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4.
However We, who embrace the Eastern Church with no less solicitude
and charity than our predecessors, truly rejoice, now that the frightful war is
ended. We rejoice that many in the Eastern community have achieved liberty and
wrested their holy things from the control of the laity. They are now striving
to set the nation in order, consistent with the character of its people and the
established customs of their ancestors. We propose, appropriately, a splendid
example of sanctity, learning, and paternal love for them to diligently imitate
and nurture. We speak of St. Ephrem the Syrian, whom Gregory of Nyssa compared
to the River Euphrates because he "irrigated by his waters the Christian
community to bring forth fruits of faith a hundred-fold."[13] We
speak of Ephrem, whom all the inspired orthodox Fathers and Doctors, including
Basil, Chrysostom, Jerome, Francis of Sales, and Alphonsus Liguori, praise. We
are pleased to join these heralds of truth, who though separated from each
other in talent, in time and place, nevertheless perfect a harmony modulated by
"one and the same spirit."
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