Pseudo-Dionysius: The Symphony of God

In today's General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, the sixth century writer who was thought through part of Church history to have been the first century disciple of St. Paul known as Dionysius the Areopagite.  Responding to people who wanted a return to Greek polytheism and who wanted to make the thinking of Plato into a philosophical religion, Dionysius was a promoter of the encounter between such polytheistic Greek thought and the "the harmony of God's cosmos where all the forces are in praise of God" and "all creation speaks of God."

Full English translations are available from Zenit and Papa Ratzinger Forum.

The Asia News article says that much of what the Holy Father said today was spontaneous.  He spoke much about the dialogue between Christianity and the eastern religions as a "search for truth."  The original Latin text (which may be the written text rather than the catechesis as actually delivered) is available from the Vatican Press Office, which also includes the following summary in English:

"In today’s catechesis we turn to the teaching of a sixth-century author whose writings have been attributed to the first-century disciple of Saint Paul, Dionysius the Areopagite. His two principal works, The Divine Names and Mystical Theology, strive to present a knowledge of God which surpasses rational understanding and culminates in spiritual perfection and transforming contemplation. Pseudo-Dionysius stresses the apophatic or "negative" understanding born of pondering God’s infinite transcendence and otherness. By contemplating what God is not, and by entering more deeply into the rich symbolic language of Scripture, we grow in our relationship with the One who reveals himself in hiddenness. Contemplation is thus an ascent leading from purification to illumination, perfection and union with God. In the West, Dionysius’ writings influenced the early scholastics and Saint Thomas, as well as Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross. His vision of a great cosmic harmony reflecting the beauty of the Creator and the love freely bestowed on us in Christ, can also inspire our efforts to work for unity, reconciliation and peace in our world."

For more about Pseudo-Dionysius, this blog has a biographical post About Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite with a bibliography for further reading.