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Profile
Adult convert. Deacon. Priest. Bishop of Ravenna, Italy in 433. Fought
paganism and the Monophysite heresy, enforced reforms, and built several
churches and ornate altars in his see. Preacher with such language skills,
he was given the name Chrysologus, referring to his golden word. 176
of his sermons have survived; it is the strength of these beautiful
explanations of the Incarnation, the Creed, the place of Mary and John the
Baptist in the great plan of salvation, etc., that led to his being
proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1729 by Pope Benedict XIII.
Born
406 at Imola, Italy
Died
2 December 450 at Imola, Italy
Nationality
5th century Italian
Representations
bishop being presented to Pope Sixtus III by Saint Peter and Saint
Apollinaris of Ravenna; bishop holding a dish
Readings
A gentle maiden having lodged a God in her womb, asks as its price, peace
for the world, salvation for those who are lost, and life for the dead.
Saint Peter Chrysologus
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Anyone who wishes to frolic with the devil cannot rejoice with Christ.
Saint Peter Chrysologus
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We exhort you in every respect, honorable brother, to heed obediently what
has been written by the Most Blessed Pope of the City of Rome; for Blessed
Peter, who lives and presides in his own see, provides the truth of faith
to those who seek it.
Saint Peter Chrysologus, from a letter to Eutyches, 449
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I appeal to you by the mercy of God. This appeal is made by Paul, or
rather, it is made by God through Paul, because of God's desire to be
loved rather than feared, to be a father rather than a Lord. God appeals
to us in his mercy to avoid having to punish us in his severity.
Listen to the Lord's appeal: In me, I want you to see your own body, your
members, your heart, your bones, your blood. You may fear what is divine,
but why not love what is human? You may run away from me as the Lord, but
why not run to me as your father? Perhaps you are filled with shame for
causing my bitter passion. Do not be afraid. This cross inflicts a mortal
injury, not on me, but on death. These nails no longer pain me, but only
deepen your love for me. I do not cry out because of these wounds, but
through them I draw you into my heart. My body was stretched on the cross
as a symbol, not of how much I suffered, but of my all-embracing love. I
count it no less to shed my blood: it is the price I have paid for your
ransom. Come, then, return to me and learn to know me as your father, who
repays good for evil, love for injury, and boundless charity for piercing
wounds.
Listen now to what the Apostle urges us to do. I appeal to you, he says,
to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. By this exhortation of his,
Paul has raised all men to priestly status.
How marvelous is the priesthood of the Christian, for he is both the
victim that is offered on his own behalf, and the priest who makes the
offering. He does not need to go beyond himself to seek what he is to
immolate to God: with himself and in himself he brings the sacrifice he is
to offer God for himself. The victim remains and the priest remains,
always one and the same. Immolated, the victim still lives: the priest who
immolates cannot kill. Truly it is an amazing sacrifice in which a body is
offered without being slain and blood is offered without being shed.
The Apostle says: I appeal to you by the mercy of God to present your
bodies as a living sacrifice. Brethren, this sacrifice follows the pattern
of Christ's sacrifice by which he gave his body as a living immolation for
the life of the world. He really made his body a living sacrifice,
because, though slain, he continues to live. In such a victim death
receives its ransom, but the victim remains alive. Death itself suffers
the punishment. This is why death for the martyrs is actually a birth, and
their end a beginning. Their execution is the door to life, and those who
were thought to have been blotted out from the earth shine brilliantly in
heaven.
Paul says: I appeal to you by the mercy of God to present your bodies as a
sacrifice, living and holy. The prophet said the same thing: Sacrifice and
offering you did not desire, but you have prepared a body for me. Each of
us is called to be both a sacrifice to God and his priest. Do not forfeit
what divine authority confers on you. Put on the garment of holiness, gird
yourself with the belt of chastity. Let Christ be your helmet, let the
cross on your forehead be your unfailing protection. Your breastplate
should be the knowledge of God that he himself has given you. Keep burning
continually the sweet smelling incense of prayer. Take up the sword of the
Spirit. Let your heart be an altar. Then, with full confidence in God,
present your body for sacrifice. God desires not death, but faith; God
thirsts not for blood, but for self-surrender; God is appeased not by
slaughter, but by the offering of your free will.
from a sermon by Saint Peter Chrysologus
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