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Early Fathers

Augustine here connects the passion of Jesus beginning in the Garden of Gethsemane and culminating on the cross, with the sufferings of the whole body of Christ, commenting on Psalm 141 along with the passion narratives of Mark and Luke....

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....

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. ...

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=''...