Faith is love and as such it creates poetry and creates music". It was said by the Pope, speaking of Saint Roman the Melodist born in Syria around 490, the protagonist of the catechesis during today’s general audience which was divided into two parts one in the Basilica, then the other in Aula Paolo VI before about 15 thousand people. "Roman remains in history as one of the most important authors of liturgical hymns of the Christian Church of the East", said Benedict XVI, recalling that "at that time the homily used to be virtually the only opportunity for catechetic learning for the devotees". Roman the Melodist is therefore "the eminent witness of the religious sentiment of his time". "Through his compositions said the Pontiff , we can appreciate the liturgical creativity, the theological thinking, the aesthetics and sacred hymnography of that time". The place in which Roman used to preach was suggestive too: "a suburban sanctuary. We went up the ambo in the middle of the church and spoke to the community, using a fairly expensive staging: he used murals or icons placed on the ambo or conversations". According to the Pope, Roman "was more of a catechist than a theologian in the strict sense of the word" and "he was concerned about conveying to the devotees the plan of God, the pearl of salvation of men in Christ, by showing the close connection between creation and redemption".
