When the uses and customs belonging to each Church are considered as absolutely unchangeable there is a sure risk of Tradition losing that feature of a living reality which grows and develops, and which the Spirit guarantees precisely because it has something to say to the people of every age. As Scripture is increasingly understood by those who read it,[23] every other element of the Church's living heritage is increasingly understood by believers and is enriched by new contributions, in fidelity and in continuity.[24] Only a religious assimilation, in the obedience of faith, of what the Church calls "Tradition" will enable Tradition to be embodied in different cultural and historical situations and conditions.[25] Tradition is never pure nostalgia for things or forms past, nor regret for lost privileges, but the living memory of the Bride, kept eternally youthful by the Love that dwells within her.

Quotiens contra mores et cuiusque Ecclesiae consuetudines propriae veluti mera accipiuntur immobilitas, fieri certo potest ut nota veritatis viventis Traditioni adimatur, quae nempe crescens enucleatur et a Spiritu idoirco praestatur ut ad homines loquatur omnis aetatis. Et quem ad modum Scriptura iam in eo succrescit qui eam legit,[23] ita alia pariter quzelibet Ecclesiae patrimonii elementa in credentium crescunt intellectu novisque augescunt rebus, fidelitate servata necnon continuatione.[24] Consentit tantummodo in fidei oboedientia perceptio religiosa illius quam Ecclesia nominat «Traditionem» ut haec ipsa in varias inseratur condiciones et adiuncta historica culturaliaque.[25] Numquam merum desiderium Traditio est rerum aut rationum praeteritarum nec querimonia de amissis iuribus privilegiisve, verum vigens Sponsae memoria quae in sempiternum iuvenis custoditur ab illo qui intus inhabitat Amore.

If Tradition puts us in continuity with the past, eschatological expectation opens us to God's future. Each Church must struggle against the temptation to make an absolute of what it does, and thus to celebrate itself or abandon itself to sorrow. But time belongs to God, and whatever takes place in time can never be identified with the fullness of the Kingdom, which is always a free gift. The Lord Jesus came to die for us and rose from the dead, while creation, saved through hope, is still suffering its birth pangs (cf. Rom 8:22). The Lord himself will return to give the cosmos to the Father (cf. 1 Cor 15:28). The Church invokes this return, and the monk and the religious are its privileged witnesses.

Si ergo coniungit nos Traditio tamquam continuos cum elapsis temporibus, ad futura Dei aperit nos eschatologica exspectatio. Resistere debet unaquaeque Ecclesia neque sinere se induci ut habeat prorsus absoluta quae agit proindeque ut ipsa sese celebret seque maestitiae tradat. Tempus autem Dei est, et quidquid efficitur, numquam idem est ac plenitudo Regni, quod gratuitum semper est donum. Ut moreretur pro nobis Christus Dominus venit a mortuisque resurrexit, dum contra in spe salvata creatura adhuc dolores patitur parturientis (cfr. Rom 8, 22); idem redibit dein ille Dominus ut Patri universum restituat orbem (cfr. 1 Cor 15, 28). Hunc invocat Ecclesia reditum, cuius testis praecipuus monachus est ac religiosus.

The East expresses in a living way the reality of tradition and expectation. All its liturgy, in particular, is a commemoration of salvation and an invocation of the Lord's return. And if Tradition teaches the Churches fidelity to what gave birth to them, eschatological expectation urges them to be what they have not yet fully become, what the Lord wants them to become, and thus to seek ever new ways of fidelity, overcoming pessimism because they are striving for the hope of God who does not disappoint.

Vivo modo declarat Oriens veritates traditionis et exspectationis. Omnis enim eius liturgia praesertim, salutis memoriale est atque redituri Domini advocatio. Si Traditio Ecclesias fidelitatem docet iis rebus quae ipsas pepererunt, eschatologica exspectatio eas impellit ut id ipsae sint quod nondum in plenitudine sunt quodque vult Dominus ut tandem fiant, et ut vias usque novas reperiant fidelitatis, omnem pessimismum debellantes quippe quae in spem Dei numquam fallentem proiciantur.

We must show people the beauty of memory, the power that comes to us from the Spirit and makes us witnesses because we are children of witnesses; we must make them taste the wonderful things the Spirit has wrought in history; we must show that it is precisely Tradition which has preserved them, thus giving hope to those who, even without seeing their efforts to do good crowned by success, know that someone else will bring them to fulfillment; therefore man will feel less alone, less enclosed in the narrow corner of his own individual achievement.

Pulchritudinem memoriae hominibus demonstremus nos oportet, virtutem quae a Spiritu manat quaeque testes nos efficit, quia nos aliorum testium sumus filii; efficiamus praeterea ut ipsi vicissim mirabilia degustent quae per historiam diffudit Spiritus; evincamus Traditionem omnino illa mirabilia conservare, spe simul addita illis qui, licet nondum conatus suos felici rerum successu auctos viderint, noverunt tamen quendam alium conatus consummaturum; tum minus se solum sentiet homo minusque veluti in angulum angustum inclusum proprii sui operis singularis.

9. I would now like to look at the vast panorama of Eastern Christianity from a specific vantage point which affords a view of many of its features: monasticism.

9. Amplissimum cupimus nunc perlustrare christiani Orientis prospectum alia quadam e specula, unde plures eius notas conspicari poterimus; nempe, e monachismo.

In the East monasticism has retained great unity. It did not experience the development of different kinds of apostolic life as in the West. The various expressions of monastic life, from the strictly coenobitic, as conceived by Pachomius or Basil, to the rigorously eremitic, as with Anthony or Macanus of Egypt, correspond more to different stages of the spiritual journey than to the choice between different states of life. In any event, whatever form they take, they are all based on monasticism.

Orientalibus in provinciis monastica institutio magnam semper servavit unitatem, cum secus atque in occidentali Ecclesia formationem non vidisset diversorum apostolicae vitae generum. Monasticae vitae instituta varia, a coenobitismo stricto quale Pachomius illud vel Basilius conceperat, usque ad eremitismum rigidissimum Antonii vel Macarii Aegyptii, pluribus potius spiritalis itineris respondent gradibus quam varius vitae statibus. Quoquo modo ad monachismum inse omnes se referunt, quacumque is sub forma declaratur.

Moreover, in the East, monasticism was not seen merely as a separate condition, proper to a precise category of Christians, but rather as a reference point for all the baptized, according to the gifts offered to each by the Lord; it was presented as a symbolic synthesis of Christianity.

Monasticum praeterea institutum in Oriente visum non est uti segregata quaedam condicio propria alicuius christifidelium ordinis, sed maxime tamquam signum aliquod quo omnes se convertere possunt baptizati pro donorum copia et natura cuique a Domino concessorum, quandoquidem se praestat veluti totius christiani nominis summam emblematicam.

When God's call is total, as it is in the monastic life, then the person can reach the highest point that sensitivity, culture and spirituality are able to express. This is even more true for the Eastern Churches, for which monasticism was an essential experience and still today is seen to flourish in them, once persecution is over and hearts can be freely raised to heaven. The monastery is the prophetic place where creation becomes praise of God and the precept of concretely lived charity becomes the ideal of human coexistence; it is where the human being seeks God without limitation or impediment, becoming a reference point for all people, bearing them in his heart and helping them to seek God.

Quotiescumque Deus ad devotionem absolutam, sicut monastica fit in vita, arcessit, tum homo profecto valet altissimum attingere culmen eorum, quae sensus, cultura et spiritualitas exprimere possunt. Hoc maiore ratione in orientalibus Ecclesiis, ubi monachismus necessarium quoddam constituit experimentum quod etiamnum inter eas florere se commonstrat, simul ac Ecclesiae vexationes abierunt atque hominum animi ad caelum libere ferri queunt. Propheticus quippe locus monasterium est, ubi res creatae laus vera Dei evadunt caritatisque praeceptum re ipsa impletum fit optima quaedam convictus humani species, et ubi homo quaerit Deum sine finibus impedimentisve omnibus factus signum, dum eos in animo gestat eosque adiuvat ut item Deum conquirant.

I would also like to mention the splendid witness of nuns in the Christian East. This witness has offered an example of giving full value in the Church to what is specifically feminine, even breaking through the mentality of the time. During recent persecutions, especially in Eastern European countries, when many male monasteries were forcibly closed, female monasticism kept the torch of the monastic life burning. The nun's charism, with its own specific characteristics, is a visible sign of that motherhood of God to which Sacred Scripture often refers.

Commemorare simul studemus splendidam Orientis christiani monacharum testifieationem. Praestantem ea monstravit rationem aestimandi femineam in Ecclesia proprietatem, mentem etiam temporum mutando. Recentioribus saevientibus persecutionibus in orientalis potissimutn Europae nationibus, tametsi multa virorum clausa vi erant monasteria, facem tamen monasticae vitae ardentem servabat feminarum monachismus. Charisma enim monachae, cum notis ipsius propriis, adspectabile exsistit Dei maternitatis signum, quod saepius Sacrae Litterae commemorant.

Therefore I will look to monasticism in order to identify those values which I feel are very important today for expressing the contribution of the Christian East to the journey of Christ's Church towards the Kingdom. While these aspects are at times neither exclusive to monasticism nor to the Eastern heritage they have frequently acquired a particular connotation in themselves. Besides, we are not seeking to make the most of exclusivity, but of the mutual enrichment in what the one Spirit has inspired in the one Church of Christ.

Monachismum ergo respiciemus ut bona ea, quae magni ponderis esse arbitramur ad Orientis partes illuminandas in Ecclesiae Christi peregrinatione ad Regnum, singillatim ostendantur. Licet haud solam monasticam experientiam referant nec Orientis solius patrimonium, aspectus hi saepe peculiarem ibi significationem induerunt. Ceterum diiudicare conamur non exclusivam naturam alicuius partis, verum mutuam in ius rebus locupletationem quas unicus unica in Christi Ecclesia excitavit Spiritus.

Monasticism has always been the very soul of the Eastern Churches: the first Christian monks were born in the East and the monastic life was an integral part of the Eastern lumen passed on to the West by the great Fathers of the undivided Church.[26]

Anima ipsa orientalium Ecclesiarum semper monasticum fuit institutum: in Oriente videlicet primi orti sunt monachi christiani vitaque monastica fuit pars ipsa necessaria luminis illius Orientalis quod ab excellentibus indivisae tunc Ecclesiae Patribus in Occidentalem orbem est traiectum.[26]

The strong common traits uniting the monastic experience of the East and the West make it a wonderful bridge of fellowship, where unity as it is lived shines even more brightly than may appear in the dialogue between the Churches.

Admirandum sane fraternitatis pontem efficiunt solida illa elementa communia, quibus monastica tum Orientis tum Occidentis copulantur experimenta, ubi refulget unitas vivo modo culta magis etiam quam in dialogo inter Ecclesias elucere potest.

10. Monasticism shows in a special way that life is suspended between two poles: the Word of God and the Eucharist. This means that even in its eremitical forms, it is always a personal response to an individual call and, at the same time, an ecclesial and community event.

10. Monastica institutio peculiariter patefacit vitam duos inter vertices suspendi: Dei verbum atque Eucharistiam. Quod proin significat monachismum, suis etiam sub anachoreticis formis, responsionem eodem tempore uniuscuiusque esse ad vocationem singularem necnon ecclesiae ipsius communitatisque eventum.

The starting point for the monk is the Word of God, a Word who calls, who invites, who personally summons, as happened to the Apostles. When a person is touched by the Word obedience is born, that is, the listening which changes life. Every day the monk is nourished by the bread of the Word. Deprived of it, he is as though dead and has nothing left to communicate to his brothers and sisters because the Word is Christ, to whom the monk is called to be conformed.

Verbum namque Dei punctum illud est unde monachus proficiscitur, Verbum quod vocat, quod invitat, quod nominatim compellat, sicut Apostolis evenit. Cum quis Verbo tangitur, oritur oboeditio, id est auditio quae vitam commutat. Omni enim die monachus Verbi pane sese pascit. Illo autem destitutus veluti mortuus iacet nec quidquam iam quod cum fratribus communicet superest ei, siquidem Christus Verbum est cui ut ipse se adcommodet vocatur monachus.

Even while he chants with his brothers the prayer that sanctifies time, he continues his assimilation of the Word. The very rich liturgical hymnody, of which all the Churches of the Christian East can be justly proud, is but the continuation of the Word which is read, understood, assimilated and finally sung; those hymns are largely sublime paraphrases of the biblical text, filtered and personalized through the individual's experience and that of the community.

Cantitans etiam cum fratribus preces eas quibus tempus sanctificatur pergit ille imbibere Verbum. Copiosissima hymnographia liturgica, de qua Orientis christiani Ecclesiae omnes merito gloriantur, nihil aliud est nisi prosecutio Verbi lecti, comprehensi, suscepti ac demum decantati: maximam sunt partem carmina illa excelsae paraphrases biblicorum locorum, quae percolatae sunt ac personales redditae ex singulorum ipsiusque communitatis experientiis.

Standing before the abyss of divine mercy, the monk can only proclaim the awareness of his own radical poverty, which immediately becomes a plea for help and a cry of rejoicing on account of an even more generous salvation, since from the abyss of his own wretchedness such salvation is unthinkable.[27] This is why the plea for forgiveness and the glorification of God form a substantial part of liturgical prayer. The Christian is immersed in wonder at this paradox the latest of an infinite series all magnified with gratitude in the language of the liturgy the Immense accepts limitation; a virgin gives birth; through death, he who is life conquers death forever; in the heights of heaven, a human body is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Ante divinae misericordiae immensitatem monacho nihil restat aliud nisi suae egestatis plenae profiteri conscientiam, quse continuo precatio fit atque exsultationis vox ob munificentiorem etiam salutem, quoniam minime sperari eam licet ex propriae miseriae altitudine.[27] Hinc igitur ratio ducitur cur veniae imploratio Deique honoratio amplam liturgicae precationis partem repleant. Mergitur christianus in stuporem de hac mirabili re, postrema videlicet interminatae seriei quae omnis ipso liturgico sermone grata mente extollitur: Immensus fit finis; parit virgo; per mortem Is qui vita est, in sempiternum mortem devincit; caelis in celsis ad Patris dexteram hominis corpus Aqsidet.

The Eucharist is the culmination of this prayer experience, the other pole indissolubly bound to the Word, as the place where the Word becomes Flesh and Blood, a heavenly experience where this becomes an event.

In culmine huius experientiae orantis stat Eucharistia, alter nempe vertex cum Verbo inseparabiliter coniunctus, quatenus locus est ubi Verbum caro fit et sanguis, caelestis quaedam experientia ubi iterum ipsa fit eventus.

In the Eucharist, the Church's inner nature is revealed, a community of those summoned to the synaxis to celebrate the gift of the One who is offering and offered: participating in the Holy Mysteries, they become "kinsmen"[28] of Christ, anticipating the experience of divinization in the now inseparable bond linking divinity and humanity in Christ.

In Eucharistia alta aperitur indoles Ecclesiae, quae communitas est hominum ad synaxim vocatorum ut eius concelebrent munus qui et offerens est et oblatio: hi, Mysteria Sancta participantes, fiunt e «consanguinei»[28] Christi, praecipientes divinizationis experimentum iam in vinculo illo inseparabili quod divinitatem in Christo conglutinat humanitatemque.

But the Eucharist is also what anticipates the relationship of men and things to the heavenly Jerusalem. In this way it reveals its eschatological nature completely: as a living sign of this expectation, the monk continues and brings to fulfillment in the liturgy the invocation of the Church, the Bride who implores the Bridegroom's return in a maranatha constantly repeated, not only in words, but with the whole of his life.

Eucharistia autem id quoque est quod hominum ac rerum pertinendi condicionem ad Hierosolymam caelestem anticipat. Plane sic naturam suam patefacit eschatologicam: talis exspectationis vivum signum pergit monachus, perficitque in liturgia Ecclesiae invocationem, quae Sponsa est Sponsi reditum efflagitans in quodam «marana tha» usque repetito non verbis unis, sed tota simul vita.

11. In the liturgical experience, Christ the Lord is the light which illumines the way and reveals the transparency of the cosmos, precisely as in Scripture. The events of the past find in Christ their meaning and fullness, and creation is revealed for what it is: a complex whole which finds its perfection, its purpose in the liturgy alone. This is why the liturgy is heaven on earth, and in it the Word who became flesh imbues matter with a saving potential which is fully manifest in the sacraments: there, creation communicates to each individual the power conferred on it by Christ. Thus the Lord, immersed in the Jordan, transmits to the waters a power which enables them to become the bath of baptismal rebirth.[29]

11. Lumen est Christus Dominus in liturgico actu quod viam collustrat omnisque orbis declarat pellucidam naturam, sicut in Sacris Scripturis. In Christo namque reperiunt praeteriti temporis eventa significationem suam ac plenitudinem, atque tota creatura quid tandem sit recludit: rationum nempe summa quae in liturgia sola consummationem suam habent absolutamque destinationem. Haec causa est ob quam in terris iam liturgia caelum sit in eaque Verbum, quod carnem sumpsit, materiam salutari quadam perfundat potentia quae in Sacramentis plene manifesta apparet: inibi enim creatura cuique potestatem tribuit a Domino sibi collatam. Ita in fluvium Iordanem immissus Dominus aquis virtutem addit eas idoneas reddentem quae regenerationis baptismalis fiant lavacrum.[29]

Within this framework, liturgical prayer in the East shows a great aptitude for involving the human person in his or her totality: the mystery is sung in the loftiness of its content, but also in the warmth of the sentiments it awakens in the heart of redeemed humanity. In the sacred act, even bodiliness is summoned to praise, and beauty, which in the East is one of the best loved names expressing the divine harmony and the model of humanity transfigured,[30] appears everywhere: in the shape of the church, in the sounds, in the colors, in the lights, in the scents. The lengthy duration of the celebrations, the repeated invocations everything expresses gradual identification with the mystery celebrated with one's whole person. Thus the prayer of the Church already becomes participation in the heavenly liturgy, an anticipation of the final beatitude.

Hoc in rerum prospectu liturgica precatio in Oriente maxime idoneam se ostendit ad totam humanam implicandam personam: canitur quidem mysterium in rerum suarum excelsitate, sed in fervore etiam adfectuum quos excitat in hominum redemptorum pectoribus. Actionibus in sacris etiam corporea natura ad laudem vocatur ac venustas ea, quae in Oriente una habetur carissimarum vocum ut divina consonantia exprimatur atque exemplum etiam transformati hominum generis,[30] ubique conspicitur: in aedium structuris, in sonis et coloribus, in luce et fragrantiis. Extractum longius celebrationum tempus, iteratae invocationes, omnia denique comprobant aliquem paulatim in celebratum mysterium ingredi tota sua cum persona. Sic proinde Ecclesiae precatio ipsa communicatio evadit caelestis liturgiae, ultimae beatitudinis praegustatio.

This total involvement of the person in his rational and emotional aspects, in "ecstasy" and in immanence, is of great interest and a wonderful way to understand the meaning of created realities: these are neither an absolute nor a den of sin and iniquity. In the liturgy, things reveal their own nature as a gift offered by the Creator to humanity: "God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good" (Gen 1:31). Though all this is marked by the tragedy of sin, which weighs down matter and obscures its clarity, the latter is redeemed in the Incarnation and becomes fully "theophoric", that is, capable of putting us in touch with the Father. This property is most apparent in the holy mysteries, the sacraments of the Church.

Universalis haec personae aestimatio propriis in partibus rationalibus et emotivis, in eexstasi * et immanentia, simul ad nostra praecipue pertinet tempora, cum mirificam constituat scholam ad rerum creatarum significationem intellegendam: eas videlicet nec absolutum quiddam esse nec peccati et iniquitatis receptaculum. Patefaciunt in liturgia res proprietatem suam veluti doni a Conditore ad homines delati: «Viditque Deus cuncta, quae fecit, et ecce erant valde bona»(Gn 1, 31). Si vero haec omnia signantur ipsa peccati calamitate, quod gravat materiam prohibetque ne pellucida sit, haec tamen in incarnatione redimitur redditurque prorsus theophorica, quae videlicet valeat nos cum Patre coniungere: proprietas autem haec in sanctis maxime mysteriis, Ecclesiae sacramentis, detegitur.

Christianity does not reject matter. Rather, bodiliness is considered in all its value in the liturgical act whereby the human body is disclosed in its inner nature as a temple of the Spirit and is united with the Lord Jesus, who himself took a body for the world's salvation. This does not mean however, an absolute exaltation of all that is physical, for we know well the chaos which sin introduced into the harmony of the human being. The liturgy reveals that the body through the mystery of the Cross, is in the process of transfiguration, pneumatization: on Mount Tabor Christ showed his body radiant, as the Father wants it to be again.

Materiam haud repudiat fides christiana nec corporis veritatem, cui immo intra liturgicum actum momentum tribuitur, ubi naturam intimam suam corpus humanum commonstrat veluti templi Spiritus eoque pervenit ut cum Domino Iesu coniungatur qui et ipse factus est in mundi salutem corpus. Nec tamen illud secum fert absolutam quandam eorum omnium celebrationem quae sunt corporea, quia probe novimus omnes turbationem peccato importatam in hominis ipsius congruentiam. Docet quidem liturgia corpus, per Crucis mysterium, ad transfigurationem procedere, ad spiritualizationem: in monte Tabor refulgens ipse ostendit Christus illud eorpus, quem ad modum vult Pater ut aliquando rursus fiat.

Cosmic reality also is summoned to give thanks because the whole universe is called to recapitulation in Christ the Lord. This concept expresses a balanced and marvelous teaching on the dignity, respect and purpose of creation and of the human body in particular. With the rejection of all dualism and every cult of pleasure as an end in itself, the body becomes a place made luminous by grace and thus fully human.

Ad gratiarum porro actionem etiam res universae vocantur, quandoquidem totus destinatur orbis ad recapitulationem in Christo Domino. Hanc secundum notionem significatur aequabilis mirabilisque doctrina de creationis ipsius ac particulatim humani corporis dignitate et observantia et fine. Reiectis nempe omni dualismo atque voluptatis cultu uti in se finis, locus constituitur gratia ipsa illuminatus proindeque plane humanus.

To those who seek a truly meaningful relationship with themselves and with the cosmos, so often disfigured by selfishness and greed, the liturgy reveals the way to the harmony of the new man, and invites him to respect the Eucharistic potential of the created world. That world is destined to be assumed in the Eucharist of the Lord, in his Passover, present in the sacrifice of the altar.

Qui rationem verae significationis ac necessitudinem quaerit secum et cum universo orbe, qui etiamnum crebro proprii sui amore deformatur atque aviditate, viam novi hominis ad aequabilitatem pandit illi liturgia atque impellit ad reverentiam eucharisticae potentiae rerum creatarum: eae enim in Eucharistiam Domini designantur ut recipiantur, in ipsius Pascha intra altaris sacrificium.

12. The monk turns his gaze to Christ, God and man. In the disfigured face of Christ, the man of sorrow, he sees the prophetic announcement of the transfigured face of the Risen Christ. To the contemplative eye, Christ reveals himself as he did to the women of Jerusalem, who had gone up to contemplate the mysterious spectacle on Calvary. Trained in this school, the monk becomes accustomed to contemplating Christ in the hidden recesses of creation and in the history of mankind, which is then understood from the standpoint of progressive identification with the whole Christ.

12. Ad Christum, hominem deum, convertitur monachi obtutus: in vultu deturpato eius, qui homo est dolorum, ille iam dispicit veluti propheticum nuntium transformatam resuscitati faciem. Oculis enim contemplantium sese conspiciendum dat Christus sicut mulieribus Hierosolymitanis, quae ascenderant ut spectaculum intuerentur arcanum Calvariae. Ita profecto eadem in schola institutus monachi quoque oculus Christum contemplari assuescit etiam in abditis creationis recessibus hominumque historia, quae et ipsa comprehenditur in progrediente aliqua conformatione ad Christum totum.

This gaze progressively conformed to Christ thus learns detachment from externals, from the tumult of the senses, from all that keeps man from that freedom which allows him to be grasped by the Spirit. Walking this path, he is reconciled with Christ in a constant process of conversion: in the awareness of his own sin and of his distance from the Lord which becomes heartfelt remorse, a symbol of his own baptism in the salutary water of tears; in silence and inner quiet which is sought and given, where he learns to make his heart beat in harmony with the rhythm of the Spirit, eliminating all duplicity and ambiguity. This process of becoming ever more moderate and sparing more transparent to himself can cause him to fall into pride and intransigence if he comes to believe that these are the fruits of his own ascetic efforts. Spiritual discernment in continuous purification then makes him humble and meek, aware that he can perceive only some aspects of that truth which fills him, because it is the gift of the Spouse, who alone is fulfillment and happiness.

Intuitus magis magisque christificatus discit hoc modo ab exterioribus sese seiungere rebus, a sensuum turbine, ab omnibus scilicet iis quae hominis impediunt levitatem paratam ut a Spiritu se suscipi sinat. Hane emetiens viam permittit ille ut cum Christo reconcilietur in perpetuo conversionis progressu: in conscientia videlicet proprii peccati atque recessionis a Domino quae cordis gignit compunctionem, quae figura fit baptismi proprii in salutifera lacrimarum aqua; in silentio ac pace interiore conquisita et donata, ubi quis cordis ictum conformare discitur cum Spiritus pulsu, omni ambiguitate duplicique facie submota. Cum sic magis aliquis sobrius evadit et essentialis, magis pellucidus erga se ipsum, fieri pariter potest ut in superbiam recidat et acerbitatem, si eo usque progreditur ut fructum hunc esse arbitretur ascetici sui studii. Discretio enim spiritalis in perpetua purificatione humilem eum tunc reddit ac mansuetum, conscium se percipere solumradium aliquem illius veritatis quae ei satisfacit, cum munus Sponsi sit qui unus felicitatis est plenitudo.

To the person who is seeking the meaning of life the East offers this school which teaches one to know oneself and to be free and loved by that Jesus who says: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28). He tells those who seek inner healing to go on searching: if their intention is upright and their way is honest, in the end the Father's face will let itself be recognized engraved as it is in the depths of the human heart.

Homini vitae sensum conquirenti hoc offert Oriens magisterium ut se cognoscat sitque liber, a Christo illo amatus qui dixit: «Venite ad me, omnes, qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos» (Mt 11, 28). Interiorem sanationem quaerentem, is admonet ut quaerere pergat: si recta est voluntas ratioque honesta, tandem aliquando vultum suum Pater demonstrabit, qui in intimo hominum impressus est animo.

13. A monk's way is not generally marked by personal effort alone. He turns to a spiritual father to whom he abandons himself with filial trust, in the certainty that God's tender and demanding fatherhood is manifested in him. This figure gives Eastern monasticism an extraordinary flexibility: through the spiritual father's intervention the way of each monk is in fact strongly personalized in the times, rhythms and ways of seeking God. Precisely because the spiritual father is the harmonizing link, monasticism is permitted the greatest variety of coenobitic and eremitical expressions. Monasticism in the East has thus been able to fulfil the expectations of each Church in the various periods of its history.[31]

13. Monachi curriculum plerumque non solo cuiusque nisu aut studio conficitur, verum rationem habet ad spiritualem patrem, cui se filiali cum fiducia dedit, certus in isto teneram imperiosamque Dei paternitatem ostendi. Haec figura monachismo orientali singularem quandam adiungit tractabilitatem: spiritalis enim patris opera et industria iter cuiusque monachi personale admodum effficitur temporibus et modis et rhythmis ipsius inquisitionis Dei. Ob id ipsum quod spiritualis pater medium quoddam punctum est coniunctionis et consensionis, permittitur monastico instituto quam maxima rationum varietas tum coenobiticarum tum eremiticarum. Potuit ita esse Orientis monachismus consummatio atque effectio exspectationum cuiusque Ecclesiae diversis eius historiae aetatibus.[31]

In this quest, the East in particular teaches that there are brothers and sisters to whom the Spirit has granted the gift of spiritual guidance. They are precious points of reference, for they see things with the loving gaze with which God looks at us. It is not a question of renouncing one's own freedom, in order to be looked after by others. It is benefiting from the knowledge of the heart, which is a true charism, in order to be helped, gently and firmly, to find the way of truth. Our world desperately needs such spiritual guides. It has frequently rejected them, for they seemed to lack credibility or their example appeared out of date and scarcely attractive to current sensitivities. Nevertheless, it is having a hard time finding new ones, and so suffers in fear and uncertainty, without models or reference points. He who is a father in the spirit, if he really is such—and the people of God have always shown their ability to recognize him—will not make others equal to himself, but will help them find the way to the Kingdom.

In hac porro investigatione insigniter edocet Oriens fratres exsistere ac sorores quibus donum moderationis spiritalis concesserit Spiritus: ipsi sunt namque capita magni pretii, quandoquidem oculis inspiciunt amoris quem in nos habet Deus. Non id hic agitur, ut quis suae renuntiet libertati ut ab aliis se tractari sinat: interest potius fructum deducere ex cordis conscientia, quae verum est charisma, ut adiuvari liceat dulciter at fortiter ad veritatis detegendam viam. Opus mundo nostro maxime patribus est. Eos crebro reiecit quippe qui parum visi sint credibiles vel quorum exemplum iam obsoletum habitum sit parumve alliciens secundum vigentem hodie sensum. Difficulter tamen novos invenit et ideo in timore adfligitur et dubitatione, demptis exemplaribus et signis. Qui vero in Spiritu est pater, si vere talis est — et Dei Populus semper quivit talem agnoscere — non alios sui similes sibive pares faciet, sed eosdem ut in Regnum tramitem reperiant iuvabit.

Of course, the wonderful gift of male and female monastic life, which safeguards the gift of guidance in the Spirit and calls for appropriate recognition, has also been given to the West. In this context and wherever grace has inspired these precious means of interior growth, may those in charge foster this gift and use it to good advantage, and may all avail themselves of it. Thus they will experience the great comfort and support of fatherhood in the Spirit on their journey of faith.[32]

Vitae monasticae donum sine dubio etiam Oecidenti est concessum, tum virorum tum mulierum, quze munus custodit ductus in Spiritu et exspectat dum rite aestimetur. Iis in adiunctis et ubicumque talia gratia exsuscitabit pretiosa interioris maturationis instrumenta, utinam qui habent auctoritatem colere sciant et magni existimare huius modi donum omnesque valeant recte eo uti: experimento cognoscent quae consolatio quodque praesidium exstet in Spiritu paternitas ad eorum iter fidei.[32]

14. Precisely in gradual detachment from those worldly things which stand in the way of communion with his Lord, the monk finds the world a place where the beauty of the Creator and the love of the Redeemer are reflected. In his prayers the monk utters an epiklesis of the Spirit on the world and is certain that he will be heard, for this is a sharing in Christ's own prayer. Thus he feels rising within himself a deep love for humanity, that love which Eastern prayer so often celebrates as an attribute of God, the friend of men who did not hesitate to offer his Son so that the world might be saved. In this attitude the monk is sometimes enabled to contemplate that world already transfigured by the deifying action of Christ, who died and rose again.

14. Utique in progredienti separatione ab iis quae in mundo officiunt communioni cum Domino, monachus mundum reperit veluti locum ubi Creatoris pulchritudo et Redemptoris amor repercutiuntur. In sua precatione monachus Spiritus epiclesim super mundum dicit et pro certo habet se exauditum iri, quandoquidem illa ipsam Christi precationem participat. Animadvertit sic ille fervidum ex se oriri erga humanitatem amorem, amorem scilicet, quem Orientalis precatio persaepe celebrat tamquam Dei proprietatem, amici videlicet hominis qui suum Filium offerre non dubitavit ut mundus servaretur. Hoc in habitu nonnumquam monachus mundum contemplari potest, deificante actione Christi mortui et resuscitati iam transfiguratum.

Whatever path the Spirit has in store for him, the monk is always essentially the man of communion. Since antiquity this name has also indicated the monastic style of coenobitic life. Monasticism shows us how there is no true vocation that is not born of the Church and for the Church. This is attested by the experience of so many monks who, within their cells pray with an extraordinary passion, not only for the human person but for every creature, in a ceaseless cry that all may be converted to the saving stream of Christ's love. This path of inner liberation in openness to the Other makes the monk a man of charity. In the school of Paul the Apostle, who showed that love is the fulfilling of the law (cf. Rom 13:10), Eastern monastic communion has always been careful to guarantee the superiority of love over every law.

Quamoumque rationem ei tribuit Spiritus, monachus usque est ante omnia homo communionis. Hoc nomine ab antiquis iam temporibus vitae coenobiticae stilus monasticus significatur. Monachatus demonstrat veram esse non posse vocationem quae ex Ecclesia et pro Ecclesia non oriatur. Id testificatur tot monachorum experientia, qui suas in cellas conclusi, suas preces fervidissimo studio replent, non modo pro humana persona, verum et pro omnibus creaturis, continenter deprecantes ut res cunctze ad salutarem amoris Christi cursum se vertant. Hoc iter interioris liberationis per apertionem ad Alterum efficit monachum hominem caritatis. Paulo apostolo docente plenitudinem legis esse dilectionem (cfr. Rom 13, 10), communio monachi orientalis semper studuit, ut dilectionis excellentia quamlibet legem praecellat.

This communion is revealed first and foremost in service to one's brothers in monastic life, but also to the Church community, in forms which vary in time and place, ranging from social assistance to itinerant preaching. The Eastern Churches have lived this endeavor with great generosity, starting with evangelization, the highest service that the Christian can offer his brother, followed by many other forms of spiritual and material service. Indeed it can be said that monasticism in antiquity—and at various times in subsequent ages too—has been the privileged means for the evangelization of peoples.

Explicatur in primis per ministerium fratribus ipsa in vita monachica, at etiam communitati ecclesiali, modis accommodatis temporibus et locis, a socialibus progredientibus operibus ad peregrinantem praedicationem. Orientales Ecclesiae perstudiose hoc officium suppeditaverunt, ab evangelizatione initium sumentes, qui est excelsissimus famulatus, quem christianus fratri exhibere valeat, subsequentibus spiritalis corporalisque servitii multis aliis generibus. Immo dici etiam potest monachatus antiquis temporibus — et passim posterioribus quoque aetatibus — populorum evangelizationis praecipuum fuisse instrumentum.

15. The monk's life is evidence of the unity that exists in the East between spirituality and theology: the Christian, and the monk in particular, more than seeking abstract truths, knows that his Lord alone is Truth and Life, but also knows that he is the Way (cf. Jn 14:6) to reach both; knowledge and participation are thus a single reality: from the person to the God who is three Persons through the Incarnation of the Word of God.

15. Monachi vita unitatem comprobat, quae in Oriente exstat inter spiritalitatem et theologiam: christianus, praesertim monachus, potius quam veritates abstrusas requirat, scit unum Dominum suum esse Veritatem et Vitam, at simul scit etiam eum esse Viam (cfr. Io 14, 6), ut utramque consequatur: cognitio et participatio ergo unam rerum veritatem constituunt: a persona ad Deum trium personarum per Verbi Dei incarnationem.

The East helps us to express the Christian meaning of the human person with a wealth of elements. It is centered on the Incarnation, from which creation itself draws light. In Christ, true God and true man, the fullness of the human vocation is revealed. In order for man to become God, the Word took on humanity. Man, who constantly experiences the bitter taste of his limitations and sin, does not then abandon himself to recrimination or to anguish, because he knows that within himself the power of divinity is at work. Humanity was assumed by Christ without separation from his divine nature and without confusion,[33] and man is not left alone to attempt, in a thousand often frustrated ways, an impossible ascent to heaven. There is a tabernacle of glory, which is the most holy person of Jesus the Lord, where the divine and the human meet in an embrace that can never be separated. The Word became flesh, like us in everything except sin. He pours divinity into the sick heart of humanity, and imbuing it with the Father's Spirit enables it to become God through grace.

Oriens nos iuvat ut copiosis elementis personae humanae christianam significationem describamus, quae quidem in ipsa incarnatione est posita, ex qua lucem sumunt ipsae res creatae. In Christo, vero Deo veroque homine, plenitudo revelatur humanae vocationis: ut homo Deus fieret, Verbum humanitatem sumpsit. Homo, qui usque novit sui finis amaritudinem suique peccati, non queritur nec angitur, quandoquidem novit intra se divinam potentiam operari. Humanitas a Christo assumpta est absque a natura divina separatione sineque confusione;[33] non deseritur homo, ut solus caelum, sescentis abhibitis in cassum modis, scandere frustra conetur: gloriae tabernaculum exsistit, quod est sanctissima Iesu Domini persona, quo humanum et divinum amplexu quodam, qui solvi numquam poterit, conveniunt: Verbum caro factum est, omnino scilicet nostri simile, absque peccato. Ipse in aegrum humanitatis cor divinitatem fundit, atque Patris Spiritum infundens, eidem dat potestatem ut Deus per gratiam fiat.

But if this has revealed the Son to us, then it is given us to approach the mystery of the Father, principle of communion in love. The Most Holy Trinity appears to us then as a community of love: to know such a God means to feel the urgent need for him to speak to the world, to communicate himself; and the history of salvation is nothing but the history of God's love for the creature he has loved and chosen, wanting it to be "according to the icon of the Icon"—as the insight of the Eastern Fathers expresses it[34]— that is molded in the image of the Image, which is the Son, brought to perfect communion by the sanctifier, the Spirit of love. Even when man sins, this God seeks him and loves him, so that the relationship may not be broken off and love may continue to flow. And God loves man in the mystery of the Son, who let himself be put to death on the Cross by a world that did not recognize him, but has been raised up again by the Father as an eternal guarantee that no one can destroy love, for anyone who shares in it is touched by God's glory: it is this man transformed by love whom the disciples contemplated on Tabor, the man whom we are all called to be.

At si hoc nobis Filius revelavit, tum nobis datur facultas ad Patris mysterium accedendi, qui est communionis dilectionisque principium. Trinitas sanctissima ideo veluti amoris communitas apparet: talem Deum cognoscere significat animadvertere necessitatem ut is mundum alloquatur, sese communicet; historia salutis nihil aliud est quam historia amoris, quo Deus creaturam complectitur quam amavit et elegit, eam volens «secundum iconem iconis» — quemadmodum declarare consuevit mens Patrum orientalium[34] — nempe fictam ad imaginem Imaginis, quae est Filius, a sanctificatore. dilectionis Spiritu, ad perfectam communionem perductam. Etiam cum homo labitur, Deus hic eum quaerit et diligit, ne frangatur necessitudo ut que amor fluere pergat. Eundem in Filii niysterio amat, qui in cruce a mundo, qui eum non agnovit, necari patitur, at a Patre ab inferis revocatus, veluti perennis est sponsio neminem amorem interimere posse, quia quicumque eius est particeps, Dei gloria tangitur: hunc hominem transfiguratum amore sunt in Tabor discipuli contemplati, hominem scilicet, ad quem efficiendum omnes nos vocamur.

16. Nevertheless this mystery is continuously veiled enveloped in silence,[35] lest an idol be created in place of God. Only in a progressive purification of the knowledge of communion, will man and God meet and recognize in an eternal embrace their unending connaturality of love.

16. Attamen arcanum hoc continenter absconditur, silentio tegitur,[35] ut caveatur ne pro Deo idolum fingatur. Per procedentem tantum purificationem conscientiae communionis una convenient homo et Deus atque in aeterno amplexu agnoscent eiusdem naturae amorem numquam restinctum.

Thus is born what is called the apophatism of the Christian East: the more man grows in the knowledge of God, the more he perceives him as an inaccessible mystery, whose essence cannot be grasped. This should not be confused with an obscure mysticism in which man loses himself in enigmatic, impersonal realities. On the contrary, the Christians of the East turn to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, living persons tenderly present, to whom they utter a solemn and humble, majestic and simple liturgical doxology. But they perceive that one draws close to this presence above all by letting oneself be taught an adoring silence, for at the culmination of the knowledge and experience of God is his absolute transcendence. This is reached through the prayerful assimilation of Scripture and the liturgy more than by systematic meditation

Sic oritur apophatismus, qui dicitur, Orientis christiani: quo magis in Deo cognoscendo crescit homo, eo plenius eum veluti inaccessum mysterium intellegit, in eius essentia item ineffabilem. Id vero non est confundendum cum mystica quadam doctrina obscura, ubi homo impersonalibus arcanisque rebus circumdatus deerrat. Immo Orientales christiani ad Deum se convertunt Patrem, Filium et Spiritum Sanctum, ad viventes scilicet personas, amanter praesentes, quibus liturgicam doxologiam dirigunt sollemnem atque humilem. At ipsi percipiunt ad hanc praesentiam se accedere posse potissimum adoranti silentio institutos, quandoquidem in summa Dei cognitione et experientia est eius transcendentia. Illuc per orantem Sacrorum Bibliorum liturgiaeque appropriationem pervenitur, potius quam per constantem meditationem.

In the humble acceptance of the creature's limits before the infinite transcendence of a God who never ceases to reveal himself as God-Love, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in the joy of the Holy Spirit, I see expressed the attitude of prayer and the theological method which the East prefers and continues to offer all believers in Christ.

Hac in demissa acceptione termini creaturae coram infinita transcendentia Dei, qui veluti Deum Amorem non desinit se revelare, Patrem Domini nostri Iesu Christi, in Spiritus Sancti gaudio, modum reperimus Nos orandi et rationem theologicam quae magis ab Oriente probatur quseque omnibus pariter in Christo credentibus exhibetur.

We must confess that we all have need of this silence, filled with the presence of him who is adored: in theology, so as to exploit fully its own sapiential and spiritual soul; in prayer, so that we may never forget that seeing God means coming down the mountain with a face so radiant that we are obliged to cover it with a veil (cf. Ex 34:33), and that our gatherings may make room for God's presence and avoid self-celebration; in preaching, so as not to delude ourselves that it is enough to heap word upon word to attract people to the experience of God, in commitment, so that we will refuse to be locked in a struggle without love and forgiveness. This is what man needs today; he is often unable to be silent for fear of meeting himself, of feeling the emptiness that asks itself about meaning; man who deafens himself with noise. All, believers and non- believers alike, need to learn a silence that allows the Other to speak when and how he wishes, and allows us to understand his words.

Fatendum est nos omnes hoc silentio indigere, adorata praesentia imbuto: theologia ut sapientialis spiritalisque eius anima plene aestimetur; precatio, ne umquam obliviscatur Deum videre idem valere ac de monte descendere vultu ita splendenti, ut eum cogamur obvolvere (cfr. Ex 34, 33), utque nostrae congressiones locum dent Dei praesentiae, vitantes ne se ipsas celebrent; praedicatio, ne putet satis esse verba multiplicare, ut quis ad Dei experientiam alliciatur; officium, ut reiciatur periculum certamine quodam concludi sine amore et vema. zostrae aetatls homini silentio illo opus est, qui conticescere saepe nescit, verens ne se ipse inveniat, sibi revelet, inanitatem sentiat, quae significationem requirit; homo, qui ob clamorem obstupescit. Omnibus nempe, credentibus et non credentibus, discendum est silentium, quo Alter sinatur loqui, quando et quomodo volet, nobis vero verbum illud intellegere liceat.

17. Thirty years have passed since the Bishops of the Catholic Church, meeting in Council in the presence of many brothers from other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, listened to the voice of the Spirit as he shed light on deep truths about the nature of the Church, showing that all believers in Christ were far closer than they could imagine, all journeying towards the one Lord, all sustained and supported by his grace. An ever more pressing invitation to unity emerged at that point.

17. Triginta transierunt anni ex quo Ecclesiae catholicae Episcopi, in Concilio coadunati, non paucis aliarum Ecclesiarum Communitatumque ecclesialium adstantibus fratribus, Spiritus vocem exaudierunt qui altas veritates collustrabat de Ecclesiae natura, sic patefaciens in Christo credentes multo inter se esse propinquiores quam suspicari possent, omnes ad Dominum iter facientes unum, omnes eadem eius gratia fulcitos et sustentatos. Apparebat hinc invitatio usque instantior ad unitatem.

Since then, much ground has been covered in reciprocal knowledge. This has increased our respect and has frequently enabled us to pray to the one Lord together and to pray for one another, on a path of love that is already a pilgrimage of unity.

Ex illo tempore multa via in mutua cognitione est confecta. Auxit ipsa aestimationem sivitque ut una simul unum Dominum precaremur, alii etiam pro aliis, iter facientes caritatis, quod iam est unitatis peregrinatio.

After the important steps taken by Pope Paul VI, I have wished the path of mutual knowledge in charity to be continued. I can testify to the deep joy that the fraternal meeting with so many heads and representatives of Churches and Ecclesial Communities has given me in recent years. Together we have shared our concerns and expectations, together we have called for union between our Churches and peace for the world. Together we have felt more responsible for the common good, not only as individuals, but in the name of the Christians whose Pastors the Lord has made us. Sometimes urgent appeals from other Churches, threatened or stricken with violence and abuse have reached this See of Rome. It has sought to open its heart to them all. As soon as he could, the Bishop of Rome has raised his voice for them, so that people of goodwill might hear the cry of those suffering brothers and sisters of ours.

Post Pauli VI multos conatus, semitam cognitionis mutuae caritatis prosequendam voluimus et Nos. Ingentem quidem laetitiam testari licet, quam Nobis his annis tot Moderatorum et Procuratorum Ecclesiarum et ecclesialium Communitatum attulit occursus. Una simul sollicitudines et exspectationes participavimus, una unitatem inter nostras Ecclesias invocavimus et pro mundo pacem. Una simul boni communis facti sumus magis conscii, non modo veluti singuli. verum tanquam christianorum sustinentes partes, quorum Dominus nos posuit pastores. Nonnunquam ad Sedem hanc Apostolicam instanter decurrerunt aliae Ecclesiae, minationibus affectae aut vi iniuriaque ictae. Omnibus illa cor suum pandere est conata. Pro iis, cum fieri potuit, vox intenta est Romani Episcopi, ut homines bonae voluntatis fratrum nostrorum dolentium clamorem auscultarent.

"Among the sins which require a greater commitment to repentance and conversion should certainly be counted those which have been ‘detrimental to the unity willed by God for his People.’ In the course of the thousand years now drawing to a dose, even more than in the first millennium ecclesial communion has been painfully wounded, a fact for which, ‘often enough, men of both sides were to blame’.[36] Such wounds openly contradict the will of Christ and are a cause of scandal to the world. These sins of the past unfortunately still burden us and remain ever present temptations. It is necessary to make amends for them and earnestly to beseech Christ's forgiveness".[37]

«Inter delicta vero, quae maius secum important officium sive obligationem paenitentiae atque conversionis, numeranda certissime illa sunt quae "unitati a Deo optatae pro Populo Dei nocuerunt." Progredientibus hisee mille annis qui iamiam terminantur, multo etiam magis quam per primum millennium, ecclesialis communio "quandoque non sine hominum utriusque partis culpa,"[36] luctifica subiit discidia quae voluntati Christi aperte repugnant atque totum orbem offendunt. Talia temporis superioris crimina etiamnum, pro dolor, faciunt ut proprium pondus sentiatur maneantque totidem praesenti quoque tempore invitamenta. Necesse omnino est satisfactionem peragere, Christi invocata vehementer indulgentia ».[37]