Saint John Chrysostom here speaks of the gift of prayer as continual conversation with God that proceeds from longing for God that lifts the soul into the heavens where it embraces God and brings great joy and light to the soul....
[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']I[/dropcaps]gnatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the [Church] blessed in the grace of God the Father, in Jesus Christ our Saviour, in whom I salute the Church which is at Magnesia, near the Moeander, and wish it abundance of...
[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']P[/dropcaps]ROLOGUE: There was a man of venerable life, blessed by grace, and blessed in name, for he was called "Benedictus" or Bennet: who, from his younger years, carried always the mind of an old man; for his age was inferior to...
Gregory of Nyssa, in the course of his treatise on Christian perfection, lays out these guidelines for the sort of examination of conscience which should be a regular feature of anyone who wants to make progress in Christian discipleship....
Here Basil the Great reflects on the abundant goodness of God and the unimaginable beauty of his inumerable gifts. The only proper repayment is love....
Irenaeus here shows that the Church of the 2nd century regarded the Eucharist as a sacrifice which fulfilled the prophecy of Malachi 1:11 of a new, pure oblation and offering that would be offered by the gentiles all over the world. ...
These words of Basil the Great on the gift of God's love and the the radiance of divine beauty were originally addressed to his monks as part of his monastic rule....
Cyprian here writes of the martyrdom of St. Fabian who was elected bishop of the Church of Rome in 236. In 250, at the beginning of the persecution of the Emperor Decius, Pope Fabian was captured, martyred, and buried in the catacombs, in cemetery...
Athanasius sees a marvelous unity and order in creation that is held together and orchestrated by the divine word. He uses the metaphor of harmony in music to describe the magnificent unity found among the magnificent diversity of the world's creatures. [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color=''...
Here St. Cyril of Alexandria comments on the promise of God the Father to pour out his Holy Spirit on all mankind in order to renew and restore our wounded human nature. In his baptism, the Lord Jesus Christ, "the first-fruits of our restored nature," receives...