BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE

Paul VI Audience Hall
Wednesday, 12 March 2008

Boethius and Cassiodorus

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today I wish to speak to you about two great Christian writers from the Italian peninsula during the period after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West: Boethius and Cassiodorus. Both were anxious to preserve the heritage of Greek and Roman learning, handed down through generations of Christian believers, in the context of the Gothic culture that dominated Italy at the time. Boethius, born in Rome in 480, entered public life and became a senator, though he continued his philosophical and religious studies alongside his public responsibilities. Unjustly imprisoned and later executed by King Theodoric, he wrote his greatest philosophical work in prison. Reflecting on the injustice of his situation, in the light of Biblical Wisdom literature and Classical authors, he concluded that true happiness lies in continuing to hope in God, despite adversity. Indeed, harsh fortune helps us to distinguish true friends from false ones, and there can be few greater consolations than that of true friendship. His contemporary, Cassiodorus, devoted much time and energy to promoting the monastic movement, in the belief that monks were the people best placed to preserve and hand on the heritage of Classical Christian culture. We would do well to take note of his advice to them: “Meditate day and night on the law of the Lord and always focus your attention upon Christ.”
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I am pleased to welcome the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors here today, including groups from England, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Scandinavia, and North America.  I greet especially the many students and teachers who are present, including those from Saint Augustine’s College, Wiltshire, England. Upon all of you, and upon your families and loved ones at home, I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace.

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