Teodoru
Arċisqof ta' Mopswestja.

Twielet c350CA Antioch, Syria
Miet c428CA

Sant Efrem
Duttur u Konfessur tal-Knisja.

Twielet 306 Nisibis, Turkija
Miet 9 ta' Ġunju 373, Edessa Turkija
Festa 9 ta' Ġunju

San Pietru Krisologu
Isqof, Duttur u Konfessur tal-Knisja.

Twielet c 380 CA, Imola
Miet 31 ta' Diċembru 450 CA
Festa 4 ta' Diċembru.

Patristika:
Riflessjonijiet mill-Kitba
tas-Santi Patri.

Dawn is-siltiet dehru għall-ewwel darba fin-newslatter
tas-Soċjeta Patristika Maltija
immexxija min Mons. Hector Scerri.

Il-Missirijiet tal-Knisja dwar
il-Mard u l-Imgieba tan-Nisrani
minn Dun Hector Scerri

St Ambrose of Milan says of the Christian attitude toward sickness: "If the occasion demands it, a wise man will readily accept bodily infirmity and even offer his whole body up to death for the sake of Christ... This same man is not affected in spirit or broken with bodily pain if his health fails him. He is consoled by his struggle for perfection in the virtues" (Exegetical Works).

St John Cassian teaches: God "leads you on by a still higher step to that love which is free of fear. Through this you begin effortlessly and naturally to observe all those things you originally observed out of fear of God and punishment, but now you do them no longer from fear of punishment, but from love of Goodness itself, and delight in virtue" (Institutes).

The Heavenly Physician "made the body [of man] subject to much suffering and disease, so that man might learn from his very nature than he must never again entertain the thought" that he could be like unto God (St John Chrysostom, Homily 11, On the Statues).
"When the soul is afflicted by disease we usually feel no pain," St John Chrysostom says. "But if the body suffers only a little, we make every effort to be free of the illness and its pain. Therefore, God corrects the body for the sins of the soul, so that by chastising the body, the soul might also receive some healing... Christ did this with the Paralytic when He said: Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. (Homily 38, On the Gospel of St John).
"Anyone who is sick should seek the prayer of others, that they may be restored to health; that through the intercession of others the enfeebled form of the body and the wavering footsteps of our deeds may be restored to health... Learn, you who are sick, to gain health through prayer. Seek the prayer of others, call upon the Church to pray for you, and God, in His regard for the Church, will give what He might refuse to you" (St Ambrose, On the Healing of the Paralytic).

St Gregory Nazianzen, a great man of prayer even when his health was good, exclaimed during his last illness: "The time is swift, the struggle is great, and my sickness severe, reducing me nearly to immovability. What then is left but to pray to God?" (Letters).

St Ambrose of Milan compared an infirm body to a broken musical instrument. He explained how the "musician" can still produce God-pleasing "music" without his instrument: "If a man used to singing to the accompaniment of a harp finds the harp broken, and its strings undone... he puts it aside and instead of calling for its notes he delights himself with his own voice.

"In the same way, a sick man allows the harp of his body to lie unused. He finds delight within his heart and comfort in the knowledge that his conscience is clear. He sustains himself with God's words and the prophetic writings and, holding these sweet and pleasant in his soul, he embraces them with his mind. Nothing can happen to him because God's graceful presence breathes favour upon him... He is filled with spiritual tranquillity" (Jacob and the Happy Life).

St Ambrose attributed this prayer to the Apostle Matthew, upon the occasion of the Apostle's conversion.
Thee alone I follow, Lord Jesus, who heals my wounds. For what shall separate me from the love of God, which is in Thee! Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine? I am held fast as though by nails, and fettered by the bonds of charity. Remove from me, O Lord Jesus, with Thy potent sword, the corruption of my sins. Secure me in the bonds of Thy love; cut away what is corrupt in me. Come quickly and make an end of my many, my hidden and secret afflictions. Open the wound lest the evil humour spread. With Thy new washing, cleanse in me all that is stained. Hear me, you earthly men, who in your sins bring forth drunken thoughts: I have found a Physician. He dwells in Heaven and distributes His healing on earth. He alone can heal my pains Who Himself has none. He alone Who knows what is hidden, can take away the grief of my heart, the fear of my soul—Jesus Christ. Christ is grace, Christ is life, Christ is Resurrection! Amen.