성 아프라아테스(Aphraates)

 

성 아프라아테스(Aphraates 축일 4월 7일) (백과사전인용)

외교인 집안인 출신인 성 아프라아테스는 페르시아 국경 쪽의 시리아에서 태어나 그리스도 교회로 개종하였으며, 메소포타미아의 에데사(Edessa)에서 엄격한 생활을 하는 은수자가 되었다.

그런 후 얼마 동안은 은둔소를 이리저리 찾아다니다가 안티오키아(Antiochia)의 은둔소에서 오랫동안 생활하였다.

그의 높은 성덕을 알아차린 수많은 사람들이 그를 찾아와서 충고를 들으려 하였으며, 수많은 기적을 행했다고 전한다.

그는 공식적으로 아리우스파(Arianism)를 반대하였다.

 

어떤 학자들은 이 아프라아테스가 곧 메소포타미아 모술 근교의 마르 마타이 수도원의 주교이자, 336년과 345년 사이에 23편의 논문이 들어있는 “논증”의 저자와 동일 인물이라고 단정한다.

이 논증은 시리아 교회의 가장 오래된 고문서들이며, ‘페르시아의 현인’으로 알려져 있는 사푸르 대왕의 손에서 박해를 견디어낸 그리스도교 신앙인들을 연구하는 귀중한 자료들이다.

 

 

Catholic world news

Aphraates, Syrian Church father, is topic of papal audience

November 23, 2007

 

Continuing his series of Wednesday talks on the early Church fathers, Pope Benedict XVI spoke on November 21 about Aphraates, the 4th-century Syrian teacher.

 

 

Speaking to about 15,000 people who had gathered in St. Peter's Square for his weekly audience, the Holy Father said that Aphraates represented a Christian community with strong ties to the Church in Jerusalem, which"sought to remain faithful to the Judeo-Christian tradition of which it felt itself to be a product."

 

 

At that time, the Pope reminded his listeners, Christians particularly in the Middle East saw themselves as strongly connected to "the Semitic world from which the Bible itself emerged." The young faith, he continued, had not yet "comet into contact with different cultural trends" that would later play a role in shaping Christian thought. Aphraates, the Pope said, "defined himself as a disciple of Sacred Scripture," and drew from the Bible as "his only source of inspiration."

 

 

However the Syrian teacher clearly saw Jesus as the central figure in the history of salvation, the Pope observed. Aphraates portrayed Christ as a doctor, providing the remedy for sin-- which is "a wound that only penance can heal." The 4th-century scholar urged Christians to imitate Christ, particularly by cultivating the vitue of humility.

 

 

Aphraates also emphasized the importance of fasting and self-denial in various forms, as a means of spurring charity and humility. The Pope concluded his Wednesday talk by citing the observation of the Syrian teacher that prayer comes alive "when Christ dwells in the heart of Christians, inviting them to a coherent commitment of charity towards their fellows."

 

 

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