While joyfully recalling my years as a student of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Malta, my mind and heart raced back to the following affirmation I heard again and again during my theology courses: Thanks to the Second Vatican Council the Church Fathers were brought back to light and started holding their prestigious place both in the ecclesial reflection and action.
My question is spontaneous as much as it is obvious: Why should we study the Church Fathers? Why are we to commit ourselves to the demanding journey of patristics? What do these great masters of our faith have to offer us? Can they really comprehend the problems we are struggling with? Will they offer us solutions to them?
In number 14 of the Instruction on the Study of the Fathers of the Church in the Formation of Priests, issued by the Vatican Congregation for the Catholic Education on 10 November 1989, one finds a clear reference to the importance that the Fathers of the Church have for theology, particularly for the correct understanding of the Bible. On this point, the Instruction rightly and heavily relies to what the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, says on the relationship between sacred Scripture and sacred tradition:
“Hence there exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end. For Sacred Scripture is the word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, while sacred tradition takes the word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may, in proclaiming it, preserve this word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known. Consequently it is not from Sacred Scripture alone that the Church draws her certainty about everything that has been revealed and therefore both sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence” (No. 9).
In the light of Dei Verbum paragraph 9, the study of the Church Fathers presents us with an opportunity to understand our specific Christian tradition. Such a study anchors us to our faith in a world that is “led away by diverse and strange teachings” (Heb 13:9). Hence, familiarising ourselves with the Fathers helps us build a strong relationship with God, with others and with ourselves. Their teachings offer a way of strengthening us, as Church, while helping us to discern the faulty dynamics of our world and the type of spiritual medicine it is in dire need of in order to be healed.
The opening of the academic year 2016-2017 of the Augustinian Institute, Gwardamangia Hill, Pietà will take place on Friday, 7 October at the Institute. At 6.15 pm, Provincial Ray Francalanza OSA will preside over the Eucharistic Celebration followed by a short address by the Director, Prof. Salvino Caruana OSA. This year’s series of lectures will focus on Matristics and Patristics 1st to 5th centuries. Lectures are held at the Institute every other Friday from 6.15 to 7.15 pm, from Friday, 14 October. They will be delivered by Prof. Salvino Caruana OSA (UOM), Prof. Martin Zammit (UOM), Rev Dr Mark Sultana (UOM), Rev Dr Jonathan Farrugia, Dr Ritienne Debono MD MRCP, Prof. Hector Scerri (UOM), Dr Pauline Dimech (UOM), Dr Nadia Delicata (UOM), and Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap. A Certificate of Attendance will be awarded to participants on Friday, 31 March 2017 after the Eucharistic celebration at the Church of Poor Clares, Regional Road, St Julian’s. Prof. J.M. Cacciottolo, Pro-Rector UOM, will present the certificate.
For further information and to receive a free printed copy of details of the academic year 2016-2017, contact the Secretary, PO Box 61, Msida PO MSD 1000, or call 2124 9407/2124 5934/2124 3557 ext.143/150, mob 9940 2102/79294177 or email [email protected], [email protected] – or call the Secretary, Ms A. Borg, on 2131 3644 mob 9945 0099, or 7708 7711 or email [email protected] or visit www.augustinianinstitute.malta.com
Will you join this fruitful adventure?
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap