Pope Benedict Commends Pseudo-Dionysius

In the Holy Father’s Wednesday audience, Pope Benedict XVI commended the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius as a means “to place Greek wisdom at the service of the Gospel.”

The writings are alleged to be written by Dionysius the Areopagite, the convert of St. Paul in Acts 17, but were actually written in 6th century. The Dionysian corpus includes: the Divine Names, Celestial Hierarchy, Mystical Theology, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and ten epistles.

I love Pseudo-Dionysius and he is frequently cited by St. Thomas Aquinas. Dionysius presents Christianity, especially the sacraments and the church, in the mold of Platonism

Also interesting is the Dionysian testimony to the Assumption of Mary recorded in his work Divine Names.

There is also a pseudo-pseudo-Dionysian epistle (i.e. written after the pseudo-Dionysian corpus) preserved by the Armenian Church that describes the Dormition of Mary in greater detail.

Full story from CWN.