Way of the Fathers

  By the seventh century, Christian thinkers of East and West were settling into scholastic methods, synthesizing and systematizing the thought of their Greek or Latin forebears. Maximus represents the best mind (by far) in this movement. Greek by origin, he spent decades living in Latin lands. His writing reflected the beauty and brilliance of piety and theology on both sides of the Mediterranean. In Maximus (to steal a phrase from Pope John Paul II) the Church breathed with both lungs. He marshaled all the resources of East and West to oppose the emerging Monothelite heresy. The emperor, meanwhile, pinned his hopes on the heresy to unite the empire against rising Islam—and Maximus suffered brutal torture and exile. LINKS Anthony Marco, doctoral dissertation, Consecrate the World to God: Maximus the Confessor on the “Secular” and Vatican II’s Theology of the Laity https://dsc.duq.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2987&context=etd Andrew J. Summerson, Audio: Exegesis of the Human Heart: Narrating the Emotional Life of Christians with Maximus the Confessor https://sheptytskyinstitute.ca/exegesis-of-the-human-heart-narrating-the-emotional-life-of-christians-with-maximus-the-confessor/ Maximus the Confessor, On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ (an anthology of his works) https://www.amazon.com/Cosmic-Mystery-Jesus-Christ/dp/088141249X/ Maximus the Confessor: Selected Writings https://www.amazon.com/Maximus-Confessor-Selected-Writings-Spirituality/dp/0809126591/ 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

His name retains its greatness, even in modern times—even for Christians who don’t know much history. They know Gregorian Chant, and maybe Gregorian Masses. Who was the Gregory behind those monuments? Born into nobility, he held vast estates in Italy and Sicily, but gave them up to be a monk. Then he gave up being a monk so that he could serve the Church. Elected pope, he recast the papacy as a full-time exercise of servitude. He was “servant of the servants of God,” and as such he reformed the clergy, and the liturgy. He directed foreign missions and set lasting standards for inculturation of the faith. He did all this while he was very ill and often combined to bed. His greatness was manifest to his contemporaries and to every age after. LINKS Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book of Job http://www.lectionarycentral.com/gregorymoraliaindex.html Gregory the Great, Dialogues https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/gregory_00_dialogues_eintro.htm Gregory the Great, The Book of Pastoral Rule https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2223 Epistle XII: to John, Bishop of Syracuse (on reform of the liturgy) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3719 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

Benedict was not the first monk to compose a rule for living in community — but he's certainly the most influential. He wrote the Rule that the Emperor Charlemagne would propose as guidebook for all monks in the West. Yet Benedict himself was self-effacing in the extreme, and he remains elusive for historians. Lately, he has emerged as a patron and model for people whose civilization could be entering a Dark Age. Know anybody like that? LINKS Benedict of Nursia, The Rule https://ccel.org/ccel/benedict/rule/rule Gregory the Great, Life of Our Most Holy Father St. Benedict https://ccel.org/ccel/gregory/life_rule/life_rule Mark the Monk (a disciple of Benedict), Poem in tribute to St. Benedict https://ccel.org/ccel/gregory/life_rule/life_rule.iv.html 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

Forget the shamrocks. Pour the green beer down the sink, and drive the snakes from the Emerald Isle of your imagination. Listen up and encounter the real St. Patrick, author of two passionate, fascinating Christian works—deserving of a place with the Church Fathers. Patrick arrived in pagan Ireland in the fifth century, first as a slave and then as an itinerant bishop. By the end of his life, Ireland was a Christian nation. LINKS Patrick of Ireland, Confessio https://www.confessio.ie/etexts/confessio_english# Patrick of Ireland, Letter to the soldiers of Coroticus https://www.confessio.ie/etexts/epistola_english# James F. Kenney, The sources for the early history of Ireland: an introduction and guide https://archive.org/details/sourcesforearlyh0000kenn Fr. Billy Swan, “‘I Am Patrick’ Is Perhaps the Best Film Yet on Ireland’s Greatest Saint,” Word on Fire, March 17, 2020 https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/blog/i-am-patrick-is-perhaps-the-best-film-yet-on-irelands-greatest-saint/26861/ 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

Peter Chrysologus is known as the “Doctor of Homilies,” and he always preached with brevity. Every word was golden. He was archbishop of Ravenna during that city's brief term as capital of the Western empire. His sermons rang like poems, rich with biblical insight and glimpses of ordinary life in a fifth-century urban center. LINKS Peter Chrysologus, a sermon in the Office of Readings https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=173 Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 148 http://www.liturgies.net/saints/peterchrysologus/readings.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 Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 148 http://www.liturgies.net/saints/peterchrysologus/readings.htm

Romanus the Melodist looms large from his lifetime in the sixth century. Today he is much sung and little known—at least with certainty. Beautiful legends have filled in the cracks of his biography. According to one, he was tone-deaf and non-musical when heaven granted him the gifts of composition and vocal performance. He went on to compose many verse homilies, kontakia, which are still sung in the Eastern churches today. Having lived in Homs, and then Beirut and Constantinople, he introduced Syriac forms and methods into Byzantine liturgical music.     LINKS Romanus the Melodist page at Hymnary.org https://hymnary.org/person/Romanus1?tab=texts Pope Benedict XVI on Romanus the Melodist https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=8216 Romanus on the Resurrection, sung performance https://youtu.be/XT-igWEsIh4 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  

Though prolific in his words and prodigious in his deeds, Leo was utterly self-effacing. Classically educated, he never quoted the classics. He preached with Gospel simplicity. He strove always to let Christ shine through his sermons and his letters. Yet he made history for three world-changing interventions. It was Leo who stopped Attila the Hun’s rampage through Europe. It was Leo who put a decisive end to the ancient heresies about the natures of Christ. And it was Leo who kept the barbarian Vandals from murdering the Romans and burning the city. Tradition calls him “the Great.” He earned the title. LINKS Leo the Great, Sermon LXXXII: on the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2206 Leo the Great, Letter XCV: to Pulcheria Augusta https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2158 Leo the Great, Tome of Leo Audiobook https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-leo-great-tome-leo/ 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 Christians respected the authority of Scripture, but already in the fifth century the Church was riven by conflicting interpretations of Scripture. A monk in Gaul, Vincent of Lerins, developed a formula to determine true doctrine from false. "All possible care must be taken," he said, "that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all." Conservative by temperament, Vincent nonetheless allowed for development in religion through the ages. He emphasized the special role of the ancient Fathers as witnesses to authentic tradition. Thus he provided the foundation for the study of patristics — and the production of this podcast! LINKS Vincent of Lerins, Commonitorium https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3506.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's uncle was the notorious Theophilus, a ruthless and fiercely competitive churchman — and the old manhood handpicked his nephew to be his successor as bishop of Alexandria. Cyril learned from Theophilus how to orchestrate an international incident and carry it through to the victorious end. But he was very much his own man: a towering intellect, the mastermind of the Council of Ephesus, a prodigious commentator on the Scriptures, and a saint of a different sort. LINKS Socrates Scholasticus, The Ecclesiastical History (Book VII, the story of Cyril and the Council of Ephesus) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2884 Works of Cyril in translation https://tertullian.org/fathers/ John McGuckin, Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy https://www.amazon.com/Saint-Cyril-Alexandria-Christological-Controversy/dp/0881418633  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 Follow this link to join the Online Great Books VIP waiting list and get 25% off your first 3 months: https://hj424.isrefer.com/go/ogbmemberships/tmirus/

The great ascetic movement was in its first years of explosive growth when John Cassian journeyed from West to East. He visited the communities of monks and hermits in Palestine and Egypt. Though he sought a quiet life, he got caught up in international intrigue and adventure. In his later years he drew together the memories of his years in the desert, and composed two works on the cultivation of virtue and the practices of prayer. LINKS John Cassian, The Conferences (Part 1) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2107 John Cassian, The Institutes https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2106 John Cassian, Seven Books on the Incarnation of the Lord, against Nestorius https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2097 Gennadius, Lives of Illustrious Men (see Chapter LXII) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3079 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 Follow this link to join the Online Great Books VIP waiting list and get 25% off your first 3 months: https://hj424.isrefer.com/go/ogbmemberships/tmirus/