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Pilgrimage: A Way of Life in the Church Fathers

Pilgrimage: A Way of Life in the Church Fathers. Dr. Ann T. Orlando 11 October 2008. Outline. Introduction to the Church Fathers Pilgrimages St. Augustine on Pilgrimage and Prayer. The Church Fathers: Why Are They So Important?. Shaped our Christian understanding Doctrine (orthodoxy)

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Pilgrimage: A Way of Life in the Church Fathers

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  1. Pilgrimage: A Way of Life in the Church Fathers Dr. Ann T. Orlando 11 October 2008

  2. Outline • Introduction to the Church Fathers • Pilgrimages • St. Augustine on Pilgrimage and Prayer

  3. The Church Fathers: Why Are They So Important? • Shaped our Christian understanding • Doctrine (orthodoxy) • Practice (orthopraxy) • Did so by adhering to message of Scripture • Christology • Trinitarian Theology • Liturgy and Sacraments • Morality • Ecclesiology

  4. As Readers of the Magnificat… • Christian spirituality promoted by the Church Fathers • Prayer in morning and evening • Prayers at Mass • Pilgrimage

  5. St. Vincent of Lerins (d.450, Feast 24 May) first suggest criteria for ‘Church Father’ Student of St. Augustine Reflected on great theologians of the preceding centuries St. Vincent considered one of the Fathers Antiquity Orthodox Doctrine Ecclesial Approval Holiness of Life Who Are the Church Fathers?

  6. Period Begins: Pope St. Clement of Rome (d.98, Feast 23 November) Period Ends: more problematic Pope St. Gregory Great, d. 603, Feast 9 November St. Maximus the Confessor, d.662, Feast 13 August St. John of Damascus, d. 787, Feast 4 December All men of Roman Empire and late antiquity All Church Fathers are venerated through the centuries by Orthodox and Catholic Churches In this period no distinction between Orthodox and Catholic Church Often divided into two periods Time of Martyrdom After the Conversion of Constantine, 312 www.roman-empire.net/ Antiquity

  7. What they taught was in keeping with Church doctrine Most Church Fathers were bishops Primary concern leading people of God Defending the faith against heresies The Fathers may have been the first to succinctly express doctrine Pope St. Leo Great (d. 461, Feast November 9) Christology: Jesus Christ one person, two natures Pope St. Gregory and St. Augustine Bowes Museum Orthodoxy

  8. Ecclesial Approval • Fathers are recognized by the Magisterium • Subsequent theologians relied on Church Fathers • St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274, Feast January 28) • Look in CCC for many, many references to Church Fathers

  9. Church Fathers have a reputation for leading holy lives and leading others in holiness In the first three centuries, this often meant witnessing in blood as martyrs In later encouraging growth in spirituality; growth of monasticism St. Patrick (d. 461, Feast March 17) St. Benedict of Nursia (d. 547, Feast July 11) St. Scholastica (d. 547, Feast February 10) Pilgrimages Abbey of Monte Cassino Holiness of Life

  10. Initially, pilgrimages were short journeys to burial site of martyrs After the time of persecution, large pilgrimages to far away holy sites Jerusalem Rome Earliest account of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem (4th C) by Egeria Recounts the Holy Week liturgies in Jerusalem Early Christian Pilgrimages

  11. Fourth Century Account of Adoration of Cross on Good Friday • The bishop duly takes his seat in the chair, and a table covered with a linen cloth is placed before him; the deacons stand round the table, and a silver-gilt casket is brought in which is the holy wood of the Cross. The casket is opened and (the wood) is taken out, and the wood of the Cross is placed upon the table. Now, when it has been put upon the table, the bishop, as he sits, holds the extremities of the sacred wood firmly in his hands, while the deacons who stand around guard it. It is guarded thus because the custom is that the people, both faithful and catechumens, come one by one and, bowing down at the table, kiss the sacred wood and pass through - Egeria

  12. But What Is Proper Understanding of Pilgrimage? • Are journeys to far away holy places necessary for Christian life? • Does simply being in a holy place make you holy?

  13. www.svspress.com/images/svspressicons/l-icon237.jpg St. Gregory of Nyssa (d. 394, Feast March 9) Place does not make a Christian holier “Change of place does not bring one closer to God, but where you are, God will come toward you.” Gregory himself does go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but need proper attitude Most important pilgrimage is the interior one to God Gregory is a brother of one of four ‘Greek’ Doctors of Church St. Athanasius (d.373, Feast May 2) St. Basil of Caesarea (d. 379, Feast January 2) St. Gregory Nazianzus (d. 390, Feast January 2) St. John Chrysostom (d. 407, Feast Sept. 13) Church Fathers Develop Cautions About Pilgrimages As Journeys

  14. St. Augustine comes to understand our entire Christian life as a pilgrimage The genuine pilgrim life begins at Baptism The goal of the Christian pilgrim is eternal happiness with God Pilgrimage and St. Augustine of Hippo St. Augustine is baptized by St. Ambrose Benozzo Gozzoli, 1465

  15. Born in North Africa (354) St. Monica (d. 387, Feast August 27) Died as Bishop of Hippo (430, Feast August 28) Wrote some of our most import Christian theological works Confessions City of God On the Trinity On Christian Teaching On Free Choice of Will In almost all of these works, he describes our life as a pilgrimage A journey to Jerusalem or Rome should be seen as the metaphor for the real pilgrimage of life The earthly Jerusalem is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem One of four Latin Fathers St. Ambrose (d. 397, Feast December 7) St. Jerome (d. 420, Feast September 30) Pope St. Gregory the Great (d. 604, Feast March 12) Enduring influence on theologians and philosophers in subsequent centuries up to our own More references to Augustine in CCC than any other theologian “The greatest Father of the Latin Church” Benedict XVI, St. Augustine of Hippo (1), General Audience 9 January 2008 Who Was St. Augustine

  16. Confessions tells the story of Augustine’s turn from and return to God As a young man he rejected the Catholic faith of his mother, Monica Ambitious for sex, fame and wealth In searching for the Truth, he finally returns to the Catholic Faith He comes to see the importance of his life as a pilgrimage to God, Not as a consumer of temporal things Pilgrimage in the Confessions www.saintaugustine-dc.org/html/photos/architecture/augustine_and_monica_window_254x611_lowsrc50.jpg

  17. The End of Monica’s Pilgrimage • In the Confessions Augustine describes Monica’s peaceful and holy death. • At the end he writes: • My Lord, my God, inspire your servants, that all who read this book may remember Monica your servant and Patrick her husband, … May they remember with devout affection my parents in this transient light, my kith and kin under you, our Father, in our mother the Catholic Church, and my fellow citizens in the eternal Jerusalem. For this city your pilgrim people yearn. Confession IX.37.

  18. Pilgrimage as a way of life Social enterprise We travel together We support each other Everyone belongs to one of two cities City of God, the Church, on pilgrimage City of this world Augustine: In Pilgrimage Together as the People of God heritage.villanova.edu/images/hippo2.jpg

  19. Pilgrimage and The City of God • Pilgrimage companions are found in • Family • Friends • Church • The Church itself is on pilgrimage • Without regard to custom or manners • With concern one for the other • In unceasing prayer together • “For witness the prayer of the whole city of God in its pilgrim state, for it cries to God by the mouth of all its members, Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtor “ City of God XIX.27 • But how can people active in the world pray properly?

  20. Written by Augustine c.411 Proba Wealthy Roman widow living in North Africa Mother of Roman consuls She wrote to Augustine asking him about how to pray Fresco, ancient aristocratic Roman woman Letter 130, To Proba www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/images/roman_women_woman.jpg

  21. Wealth and the Good Life in Letter 130, To Proba • Proba’s request fills Augustine with joy • Happy because Proba realizes that wealth is not source of security • Proba should act as though the things of the world do not matter to her • Temporal goods do not make us happy; • Temporal goods should be in service of the moral life • Happiness comes from • What makes us good • Increases love of God and neighbor • Prayer should be our guide on our pilgrim way to that Good Love

  22. Even when busy in the world the desire to pray is a prayer Pray in short prayers so as not to lose focus Pray to make ourselves open to God’s response Augustine closes by asking Proba to pray for him. Prayer in Letter 130, To Proba aquinasrcia.blogspot.com/2005/04/week-18-prayer-p-673-725.html

  23. Where to Learn More About Church Fathers • Pope Benedict XVI General Audiences • From 7 March 2007 through 25 June 2008, the Pope devoted most audience talks to the Church Fathers • All mentioned in this presentation • Some (The Greek and Latin Fathers) had two each • Except Augustine, with whom the Pope spent five audiences • Available on Vatican website, www.vatican.va • Spe Salvi has many references to Church Fathers • Letter to Proba • But the best way to know the Fathers is to read them • Augustine, The Confessions • Treatises, Books, Homilies, Letters, Poems, Songs • Meditations in the Magnificat

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