian. Catholic News Service has quoted generously, however, in its news story, which follows.

(UPDATE: Here’s Zenit’s even longer story.)

Pope says saint preferred people live by, not applaud, his homilies

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — St. John Chrysostom, a popular and eloquent preacher, preferred that his parishioners follow his teachings and not just applaud his homilies, Pope Benedict XVI said.

The pope said it was very important to this fourth-century doctor of the church that the applause his inspiring homilies generated did not mask the fact that the Gospel, not he, was the source of his stirring talks.

The pope made his comments on the occasion of the 1,600th anniversary of the death of St. John Chrysostom, former patriarch of Constantinople, now Istanbul, Turkey.

The pope’s remarks, drafted in a letter dated Aug. 10, were made public Nov. 8 for the opening of a Nov. 8-10 international congress on the saint in Rome. The Vatican released to journalists a copy of the letter Nov. 8.

The pope wrote that St. John Chrysostom “lamented sometimes because, too often, the same assembly that applauded his homilies ignored the very exhortations (he made) to live the Christian life authentically.”

The one thing the saint tirelessly called on his people to do, the pope wrote, was to rectify the gross divide that existed between “the extravagant waste of the rich and the needs of the poor” — even asking affluent citizens to welcome those without shelter into their homes.

“He saw Christ in the poor and, therefore, invited his listeners to do nothing other than act accordingly” and treat the impoverished as they would treat Christ himself, Pope Benedict wrote.

The “moral consequences” of receiving the Eucharist include an obligation “to offer material assistance to the poor and hungry,” the pope wrote. “The table of the Lord is the place where the faithful recognize and welcome the poor and the needy whom they perhaps had ignored before.”

St. John Chrysostom urged Christians to recognize that by giving to those in need, Christians would be “offering on Christ’s altar a sacrifice pleasing to God,” the pope wrote. He wrote that the saint also underlined the absolute importance of repenting before receiving Communion.

The faithful must be worthy and approach the Eucharist “not lightly … or out of habit,” but with a sincere and pure spirit, the pope said, citing the saint.

Had a great time with the folks from St. Louise de Marillac School last Saturday. Zee Poerio, classics enthusiast, arranged a daylong event at Barnes and Noble. She’s posted photos, too. I was just about last on the program. So, if you scroll down to the bottom, you’ll see me pointing to slides of ancient Christian symbols — and hawking my books, of course.

On the Byzantine calendar, today’s the feast of St. Michael the Archangel and the Angelic hosts. Devotion to my heavenly namesake was very well developed, very early in the Church’s history. Before Constantine’s peace, there were churches dedicated to St. Michael in Rome and in Egypt. And he appears often in early Coptic art. For the goods, see this book — and prepare to be wowed.

In your kindness, pray today for all bloggers named Michael who happened to be born on Byzantine St. Michael’s day.

Yesterday the pope turned his attention to St. Jerome. I’m sure he meant this as an early 44th birthday present for Yours Truly. If you, in keeping with this papal trend, want to treat yourself on my birthday, please go directly to iTunes and grab yourself a copy of the just-released song about St. Jerome, by Rock n Roll Hall-of-Famer Dion. (It’s called “The Thunderer.”) Better yet, buy the whole album. Though Amazon probably can’t deliver it to you before my birthday’s over, you’ll probably get it well within the octave.

Dear brothers and sisters!

We will turn our attention today to St. Jerome, a Father of the Church who placed the Bible at the center of his life: he translated it into Latin, he commented on it in his writings, and above all, he committed to live it concretely in his long earthly existence, despite his naturally difficult and fiery character, which he was known for.

Jerome was born in Stridon around 347 to a Christian family that educated him well, and sent him to Rome to complete his studies. Being young, he felt attracted to worldly living (cf. Ep. 22,7), but his desire for and interest in the Christian religion prevailed.

After his baptism around 366, he was drawn to the ascetic life, and upon moving to Aquileia, he joined a group of fervent Christians, whom he described as a type of “choir of the blessed” (Chron. Ad ann., 374), who were united around the bishop Valerian.

He then left for the East and lived as a hermit in the desert of Calcide, south of Aleppo (cf. Ep. 14,10), dedicating himself to serious study. He perfected his knowledge of Greek, began to study Hebrew (cf. Ep. 125,12), transcribed patristic codices and works (cf. Ep. 5,2). The meditation, the solitude, the contact with the word of God matured his Christian sensibility.

He felt intensely the weight of his youthful past (cf. Ep. 22, 7), and became vividly aware of the contrast between the pagan and Christian mentalities: a contrast made famous by the dramatic and vivid “vision” which he left to us. In this vision he saw himself being flagellated in the presence of God because he was a “Ciceronian and not a Christian” (cf. Ep. 22,30).

In 382, he moved to Rome where Pope Damasus, recognizing his fame as an ascetic and his competence as a scholar, took him on as secretary and adviser. He encouraged him to undertake a new Latin translation of Biblical texts for pastoral and cultural reasons.

Some members of the Roman aristocracy, above all noblewomen like Paola, Marcella, Asella, Lea and others, desired to commit themselves to the way of Christian perfection and to deepen their knowledge of the Word of God, and they chose him to be their spiritual guide and teacher in the method to read sacred texts. These women also learned Greek and Hebrew themselves.

After the death of Pope Damasus, Jerome left Rome in 385 and undertook a pilgrimage, first to the Holy Land, silent witness to the earthly life of Christ, then to Egypt, a destination chosen by many monks (cf. “Contra Rufinum,” 3,22; Ep. 108,6-14).

In 386, he decided to stay in Bethlehem, where, thanks to the generosity of the noblewoman Paola, a monastery for men was built, and another for women, as well as a hospice for pilgrims to the Holy Land “in memory of Mary and Joseph who found no shelter” (Ep. 108,14).

He remained in Bethlehem until his death, carrying on his intense activity. He commented on the Gospels; he defended the faith, vigorously opposing various heresies; he exhorted monks to perfection; he taught classical and Christian culture to young pupils; he welcomed pilgrims to the Holy Land like a pastor. He died in his cell near the Grotto of the Nativity on Sept. 30, 419/420.

His literary preparation and vast erudition allowed Jerome to revise and translate many Biblical texts: an invaluable service for the Latin Church and for Western culture. Beginning with the original texts in Greek and Hebrew, and comparing them to earlier translations, he revised the translation of the four Gospels in Latin, then the Psalms and a good part of the Old Testament.

Taking into account the original Greek and Hebrew texts of the Septuagint, the classic Greek version of the Old Testament that dates back to pre-Christian times, and the earlier Latin translations, Jerome and his collaborators were able to offer a better translation. This is what we call the “Vulgate,” considered the “official” text of the Latin Church, which was recognized as such by the Council of Trent. Despite the recent revision of the text, it continues to be the “official” text of the Church in the Latin language.

It is interesting to highlight the criteria that the great Biblical scholar used in his work as a translator. He revealed them himself when he stated that he respected even the order of words in Sacred Scripture, because “even the order of the words is a mystery,” that is, a revelation.

He also reiterated the need to turn to the original texts: “Whenever a question is raised among the Latins regarding the New Testament due to discordant readings of the texts, we must turn to the original, that is, the Greek text in which the New Testament was first written. Likewise for the Old Testament, if there are divergences between the Greek and Latin texts, let us turn to the original text in Hebrew. In this way, “we will be able to find in the rivulets everything that flows from the spring” (Ep. 106,2).

Jerome also commented on several Biblical texts. He said commentaries should offer many opinions so that “the astute reader, after reading different explanations and getting to know different opinions — to accept or to reject — may judge which one is most reliable, and like a currency expert, reject the counterfeit” (“Contra Rufinum” 1,16).

With energy and liveliness, he refuted the heretics who contested the tradition and faith of the Church. He also showed the importance and validity of Christian literature, which had by then come into its own, and deemed worthy to confront classical literature. He did this in “De viris illustribus,” a work in which he presented the biographies of more than 100 Christian authors.

He also wrote biographies of monks, expounding the monastic ideal alongside other spiritual itineraries, and translated various works by Greek authors. Lastly, in the important Epistolary, a masterpiece of Latin literature, Jerome emerges characterized as a man of culture, an ascetic and a spiritual guide.

What can we learn from St. Jerome? Above all I think it is this: to love the word of God in sacred Scripture. St. Jerome said, “To ignore Scripture is to ignore Christ.” That is why it is important that every Christian live in contact and in personal dialogue with the word of God, given to us in sacred Scripture.

This dialogue should be of two dimensions. On one hand, it should be truly personal, because God speaks to each of us through sacred Scripture and has a message for each of us. We shouldn’t read sacred Scripture as a word from the past, but rather as the word of God addressed even to us, and we must try to understand what the Lord is telling us.

And so we don’t fall into individualism, we must also keep in mind that the word of God is given to us in order to build communion, to unite us in the truth along our way to God. Therefore, despite the fact that it is always a personal word, it is also a word that builds community, and that builds the Church itself. Therefore, we should read it in communion with the living Church.

The privileged place for reading and listening to the word of God is in the liturgy. By celebrating the word and rendering the Body of Christ present in the sacrament, we bring the word into our life and make it alive and present among us.

We should never forget that the word of God transcends time. Human opinions come and go; what is very modern today will be old tomorrow. But the word of God is the word of eternal life, it carries within itself eternity, which is always valuable. Carrying within ourselves the word of God, we also carry eternal life.

I conclude with a something St. Jerome had said to St. Paulinus of Nola, in which the great exegete expressed the reality that in the word of God we receive eternity, life eternal. St. Jerome said: “Let us seek to learn on earth those truths which will remain ever valid in heaven” (Ep. 53,10).

In today’s mail: Saint Augustine: Essential Sermons. It’s a fine collection, with thematic variety. There are exegetical sermons (on puzzling biblical texts), mystagogical sermons (on the sacraments), sermons on the saints, and some on moral concerns. The index is bafflingly incomplete, but searching around is a joy.

Just a few weeks ago, I spoke in Youngstown, Ohio, to mark the 1,600th anniversary of the death of St. John Chrysostom. I was one of two guest speakers invited by the Society of St. John Chrysostom.

The next speaker up is fellow blogger Father Gregory Jensen, a psychologist and Orthodox priest. He’ll address “What’s Wrong With Us? Thoughts on Why East/West Christian Relationships Are Difficult.” The program is Tuesday, November 13, 2007, at 7 p.m. at St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church, 7782 Glenwood Ave., Boardman, Ohio. Admission’s free, and everybody’s welcome.

The Society of St. John Chrysostom is an ecumenical organization of Catholic and Orthodox clergy and laity, working to make known the history, worship, spirituality, discipline, and theology of Eastern Christendom, and for the fullness of unity desired by Jesus Christ.

Needless to say, they’re big on the Fathers.

For information, call 330-755-5635.

The shrine of St. Menas was the Lourdes of the patristic era.

Situated near the Nile delta in Egypt, “Abu Mena” — as it’s known by the Copts — flourished as a destination for pilgrims, beginning in the early fourth century. People traveled there to bathe in its healing waters, or to fill flasks to carry home for ailing friends and family members. The flasks have turned up throughout Europe and the Middle East.

Who was St. Menas? It’s difficult to say for sure. He was almost certainly a martyr. Some ancient accounts say he succumbed during the persecution of the Emperor Decius, in the mid-third century. The majority, however, place his martyrdom during the Big One, the persecution of Diocletian, at the end of that century. He is almost always portrayed as a soldier in the Roman army, exposed as a Christian and beheaded for his faith. His comrades then bore his body back home to Egypt. According to legend, the camels stopped at a certain point and refused to go on. And there Menas was laid to rest.

Soon pilgrims appeared, churches sprang up, and a veritable city arose around the burial place of St. Menas. Once the empire was officially Christian, the Emperor Arcadius had a basilica built there. The shrine flourished till Muslim rule in the seventh century. Then the place fell into disuse. Its ruins were excavated in the early twentieth century, turning up thousands of St. Menas pilgrim flasks. There has been some restoration at the site, though the ruins are now threatened by dampness from irrigation.

The pilgrim flasks still turn up everywhere — even on the Web. Mass-produced as souvenirs, they usually show the saint between two camels — the very camels who sited his shrine. Around the image you’ll usually find inscribed, in Coptic or Greek, “Blessings of St. Menas.” There’s one in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. There’s another in the Louvre (you’ll have to go there and search under Menas, because I can’t get the links to work). Here’s a page full of flasks, and another, and another. You’ll even find several flasks for sale in New Jersey.

Some kind folks have posted English translations of the various lives of St. Menas. (His name is also rendered Mena and Mina. Some modern scholars believe he is none other than man we westerners venerate as St. Christopher of the dashboard.)

Amazon’s offering a new documentary on the pilgrim site: Abu Mena: A Christian Monument Egypt. I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s on my wish list.

May the good saint intercede for us who remember him, and may he once again bring healing to his homeland.

(Thanks to Nader — my Coptic catechist, correspondent, and sometime commenter — who helped me as I was rooting around for details on St. Menas.)

A few months back I posted a review of The Appropriation of Divine Life in Cyril of Alexandria, by Daniel A. Keating. Last week, at the St. Paul Center‘s Letter & Spirit Conference, I had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Keating speak. Afterward I rushed out to buy a copy of his more recent book, Deification and Grace. I’m reading it now and having a hard time putting it down. I’ll post a review here or in Touchstone. But I thought you’d appreciate the way he approaches this doctrinal issue:

[T]he testimony of the Church Fathers will be the center of gravity of this study … I will rely most heavily on the testimony of the Fathers of the Church. The doctrine of deification emerged in the patristic period as the Fathers wrestled with the Scriptures to understand rightly the doctrine of salvation in Christ. It is to our benefit to have that testimony made more readily available.

He follows through with testimony from everyone you’d want to read in the book: Ambrose, Athanasius, Augustine, Basil, Clement of Alexandria, Cyril of Alexandria, Didymus, Ephrem, Evagrius, three different Gregorys, Hilary, Irenaeus — and, gosh, that doesn’t even get you halfway through the index!

Last time this title came up in the commboxes, people complained that the book wasn’t available on Amazon. But it’s there now.

Roger Pearse tells the fascinating story of how Americans “pirated” the 19th-century Edinburgh edition of the Ante-Nicene Fathers.

Give us yer patristics — or walk the plank!

Today is the Feast of All Souls, when Christians traditionally pray for the dead, that they may have eternal rest.

The early Church, in both its literary and archeological remains, testifies to belief in purgatory. Many Christians commissioned gravestones with epitaphs begging prayers for their souls. The apocrypha sketch out the doctrine, and the Fathers expound it. The existence of purgatory is implicit in both the Old Testament and the New (including the Gospels). The early Church kept many graveside traditions that, in effect, made a habit of prayer for the dead. It was customary to mark the anniversary of a dead person’s passing (three days, one week, one year) with the celebration of the Mass. In the fourth century, St. Monica urged her priest-son Augustine to remember her soul in prayer when he said Mass. And, like a good boy, he did. “If we had no care for the dead,” Augustine said, “we would not be in the habit of praying for them.” Augustine held that there are “temporary punishments after death.” There is remedial pain as the soul undergoes its purification and preparation for heaven. St. Gregory the Great emphasized that this doctrine was not optional.

The earliest records in the paper trail are not to be missed, for they’re the most poetic. And you’ll find a sampling online here.

The best book on the subject is, without a doubt, Purgatory, by Michael Taylor, S.J. It presents the scriptural, patristic, and theological evidence in an accessible readable form. It’s a friendly treatment, good for handing to a skeptical friend.

“He also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin” (2 Maccabees 12:43-45). “It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins” (2 Maccabees 12:46, Vulgate).