Way of the Fathers

Augustine of Hippo is a name that appears on any short list of the most influential intellectuals in the history of the world. He seemed to live several productive lifetimes in the course of his own. In this first of three episodes on Augustine, we examine his early years — from his childhood through his conversion to Christ at age 31. We also consider the profound influence of his mother, Monica. LINKS Works by St. Augustine on Catholic Culture Audiobooks https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/audiobook_authors_titles.cfm Augustine, The Confessions https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3102 Possidius, Life of Augustine http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/possidius_life_of_augustine_02_text.htm Saint Augustine: A Voice For All Generations, a documentary film on the young life of St. Augustine https://youtu.be/32bFPD36M8g Torchlighters: The Augustine Story, an animated film for children, on the saint's young life https://youtu.be/IBL6HjC0FiU John J. O'Meara, The Young Augustine, an excellent biography https://www.amazon.com/Young-Augustine-John-J-OMeara/dp/0818908335/ 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

Jerome is renowned for his biblical studies and translations, The Church invokes him as Doctor, Father, and Saint. Yet he is just as famous for his sharpness in dispute. He clashed with Augustine and Rufinus, disdained Ambrose and Chrysostom. His put-downs stand with the best of Mark Twain and Groucho Marx. Links Justin McClain’s splendid collection, The Quotable Saint Jerome, https://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Saint-Jerome/dp/0813233216/ J.N.D. Kelly’s biography, Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies, https://www.amazon.com/Jerome-His-Life-Writings-Controversies/dp/156563084X/ Jerome, Letter 57: to Pammachius on the Best Method of Translating  https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2362 Jerome, Against Vigilantius (who rejected the veneration of relics and other traditional practices) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2317 Jerome, The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary, against Helvidius https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2314 Jerome, Lives of Illustrious Men (an early work of patristics) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3078/ Catholic Culture Audiobooks reading Against Helvidius: On the Perpetual Virginity of Mary https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-jerome-against-helvidius-on-perpetual-virginity-mary/ 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  

Didymus lost his sight at age four, and yet he became one of the most respected theologians on earth. This was in the fourth century, more than a millennium before Braille, audio tech, or other accommodations. Among his renowned disciples were Jerome, Rufinus, and Palladius. His life was long and full, intensely engaged in the controversies surrounding the doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation. His story should inspire anyone who hears it. And the story isn’t over yet. Links Jerome tells the story of Didymus and Anthony https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2369 Palladius on Didymus (XXVI) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2886 Sozomen on Didymus https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2885 Socrates Scholasticus on Didymus (XXV) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2884 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

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