Maximus the Confessor, Fearless Witness to Faith

"Christ shows us that the cosmos must become liturgy, glory of God, and that adoration is the beginning of the true transformation, the true renewal, of the world".

VATICAN CITY (VIS) - In today's general audience, which was held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 14,000 people, the Pope dedicated his remarks to St. Maximus the Confessor, a monk who was born in the sixth century.

The Holy Father highlighted how this saint "is another great Father of the Eastern Church", upon whom "Christian Tradition has conferred the title of 'Confessor' for the dauntless courage with which he bore witness (confessed), also through suffering, to the integrity of his faith in Jesus Christ, true God and true man, Saviour of the world".

The Confessor was born in Palestine around the year 580, said Benedict XVI. "From Jerusalem, Maximus moved to Constantinople then, because of the barbarian invasions, he took refuge in Africa where he distinguished himself for his great courage in the defence of orthodoxy. ... He did not accept the attenuation of Christ's humanity".

The Pope then explained how St. Maximus came to Rome and "took an active role in the 649 Lateran Council which had been called by Pope Martin I to defend the two natures of Christ against an imperial edict which - 'pro bono pacis' - prohibited discussion on the matter".

Nonetheless, Maximus remained steadfast in his view that "it is impossible to affirm that Christ has just one nature". For this reason he and two of his followers "were subjected to a terrible trial".

Accused of heresy, the saint was condemned "to have his tongue and his right hand cut off, the two organs through which, in speech and writing, Maximus had combated the erroneous doctrine of the one nature of Christ. Finally the saintly monk was exiled to Colchis on the Black Sea where, exhausted by his sufferings, he died at the age of 82 on 13 August 662".

"St. Maximus' thought was never limited to theology and speculation, ... because his focus was always the real situation of the world, and its salvation. ... To man, created in His image and likeness, God has entrusted the mission of unifying the cosmos".

"The life and thought of Maximus were strongly illuminated by an immense courage in testifying to the integral truth of Christ, without reduction or compromise", said the Pope. Thus it is clear "how we must live in order to fulfil our vocation. We must live united to God in order to remain united to one another and the universe".

The Holy Father continued: "The universal 'yes' of Christ also shows us the correct arrangement of all other values, ... such as tolerance, freedom and dialogue. Tolerance that does not know how to distinguish between good and evil would become chaotic and self-destructive. In the same way, freedom that does not respect the freedom of others and does not find a shared measure for our respective freedoms would become anarchy and destroy authority. Dialogue that does not know what to dialogue about becomes mere empty chatter".

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In this context, the Pope pointed out that such values "remain true values only if they have a point of reference that unites them and gives them genuine authenticity. This point of reference is the synthesis between God and the cosmos, it is the figure of Christ in Whom we learn the truth about ourselves, and thus we also learn how to position all other values because we discover their true significance".

"And so", he concluded, "Christ shows us that the cosmos must become liturgy, glory of God, and that adoration is the beginning of the true transformation, the true renewal, of the world".