Pope Benedict continues to school us in the Early Church Fathers, turning to St. Chromatius in today’s GA. From Teresa Benedetta at PRF.
(As he always does, Benedict begins with concise and skillful scene-setting for the ministry of Chromatius: Arianism, threats of invation and so on. And then he turns to his life and work:)

Chromatius was a wise teacher and zealous pastor. His first and primary task was to listen to the Word in order to be able to annouce it himself. In his teachings, he always started with the Word of God and led back up to it. Some themes were particularly dear to him: above all, the mystery of the Trinity, reflecting on it, as it is revealed throughout the history of salvation.
Then, the subject of the Holy Spirit: Chromatius constantly called the attention of the faithful to the presence and action int he life of the Church of the Third Person in the Most Holy Trinity.
But Chromatius was particularly persistent on the mystery of Christ: The Word incarnate as true God and true man, who assumed complete humanity to make a gift of his own divinity. These truths, which he insistently reaffirmed even for anti-Arian purposes, would come to be formalized 50 years later in the Council of Chalcedon.
His strong emphasis on the human nature of Christ led Chromatius to speak often of the Virgin Mary: his Mariologic doctrine was terse and precise. To him we owe some evocative descriptions of the Most Holy Virgin: Mary is the “evangelical virgin who was capable of sheltering God”; she is the ‘immaculate and inviolate lamb’ who gave birth to ‘the lamb draped in red’ (cfr Sermo XXIII,3: Scrittori dell’area santambrosiana 3/1, p. 134).
The Bishop of Aquileia often spoke of the Virgin in relation to the Church: both, in fact, are ‘virgins’ and ‘mothers’. But his ecclesiology was developed above all in his commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew.
Here are some of his recurrent concepts: the church is unique; it was born from the blood of Christ; it is a precious garment woven by the Holy Spirit; the Church is the place which proclaims that Christ was born of the Virgin and where brotherhood and concord flourish.
An image that Chromatius was particularly fond of was that of a ship at sea in a storm – he lived in tempetuous times, as we heard earlier: “There is no doubt,” the holy Bishop said, “that this ship represents the Church.” (cfr Tract. XLII,5: Scrittori dell’area santambrosiana 3/2, p. 260).
As the zealous pastor that he was, Chromatius knew how to speak to his people in a language that was fresh, colorful and incisive. Although he knew Latin perfectly, he prefered to use popular language which was rich in easily understandable images.
Thus, for example, using the sea as a metaphor, he contrasts, on the one hand, the act of fishing in which fish, once out of the water, die; and on the other, the preaching of the gospel, thanks to which men are saved from the muddy waters of death and introduced to true life (cfr Tract. XVI,3: Scrittori dell’area santambrosiana 3/2, p. 106).
Still looking at him as a good pastor, who lived in a stormy era darkened by barbarian incursions, he placed himself alongside his flock to comfort them and open up their spirits to trust in God, who never abandones his children.
Let us pick up, at the end of these reflections, an exhortation of Chromatius which is still perfectly valid today: “Let us pray to the Lord with all our heart and all our faith,” the Bishop of Aquileia, recommended in one of his Sermons. “Let us pray that he may liberate us from every incursion by enemies, from every fear of adversaries. He does not look at our merits – he who in the past deigned to liberate the children of Israel not because of their merits but by his mercy. May he protect us with his usual merciful love, and work for us what the holy Moses told the children of Israel: ‘The Lord will fight in your defense, and you will remain silent. It is him who fights, it is him who gains victory’…And so that he may deign to do this, we must pray as much as we can. He himself tells us through the prophet’s mouth: I will liberate you, and you will give me glory.” (Sermo XVI,4: Scrittori dell’area santambrosiana 3/1, pp. 100-102).
Thus, at the start of Advent, St. Chromatius reminds us that Advent is a time of prayer, in which we must enter into contact with God. God knows us, he knows me, he knows each of us, he wishes me well, he will not abandon me.
Let us move forward with such confidence in God during this liturgical period that has just begun.