Way of the Fathers

Epiphanius was a master of many languages and a scholar of profound biblical culture. He had a passion for pure doctrine—and a pure loathing for error in all its forms. He labored through a long life to root heresy out of the Church. He distrusted classical literature because of the taint of idolatry. He compiled a reference work he called his “Medicine Chest,” diagnosing erroneous doctrines as “snakebites” and then prescribing cures from the pharmacy of true doctrine. In pursuing clarity, he forced Christians to take sides. But he didn’t always take into account his own capacity to misjudge, and his zealotry sometimes led to unnecessary division. In one case it helped bring about the downfall of a great saint. Links Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion https://archive.org/details/PanarionEpiphaniusCOMPLETE/page/n323/mode/2up Epiphanius of Salamis, Weights and Measures http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/epiphanius_weights_01_eintro.htm 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 Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio  

Cyril served as bishop during ugly times. The Church was divided, and suspicion was universal. He suffered false accusation, conspiracy, and exile. Yet he was able to see supernatural beauty shining through natural signs in the Church’s liturgy: bread and wine, oil and water, breath and gesture. He is history’s great practitioner of the art of mystagogy—guidance in the sacramental mysteries. His lectures, in fact, cover all the basics of Christian life: creed, commandments, prayer, and sacraments. Eyewitnesses tell us that his hearers applauded when he taught. His lectures still edify and entertain more than a millennium and a half after their first delivery. Links Cyril of Jerusalem, Procatechesis https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2408 Cyril of Jerusalem, On Baptism https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2428 Cyril of Jerusalem, On the Body and Blood of Christ https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2430 Cyril of Jerusalem, On the Sacred Liturgy and Communion https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2431 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 Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio  

Ambrose of Milan, more than any other figure, is invoked in the West as the model for church-state relations. He’s the one who said: “The emperor is within the Church, not above the Church.” And he said it with deeds as well as words. He said it in private letters and public demonstrations. He said it through direct confrontation and civil disobedience. A former politician himself, he had a keen understanding of the game—and in the late fourth century the stakes were very high. Links Ambrose, Sermon against Auxentius on the Giving Up of the Basilicas https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2075 Ambrose, Letter XXI to Valentinian I https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2074 Ambrose, Letter XX to his sister Marcella https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2073 Ambrose Letter LI to Theodosius https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2079 Ambrose, On the Mysteries https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2090 Augustine, Confessions, Book 8.7.15 https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3102 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 Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio  

There’s no anti-Christian like an ex-Christian, and there was no figure in antiquity like the Emperor Julian. He promoted the return of paganism as the official religion of the Roman Empire. But it was a strange paganism, modeled on the Christian Church. Julian began by making it difficult for Christians to work in professions like education, law, and military. His methods were mostly bloodless. He knew that martyrs made Christianity strong. It was better he thought, to marginalize believers, neutralizing their influence, pushing them out of public life. Links Julian the Apostate, Against the Galileans http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/julian_apostate_galileans_0_intro.htm Julian the Apostate, Oration upon the Sovereign Sun http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/julian_apostate_1_sun.htm Gregory Nazianzen, “Oration 4: First Invective Against Julian” http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/gregory_nazianzen_2_oration4.htm Adrian Murdoch, The Last Pagan: Julian the Apostate and the Death of the Ancient World https://www.amazon.com/Last-Pagan-Julian-Apostate-Ancient/dp/1594772266/ More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ 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 Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio    

Gregory of Nyssa was born into a family of high achievers. His brother was Basil the Great; his sister was Macrina the Younger. In Gregory’s young life, however, he was something of a disappointment. It’s not that he was a sinner or unbeliever, but he seemed to lack the holy ambition and drive that were characteristic of his older siblings. Basil often reprimanded him as a bumbler. But at Basil’s death Gregory came into his own and suddenly emerged a major player on the world scene—a master of spiritual and systematic theology, a leader at councils, a healer of divisions in the Church. Links Gregory Nazianzen, Letter 1, on his disappointment with Gregory of Nyssa https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2472 Basil the Great, Letter 58, a reproach to Gregory his brother https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2623 Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius, Book 1 https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2271 Gregory of Nyssa, The Great Catechism https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2277 More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ 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 Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio    

All Gregory wanted was a quiet place where he could relax with his books and a few close friends. From young adulthood he believed God was calling him to the contemplative life, and to old age he never lost that sense. But history kept dragging him into its current. First, his father (a bishop) coerced him into ordination to the priesthood. Then his closest friend, Basil the Great, pressured him to be ordained a bishop. Both times he put up little resistance, but later resented the actions as violence. Both times he eventually fled the demands of his office. Later he was persuaded to lead the Nicene faction in the capital city of the empire. Eventually he became bishop there and led the second ecumenical council in 380. Before the council was over he resigned and resumed his monastic retreat back home. Along the way he wrote the most compelling and complete Trinitarian theology of his time—and reams of great poetry. Links Gregory Nazianzen, Epistle 150 (on dogmatic questions) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2459 Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 2 (on his flight from priesthood) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2433 Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 27: The First Theological Oration (on the duties of the theologian) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2440 John Henry Newman, “Basil and Gregory” https://www.newmanreader.org/works/historical/volume2/fathers/chapter3.html More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ 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 Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio    

History calls him "Basil the Great," and his greatnesses were many. He was a brilliant theologian; and anyone today who writes about tradition or the Holy Spirit must engage his works, which are foundational in the field. He also produced some of the earliest sustained reflections on the social order implicit in the Gospel. But he didn't just think about these things. He did something about them. As bishop he was a model administrator, marshaling the resources of Christians in order to build a "new city" dedicated to worship and service of those in need; there he constructed one of the first hospitals, a poorhouse, a soup kitchen, a homeless shelter, a hospice, and a trade school. He was an outstanding preacher, an organizer, an operator, and a saint recognized for greatness even in his own lifetime. Links Gregory Nazianzen, Funeral Oration on the Great St. Basil https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2453 Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2544 Basil the Great, Homily I: in the Beginning God Made the Heaven and the Earth https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2545 More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ 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 Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

As a theological poet, he is peerless but for Dante. Yet Ephrem’s fame rests not only on his words, but also on his heroic deeds. He lived almost his entire life in a war zone. He helped invent the hospital and the women’s choir. He served tirelessly in times of famine and natural disaster—and he died caring for the sick during a pandemic. More than 500 of his hymns have survived into our time. Links Free audiobook readings of St. Ephrem’s hymns https://www.catholicculture.org/search/search.cfm?searchgoals=6&andsearch=Ephrem%20audiobooks Ephraim the Syrian, The Nisibene Hymns https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2224 Ephraim the Syrian, Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2225 Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History (Ephraim’s story is at Book III, Chapter XVI) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2885 Robert Murray, S.J., Symbols of Church and Kingdom: A Study in Early Syriac Tradition https://www.amazon.com/Symbols-Church-Kingdom-Syriac-Tradition/dp/0567030822/ More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ 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 Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Aphrahat is known in the tradition as "the Persian Sage." He is the first Father in our series to live, geographically and culturally, outside the Roman Empire. Born in the late third century in the Persian Empire, he flourished amid persecution. Aphrahat is the earliest prominent witness to Syriac Christianity. He wrote in a dialect of Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. He maintained close contact with Judaism and demonstrated a profound knowledge of Hebrew Scriptures and Jewish customs. He wrote in prose that reads like poetry. His is a most unusual voice. The modern rabbi Jacob Neusner called Aphrahat a model of Jewish-Christian dialogue — “an enduring voice of civility and rationality amid the cacophony of mutual disesteem.” Links Aphrahat the Persian Sage, Select Demonstrations https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2231 Aphrahat the Persian Sage, Demonstration 2 http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/aphrahat_dem2.htm Aphrahat the Persian Sage, Demonstration 7 http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/aphrahat_dem7.htm Jacob Neusner, Aphrahat and Judaism: The Christian-Jewish Argument in Fourth-Century Iran https://www.amazon.com/Aphrahat-Judaism-Christian-Jewish-Fourth-Century-Supplements/dp/9004021507/ More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ Mike Aquilina's website https://fathersofthechurch.com Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

He is often called the Athanasius of the West, and the two men had much in common. They defended the Council of Nicaea and opposed the emperor ... and suffered exile for their trouble. But Hilary's approach to controversy differed from that of Athanasius. He listened to his opponents, read their works, and found common ground when he could. When he couldn't, he was able to address their concerns clearly and directly. He was even willing to work with heretics as they opposed more radical heresies. He composed the first systematic treatise on the Trinity and was perhaps the first to introduce hymns into Western worship. His own hymns are still sung today. Links Hilary of Poitiers, On the Councils, or the Faith of the Easterns https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2850 Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity (first 3 books) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2851 Hilary of Poitiers, hymns https://hymnary.org/person/Poitiers_Ho A hymn by Hilary in English translation https://youtu.be/bf51fVfV0VE More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ Mike Aquilina's website https://fathersofthechurch.com Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio