Friday, August 26, 2005

The gift of the Magi

In a concise essay, Pietro De Marco examines the theology behind the symbols used at World Youth Day and how they call for catechesis among Catholics.

ROMA, August 26, 2005 – In the the kontakion on the nativity of Christ by the greatest of the Byzantine religious poets, Romanos the Melodist, the Child Jesus instructs the heart of his Mother on the meaning of the Kings and Magi who were asking Mary to permit them to adore her Son: "Welcome those who have welcomed me. I am in them as I am in your arms; I did not leave you, and yet I came with them."

The kontakion proceeds: "And she opens the door and receives the company of the Magi. She opens the door who is the unopened door through which Christ alone has passed. […] She opened the door, she from whom was born the Door, a little child, God before the ages."
[...]

Read the complete article Felix Colonia: More on the Epiphany of the Catechist Pope from www.chiesa.

No comments: