St. Aphrahat—On Penitents
By James T. Majewski ( bio - articles - email ) | Jul 11, 2024 | In Catholic Culture Audiobooks (Podcast)
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“So the man whom Satan has smitten ought not to be ashamed to confess his sin, and depart from it, and entreat for himself the medicine of penitence. For gangrene comes to the wound of him who is ashamed to show it, and harm comes to his whole body; and he who is not ashamed has his wound healed, and again returns to go down into the conflict.”
St. Aphrahat is known in the tradition as “the Persian Sage.” Born in the late third century in the Persian Empire, he flourished amid persecution and is the earliest prominent witness to Syriac Christianity. He wrote in a dialect of Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus, and maintained close contact with Judaism, demonstrating a profound knowledge of Hebrew Scriptures and Jewish customs. He is best known for his collection of twenty-three writings called the “Demonstrations.” Demonstration VII concerns penitents. Composed in 336-337 A.D., it is the earliest work to treat of the early Church’s approach to the sacrament of penance and pastoral care with such precision.
Links
Demonstration VII, On Penitents full text: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/aphrahat_dem7.htm
Learn more about St. Aphrahat on Way of the Fathers: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/27-aphrahat-parsee-sage-primary-in-time/
Theme music: “2 Part Invention”, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.
James T. Majewski is Vice President of Trinity Communications, Director of Customer Relations for CatholicCulture.org, the “voice” of Catholic Culture Audiobooks, and co-host of Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. Based in New York City, he holds both a BA in Philosophy and an MFA in Acting. See full bio.
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