Katechezy ojców Kościoła w Godzinie Czytań Liturgii Godzin

Abstract

Catechesis is a form of the service of the word in the Church. Its aim is to educate children, young people and adults in faith, first of all by systematically teaching them the Christian doctrine. In the Church of the first centuries catechesis was a widespread form of teaching. Stress was put in it mainly on ethical issues such as: prayer, virginity, marital life, holy sacraments and the principles of living in a community. In the Hour of Reading, according to the tradition of the Roman Church, a reading from the Holy Bible was followed by reading that was an excerpt from the works by the Fathers of the Church or Church authors. Patristic readings give the faithful a possibility to get to the core of the meaning of liturgical periods and holidays, as they give them access to the invaluable spiritual treasures that are the Church’s inheritance and at the same time they strengthen the Christian spirituality and enliven the religiousness of the faithful. These patristic readings included in the second place in the Hour or Reading of the Liturgy of the Hours, after the reading from the Holy Bible, are taken first of all from homilies, commentaries, original works, treatises and documents of Vatican Council II. However, we also find catecheses by the Fathers of the Church there. Liturgy of the Hours uses the eleven catecheses by St. Cyril of Jerusalem that are devoted to the three periods of the liturgical year and two catecheses by St. John Chrysostom for the period of Lent. These catecheses touch upon the essential issues of particular periods. Analysing the catecheses we notice the relation that exists between some of them and the first reading from the Bible.