44—Prudentius, Poet Laureate of the Western Fathers

Prudentius is the Latin poet most praised from the ancient Church. Phenomenally creative, he invented new poetic forms and genres—and established artistic standards that would hold through the Middle Ages. Scholars as varied as C.S. Lewis and Robert Wilken call him “the first Christian poet,” the first great representative of a real Christian literature. Compared to Prudentius, all earlier Christian poets were dabblers. Upon his model depended such later luminaries as Bunyan, Milton, and Spenser.

LINKS

The Hymns of Prudentius (Cathemerinon) https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14959/14959-h/14959-h.htm

Latin text of two works by Prudentius https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/prud.html

Prudentius’s page at Hymnary. org https://hymnary.org/person/Prudentius_AC

Study of Prudentius by F.J.E. Raby https://archive.org/details/historyofchristi2edunse_t5b7/page/44/mode/2up

Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com

Mike Aquilina’s books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/

Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org

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