A representative paragraph:
There is the scent of the East, of Byzantium, at Megisti Lavra. There is the aroma of cypress and incense, the fragrance of beeswax, of relics, of ancient things mysteriously near. Because the monks of Athos don't suffer the passage of time. They tell you of their saints, of that Saint Athanasius who planted two cypresses at the center of the Megisti Lavra; who with Herculean strength built the catholikon; who shaped the monasticism of Athos; as if he had not died in the year 1000 but just yesterday, as if they had met him personally and not long ago.The Vatican Information Service has more on the Armenian Catholicos's visit to the Holy See.
An interesting note here is that at least the English translation seems to have transferred Pentecost from Sunday to tomorrow (Saturday).
Witness the following:
After the Patriarch's greeting, the Pope addressed the assembly. Referring to tomorrow's solemnity of Pentecost, Benedict XVI affirmed that, on this day, "we will pray in a particular way for the unity of the Church. (...) If our hearts and minds are open to the Spirit of communion, God can work miracles again in the Church, restoring the bonds of unity. Striving for Christian unity is an act of obedient trust in the work of the Holy Spirit, who leads the Church to the full realization of the Father's plan, in conformity with the will of Christ".I guess daylight savings time and a smaller environmental (read: GREEN) footprint have a way of working their own magic.
And Finally, hat tips to several websites and bloggers for picking up on the Torn Notebook blog posts by Wei-Hsien Wan. Wan has posted a three part discussion on the Church Fathers and Unity. These are accurate and thought-provoking for any serious Christian pondering the Unity of the Faith. The links are first here, and then here, here and here.
No snippets, just go and read them!
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