St. John Damascene

Today is the feast of St. John Damascene. Here's a little blurb about him from a little blue Advent book I'm going through:

"Born about 676 in Damascus, Syria, John's Christian education from a captured Italian monk was supplemented by Muslim schools.

"He became chief counselor for the caliph, but when the new caliph became hostile to Christians, John left Damascus to become a monk at St. Sabas Monastery, southeast of Jerusalem.

"After ordination, John lived a quiet life of prayer and writing. He wrote commentaries on St. Paul, adapted choral music for liturgy, and composed hymns. He also successfully defended the use of icons (painted or mosaic religious art) against critics who felt venerating icons was akin to worshipping idols.

"John died in 749, and was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1890."

Praying to Saints

Note: Before I get started, I'm just going to clarify that when Catholics pray to Saints, we are not worshiping them. Worship is reserved for God alone, as the Catholic Church has always taught and will always teach. And Saints are certainly not God. They are simply people -- real, sinful people -- who sought to live lives of faith and holiness and who are now in Heaven with God.

Moving on: Jeanette asked me tonight what the point of praying to Saints is. I told her that was something I'd often wondered about myself. I tried to give her a decent answer at the time, and maybe this post will help clarify things a little more.

Many non-Catholic Christians have a big problem with the idea of praying to Saints, largely based on 1 Timothy 2:5, which says, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." By praying to a Saint, Catholics are putting a mediator other than Christ between themselves and God, these Christians argue.

I guess now would be a good time to talk about what Catholics do when we pray to a Saint. I've already said it's not worship, but what is it? Basically, it's asking the Saint to intercede for you, to pray to God on your behalf.

If you think about it, that's really not so different from something that many Christians do all the time. We all go through difficult times in our lives, and during those times of trial it's very common to ask our friends and relatives to pray for us. Now, I've never heard anyone make the objection, based on 1 Timothy 2:5, that this practice is unbiblical. And yet it is practically identical with the practice of praying to the Saints. In both cases you are asking someone other than Christ to pray to God for you.

Of course, the reason you never hear anyone worrying about circumventing or usurping the unique mediation of Christ by asking their friends to pray for them is that asking others to pray for you is a perfectly biblical practice. It's true that Jesus is the one mediator between God and men, but He can effect that mediation however He pleases, and He allows us to participate in His mediation. Jesus has not arranged things such that we cannot intercede or mediate for one another. This is clear enough from moving just a few verses back from 1 Timothy 2:5 to 2:1, where Paul writes, "I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men." Indeed, in Romans 15:30, Paul specifically asks others to pray for him: "I appeal to you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf." James is more explicit still when he tells his readers to "pray for one another" (James 5:16).

So it seems pretty clear to me -- since God inspired Paul to write both that Christ is the one mediator and that we should pray for each other -- that asking a friend to pray for you is not in conflict with 1 Timothy 2:5. And if we can ask our friends to pray for us, why not the Saints? The Saints are our friends in Heaven. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone before us. They're not dead -- they're more alive than us, and more closely united to God. And since "nothing unclean shall enter" (Revelation 21:27) Heaven, we know that God has made the Saints in Heaven fully righteous. Now, James 5:16 tells us that "the prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects," so it seems like the Saints would be good people to have praying for you.

Praying to the Saints is not about circumventing Christ or avoiding Him or replacing Him -- it's about enlisting others who love Him and who know Him far better than we do to pray to Him along with us.

Now, when it comes to how prayer in general works, that is a mystery whose depths I have barely begun to plumb, so you'll have to give me some time if you'd ever like me to speak to that with any kind of clarity. For the time being, since I do not understand it, I must walk by faith in the amazing promises of Christ.

A Man for All Seasons

Jeanette and I just watched A Man for All Seasons, a 1966 film about St. Thomas More that won six Academy Awards, including best screenplay, best director, best actor, and best picture. Here's the synopsis from the box:

"In 16th-century England, the corrupt King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) betrays the Roman Catholic Church to divorce his wife and marry his latest conquest Anne Boleyn (Vanessa Redgrave). Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield) is then forced to choose between his principles and duty to his heretical king, who has begun executing the treasonous with increasing frequency. The historically profound battle of ideals also involves Cardinal Wolsey (Orson Welles), Thomas Cromwell (Leo McKern), and More's valiant wife (Wendy Hiller)."

I thought it was a great movie, and it gave Jeanette and me a lot to think and talk about. If you haven't seen it, you should see it.

St. Jerome and the Bible

Pope Benedict XVI today gave a brief teaching on the life of St. Jerome, who was born in the 340s and died in the year 420. St. Jerome is best known for translating the Bible into Latin from the original Hebrew and Greek. "To ignore Scripture," he said, "is to ignore Christ." That's a message all Christians would do well to remember. Here's the English portion of the Pope's teaching:

"In our catechesis on the teachers of the early Church, we now turn to Saint Jerome, who was responsible for the Latin version of the Bible known as the Vulgate. Jerome made the Scriptures the centre of his life, translating the inspired word of God, commenting upon its teaching and, above all, striving to live his life in accordance with its precepts. Born in Dalmatia in the middle of the fourth century and educated in Rome, he embraced the ascetic life and devoted himself to the study of Hebrew and Greek. After a sojourn in the East, he returned to Rome as secretary to Pope Damasus, who encouraged him in his work of translation. He then retired to the Holy Land, where he founded monasteries and a hospice for pilgrims in Bethlehem. Jerome’s entire life, his vast erudition and the spiritual wisdom born of his ascetic lifestyle were devoted to the service of God’s word, the refutation of heresy and the encouragement of Christian culture. Let us take to heart the words which this great master of the spiritual life once addressed to Saint Paulinus of Nola, and 'seek to learn on earth those truths which will remain ever valid in heaven'."

The universal call to holiness

There's a brief article on zenit.org about Pope Benedict's All Saints' Day Angelus address, in which the Pope reminded his audience that all people are called to sainthood. An excerpt:

"Before praying the Angelus on Thursday, All Saints' Day, with those gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope clarified the misconception that sainthood is only for the 'chosen few.' In fact, he added, 'to become a saint is the task of every Christian, and what's more, we could even say it's the task of everyone!'

"The Holy Father said that that the Christian is already holy, 'because baptism unites him to Jesus and the paschal mystery, but at the same time he has to become holy, conforming himself to Jesus ever more intimately.'

"He said that God invites everyone to form part of his holy people, and that the path to holiness is through 'Christ, the son, the Holy One of God: No one reaches the Father if not through him.'"

The thing to remember is that no one can become holy on their own. It is only through God's grace that anyone can become holy. God continually offers that grace to all of us, but we are free to refuse it, as most of us usually do. What we have to do, in order to become all that we were created to be, is accept God's grace and cooperate with it.

All Saints' Day

As I mentioned yesterday, today is the Feast of All Saints. I just wanted to share a very nice prayer for today from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer:

Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow thy blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly love thee; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

All Hallows' Eve

Growing up, I heard every once in a while that the word Halloween was derived from a contraction of the phrase All Hallows' Eve, but that never had much significance for me since I had no idea what All Hallows' Eve meant in the first place. It makes a lot more sense now that I realize that hallow is an old word for saint and that October 31 is the day before the Catholic solemnity All Saints' Day, a day when the faithful on earth remember and honor all those members of the Mystical Body of Christ who have gone before us and are now in Heaven. This feast has its roots in the Catholic understanding of the communion of saints. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

"We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming one Church." (CCC 962, quoting Paul VI)

(Almost entirely unrelated side note: I have a vague memory of being chastised by my kindergarten teacher for spelling Halloween like this: Hall-o-ween. Come on. I think she should have been impressed that I got that close as a five-year-old. Or maybe I was in third grade . . . )

St. Luke the Evangelist and Peanuts

October 18 is the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and who is traditionally believed to have been a physician who traveled with St. Paul during the mid-1st century. I like this collect from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer for his feast day:

"Almighty God, who didst inspire thy servant Luke the physician to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of thy Son: Graciously continue in thy Church the like love and power to heal, to the praise and glory of thy Name; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen."

St. Luke is especially special to me because he is my patron saint, and I took the name Luke at my Confirmation, largely because of the beauty of his Gospel, which I first discovered in this:



I think I totally freaked out everyone in a class I took at Harvard called The Making of Christianity when the professor showed that clip and then asked if anyone knew what Linus was quoting. No one else spoke up, so I said, "The Gospel of Luke . . . chapter 2 . . . verses 8 to 14." Unfortunately, this is one of the few Bible passages I could cite like that, just because I love it so much.

St. Ignatius of Antioch was a badass

. . . in the best sense of the word.

And October 17 is his memorial!

St. Ignatius lived from the mid-1st century until the early 2nd century, and he was appointed bishop of Antioch by St. Peter himself, according to Theodoret. He was arrested during a persecution under the Roman emperor Trajan and was taken in chains from Syria to Rome. Along the way he wrote several letters to different Christian communities, seven of which we still have today. When he arrived in Rome, he willingly met a martyr's death, as he was devoured by lions in the Colosseum.

The old Catholic Encyclopedia gives this summary description of St. Ignatius:

"The character of St. Ignatius, as deduced from his own and the extant writings of his contemporaries, is that of a true athlete of Christ. The triple honor of apostle, bishop, and martyr was well merited by this energetic soldier of the Faith. An enthusiastic devotion to duty, a passionate love of sacrifice, and an utter fearlessness in the defense of Christian truth, were his chief characteristics. Zeal for the spiritual well-being of those under his charge breathes from every line of his writings. Ever vigilant lest they be infected by the rampant heresies of those early days; praying for them, that their faith and courage may not be wanting in the hour of persecution; constantly exhorting them to unfailing obedience to their bishops; teaching them all Catholic truth; eagerly sighing for the crown of martyrdom, that his own blood may fructify in added graces in the souls of his flock, he proves himself in every sense a true pastor of souls, the good shepherd that lays down his life for his sheep."

I read through all of St. Ignatius's epistles on Tuesday (they're quite short), and they are just fascinating. Not only do they paint an inspiring picture of a man of great faith in Jesus Christ, who actually begged the Christians at Rome not to prevent his execution; but they also give great perspective on what Christianity looked like during its very early days. (St. Ignatius probably wrote his letters during the first decade of the 2nd century.) Interestingly, St. Ignatius makes explicit and repeated references to many things that some people would have you believe were later "inventions" of the Church: the divinity of Christ, the hierarchical structure of the Church, and Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist, to name a few.

Most of all, the epistles of St. Ignatius are often a joy to read. Though he is usually plain-spoken and straightforward, his imagery is occasionally beautiful, as in the case of this excerpt from his letter to the Ephesians:

“Wherefore it is fitting that you should run together in accordance with the will of your bishop, which thing also you do. For your justly renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is sung. And do ye, man by man, become a choir, that being harmonious in love, and taking up the song of God in unison, you may with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ, so that He may both hear you, and perceive by your works that you are indeed the members of His Son. It is profitable, therefore, that you should live in an unblameable unity, that thus you may always enjoy communion with God.”

St. Teresa of Avila and prayer

October 15 is the memorial of St. Teresa of Avila, a 16th century mystic and reformer who was recognized in 1970 as a Doctor of the Church and who is commemorated in Bernini's famous The Ecstasy of St. Teresa (left). I've just been trying to learn a little bit about her life today, and I came across a passage in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that contains a very nice quote from her:

"What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: 'Contemplative prayer [oracion mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.'"

Sounds good to me.

Prayer of St. Ephrem

I just think this is such a beautiful prayer. It is attributed to St. Ephrem the Syrian, a Doctor of the Church who wrote many many hymns during the 4th century. I need to pray this prayer every day. Here it is:

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of laziness, meddling, ambition, and vain talk. But give me a spirit of prudence, humility, patience, and love. Yes, Lord and King, grant me to see my own sins and faults and not judge my brother. For You are blessed forever and ever. Amen.

St. Hilary of Poitiers

I though zenit.org provided a very nice summary of Pope Benedict XVI's teaching about St. Hilary of Poitiers, a Church Father I had never heard of before, but who sounds like an incredible guy:

"Benedict XVI lauded what he called a gift of St. Hilary of Poitiers: the ability to combine meekness in interpersonal relationships and firm compliance to sound doctrine.

"The Pope said this today at the general audience in St. Peter's Square, in which he continued his reflection on the Fathers of the Church, turning his attention to the fourth-century bishop.

"Noting that St. Hilary confronted the Arian heresy and suffered exile for his adherence to the true faith, the Holy Father said the saint was 'always firm in his opposition to radical Arians.'

"But, the Pontiff affirmed, Hilary 'showed a conciliatory spirit with those who accepted that the Son was similar to the Father in essence, naturally trying to lead them toward the fullness of faith, which says that there is not only a similarity, but a true equality of the Father and the Son in their divinity.'

"The Pontiff called Hilary's desire to forge unity a characteristic of the saint's life: 'His conciliatory spirit tries to understand those who still have not yet arrived to the fullness of the truth and helps them, with great theological intelligence, to reach the fullness of faith in the true divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"'This was precisely his gift: uniting strength of faith and meekness in interpersonal relationships.'"

St. Cyril of Alexandria and truth

As part of his ongoing series of audiences about the Fathers of the Church, Pope Benedict XVI today presented a brief teaching on the life of St. Cyril of Alexandria:

"The subject of today's catechesis is Saint Cyril of Alexandria, known as the 'pillar of faith' and the 'seal of all the Fathers'. He was born somewhere between 370 and 380, and at a young age became Bishop of Alexandria. Cyril was a zealous defender of the faith. He took care to ensure that his theology was firmly situated within the tradition of the Church by referring to preceding ecclesiastical authorities, especially Athanasius. Through a series of letters countering the position of Nestorius, the Bishop of Constantinople, Cyril made a very significant contribution to Christology defending the divinity and humanity of Christ united in the one Lord, Christ and Son. He was also of utmost influence at the Council of Ephesus, supporting the recognition of the Virgin Mary as the 'Mother of God'. This led to the deposition of Nestorius as Bishop of Constantinople. Saint Cyril, a prolific writer whose works were read throughout the Church, was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1882. May our remembrance of this outstanding figure in the history of Christianity remind us that the centre of our faith is the encounter with Jesus Christ, who gives each one of us a new horizon and a decisive direction!"

I always think it's interesting to learn a little bit about the history of Christianity and see how God has worked through very real people and events to guide His Church and its understanding of Him. The Christian faith didn't just plop down from the sky neatly packaged, nor was it fabricated during the Middle Ages. Rather, the Church's understanding developed over time, and it continues to develop to this day.

It may seem like the debates with which the Church has concerned itself over the centuries have often been esoteric, irrelevant, and prone to hair-splitting. Why should we care, one might ask, whether Jesus was two persons, as Nestorius argued, or one person with two natures, as Cyril argued? What difference does it make?

The Church believes, however, that the truth matters a great deal. The truth is especially important when we're talking about the most important Being there is, and the Church will never shy away from seeking that truth.

(Incidentally, the debate between St. Cyril and Nestorius makes quite a big difference, but I don't think I'm qualified to go into much depth about it right now.)