Mike Aquilina

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Church Fathers

Below is a brief listing of resources that offer opportunities for richer study of the Fathers.

The Fathers in General
The twentieth century produced a great many seminary and university textbooks on the study of the Church Fathers. They’are usually known by the names of their authors, rather than by their titles, which are almost indistinguishable anyway. So you'll sometimes hear fans of the Fathers arguing (for example) the comparative merits of "Quasten" and "Altaner."

Most of the manuals are out of print, but used copies are waiting for you on the shelves of bookshops around the world. Affordable copies turn up regularly online at Amazon. The following are my favorites. I note their page counts, because some readers are looking for a summary treatment and others for the cyclopedic.

Altaner, Berthold. Patrology. Translated by Hilda C. Graef. New York: Herder and Herder, 1960. 660 pages.
Bardenhewer, Otto. Patrology: The Lives and Works of the Fathers of the Church. Translated by Thomas J. Shahan. Freiburg: Herder, 1908. 697 pages.
Cayré, F. Manual of Patrology (two volumes). Translated by H. Howitt. Paris: Desclée, 1940. Vol. 1: 742 pages. Vol. 2: 916 pages.
Dirksen, Aloys. Elementary Patrology: The Writings of the Fathers of the Church. St. Louis, Mo.: Herder, 1959. 314 pages.
Drobner, Hubertus R. The Fathers of the Church: A Comprehensive Introduction. Translated by Siegfried S. Schatzmann. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2005. 596 pages. A detailed, one-volume Catholic patrology, currently in print and relatively affordable, that includes the most up-to-date scholarship.
Hamell, Patrick J. Handbook of Patrology. New York: Alba House, 1968. 170 pages.
Quasten, Johannes. Patrology (four volumes). Christian Classics, Allen, Texas, 1997. Vol. 1: 450 pages. Vol. 2: 349 pages. Vol. 3: 605 pages. Vol. 4: 667 pages. Still in print after several decades, this survey is like an encyclopedia of patrology, providing by far the most detailed analysis of each Father's life, work, and importance in the history of the Church.
Schmid, Bernard. Manual of Patrology. Translated by a Benedictine monk. St. Louis, Mo.: Herder, 1911. 351 pages.
Tixeront, J. A Handbook of Patrology. Translated by S. A. Raemers. St. Louis, Mo.: Herder, 1920. 380 pages.
Wuerl, Donald W. Fathers of the Church. Boston: Daughters of St. Paul. 1982. 144 pages.

Collections and Anthologies
The best and most complete series are "Ancient Christian Writers" and "Fathers of the Church," both of which are Catholic —- and both still growing. The most affordable series are the 19th-century Protestant "Ante-Nicene Fathers" and "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers" (reprinted by Hendrickson), whose commentary and footnotes are sometimes extremely anti-Catholic. Most annoying, though, is the editors' habit of deleting passages that favor distinctively Catholic doctrines.

Jurgens, William A., ed.

The Faith of the Early Fathers

Volume 1 - Volume 2 - Volume 3

 Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minn., 1979. Three volumes of the Fathers' testimony on a host of dogmas, doctrines, and disciplines. This is an excellent resource for those who explain, defend, or teach the faith.
Toal, M.F., ed. Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers: A Manual of Preaching, Spiritual Reading, and Meditation (four volumes). St. Thomas Aquinas gathered these patristic homilies together into the collection he called "The Golden Chain".” The readings follow the Church's calendar.
Aquilina, Mike. The Fathers of the Church Our Sunday Visitor, 1999. 250 pages.

The Apostolic Fathers

The handy English edition of the Apostolic Fathers is Early Christian Writings in the Penguin Classics series (London: Penguin, 1987), translated by Maxwell Staniforth and revised by Andrew Louth. If you want the original Greek (with English translation), you can choose from many editions, including the two-volume The Apostolic Fathers (vol. 1 / vol. 2), edited by Bart D. Ehrman for Harvard's Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge: Harvard, 2003). Used copies of the old bilingual The Apostolic Fathers, edited by J.B. Lightfoot and J.R. Harmer (1891, reprinted by Baker 1984), can often be found at affordable prices. Other translations and editions are surfacing even as we go to press. None of these editions, though, are particularly Catholic. For doctrinal analysis, the best bet remains either ACW or FC.

Good overviews of the period are The Apostolic Fathers by Simon Tugwell, O.P. (Harrisburg, Pa.: Morehouse, 1989) and Reading the Apostolic Fathers by Clayton N. Jefford (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1996).

A beautiful, moving, almost novelistic treatment is Rod Bennett's Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2002).

Historical Overviews and Rambles

Bunson, Matthew. Encyclopedia of Catholic History Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, Ind., 2004. Reliable basic data on the Fathers, creeds, councils, heresies.
Newman, John Henry Cardinal. The Church of the Fathers. Notre Dame, Ind.: Notre Dame University, 2002. Vivid historical sketches about some of the main characters and events of the Patristic Era.
Ramsey, Boniface. Beginning to Read the Fathers. Paulist, Mahwah, N.J., 1985. A good introduction to the Fathers, with in-depth explorations of the Fathers’ doctrine on selected topics, such as Jesus Christ, Scripture, and virginity.
Stark, Rodney. The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1997. A sociological study of the Church’s growth in the first three centuries — all the more remarkable because written by a nonbeliever.
Whitehead, Kenneth. One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic: The Early Church was the Catholic Church. San Francisco: Ignatius.
Wilken, Robert L. The Christians as the Romans Saw Them. New Haven: Yale, 1984.
Wilken, Robert L. The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. An intelligent, yet popular and quite moving introduction to the Christian culture of the Fathers.
Aquilina, Mike. The Fathers of the Church Our Sunday Visitor, 1999. 250 pages.

Eastern Schools, Traditions, Rites

Brightman, F.E. Eastern Liturgies. Piscataway, N.J.: Gorgias (Reprint), 2002.
Brock, Sebastian, translator and editor. Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian, 1988.
Gruber, Mark. Sacrifice in the Desert: A Study of an Egyptian Minority Through the Prism of Coptic Monasticism. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2003.
Meinardus, Otto F. A. Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2002.
Roberson, Ronald G. The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey. Rome: Oriental Institute Press, 1986.
Meredith, Anthony. The Cappadocians. Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir's, 2000.

The Fathers on the Bible

de Margerie, Bertrand, S.J. An Introduction to the History of Exegesis, vol. 1: The Greek Fathers. Petersham, Mass.: St. Bede’s, 1993.
Froehlich, Karlfried. Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984. A great collection of texts on the reading of Scripture, culled from the Fathers themselves.
Hall, Christopher A. Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998. A readable and winsome introduction to the Fathers’ methods of biblical interpretation, written by a Protestant theologian for an evangelical publisher.
Oden, Thomas, general editor The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Series. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998. A multivolume set that collects the Fathers’ interpretations of all the Scriptures, verse by verse, book by book.
Shea, Mark P. Making Senses Out of Scripture: Reading the Bible as the First Christians Did (San Diego, Cal.: Basilica Press, 1999).
Simonetti, Manlio. Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1994.

The Fathers on Prayer

Aquilina, Mike. The Way of the Fathers. Huntington, Ind.: 1999. A collection of sayings of the Fathers, organized by topic.
Aumann, Jordan. Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition. San Francisco: Ignatius, 1985. Father Aumann’s early chapters offer profound insight into the patristic experience of prayer, liturgy, Scripture, and community.
Bouyer, Louis, et al. The Spirituality of the New Testament and the Fathers. A History of Christian Spirituality, vol. 1. New York: Seabury, 1963.
Cayré, F. Spiritual Writers of the Early Church. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998. A multivolume set that collects the Fathers’ interpretations of all the Scriptures, verse by verse, book by book.
Hahn, Scott. Understanding ‘Our Father’: Biblical Reflections on the Lord’s Prayer. Steubenville, Ohio: Emmaus Road, 2002. A synthesis of patristic, historical, and spiritual exegesis, with several lengthy commentaries from the Fathers themselves.
Spidlík, Thomas. Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications, 1994. Selections from the Fathers, chosen and arranged for meditation.

The Fathers on Church, Priesthood, and Hierarchy

Burtchaell, James T. From Synagogue to Church: Public Services and Offices in the Earliest Christian Communities. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University, 1992.
Cochini, Christian. The Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy. San Francisco: Ignatius, 1990.
Guarducci, Margherita. The Primacy of the Church of Rome: Documents, Reflections, Proofs. San Francisco: Ignatius, 2003.
Halton, Thomas. The Church. MFC, vol. 4. Wilmington, Del.: Michael Glazier, 1985. A selection of texts.
Heid, Stefan. Celibacy in the Early Church: The Beginnings of Obligatory Continence for Clerics in East and West. San Francisco: Ignatius, 2000
Lienhard, Joseph T. Ministry. MFC, vol. 8. Wilmington, Del.: Michael Glazier, 1984. A selection of texts.
Kaitholil, George. Church, The Sacrament of Christ: Patristic Vision and Modern Theology. Staten Island, N.Y.: Alba House, 1998.
Shotwell, James T., and Louise Ropes Loomis. The See of Peter. New York: Columbia University, 1991. A collection of texts and traditions that link the papacy and Roman primacy with succession from St. Peter.

The Fathers on the Sacraments

Aquilina, Mike. The Mass of the Early Christians. Huntington, Ind.: Our Sunday Visitor, 2001. Background, commentary, and many texts of the earliest liturgies.
Bouyer, Louis. Eucharist: Theology and Spirituality of the Eucharistic Prayer. Notre Dame, Ind.: Notre Dame University, 1968.
Deiss, Lucien. Springtime of the Liturgy: Liturgical Texts of the First Four Centuries (Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minn., 1979) A rich stock of ancient liturgies, well translated into dignified modern English. Many unusual prayers and blessings.
Hahn, Scott, and Aquilina, Mike. Living the Mysteries: A Guide for Unfinished Christians. Huntington, Ind.: Our Sunday Visitor, 2003. Fifty patristic meditations covering the Church’s sacraments.
Mazza, Enrico. Mystagogy: A Theology of Liturgy in the Patristic Age. New York: Pueblo, 1989.

The Fathers on Doctrine

Congar, Yves M.J. A History of Theology. Doubleday: New York, 1968. Excellent chapters on the rise of theology as a discipline, and the Fathers’ challenges and accomplishments in this area.
Congar, Yves M.J. The Meaning of Tradition. San Francisco: Ignatius, 2004.
Daley, Brian. The Hope of the Early Church: A Handbook of Patristic Eschatology. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2005. An overview of the Fathers’ teachings on the end times and the last things.
Daley, Brian. On the Dormition of Mary: Early Patristic Homilies. Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir’s Seminary,1997.
Gambero, Luigi. Mary and the Fathers of the Church: The Blessed Virgin Mary in Patristic Thought. San Francisco: Ignatius, 2004.
Gasparro, Giulia Sfameni, et al., editors. The Human Couple in the Fathers. Pauline Patristic Series, vol. 1. Brings out the richness of the Fathers’ thought on love, sex, and marriage. Includes selections from the Fathers with detailed and useful introductions.
Hogan, Richard M. Dissent from the Creed: Heresies Past and Present. Huntington, Ind.: 2001. The best popular study of the most wayward ancients.
Kelly, J.N.D. Early Christian Doctrines. New York: Continuum, 2000.
Newman, John Henry Cardinal. An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. Notre Dame, Ind.: Notre Dame, 1989. A clear explanation and demonstration of the Fathers’ authority in doctrinal matters.
Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600), vol. 1 in The Christian Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971.
Ray, Stephen K. Crossing the Tiber. San Francisco: Ignatius, 1997. The story of how one man, led by study of the Church Fathers, converted from “Bible-only” Christianity to the fullness of Catholic faith. Each of his doctrinal points is thoroughly documented with patristic references.
Scott, David. The Catholic Passion: Rediscovering the Power and Beauty of the Faith. Chicago: Loyola, 2005. A beautiful retrieval of the Fathers’ understanding of Catholic faith. Scott takes the words of the Fathers and applies them to our lives today.
Tixeront, Joseph. History of Dogmas. Milestones in Catholic Thought, vol. 1. Westminster, Md.: Christian Classics, 1984.
Willis, John R. The Teachings of the Church Fathers. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2002.

Martyrdom in the Early Church

Musurillo, Herbert, editor and translator. The Acts of the Christian Martyrs. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University, 1972.
Young, Robin Darling. In Procession Before the World: Martyrdom as Public Liturgy in Early Christianity. Milwaukee: Marquette University, 2001.
Ricciotti, Giuseppe. The Age of Martyrs: Christianity from Diocletian to Constantine. Translated by Anthony Bull. Milwaukee: Bruce, 1959.

Monasticism in the Early Church

Burton-Christie, Douglas. The Word in the Desert: Scripture and the Quest for Holiness in Early Christian Monasticism. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University, 1993.
Harmless, William. Desert Christians: An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University, 2004.
Petersen, Joan M., editor and translator. Handmaids of the Lord: Holy Women in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1996.
Ward, Benedicta, editor and translator. The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection. Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1975.

Fiction

De Wohl, Louis. Citadel of God: A Novel About Saint Benedict. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994.
De Wohl, Louis. The Restless Flame: A Novel About Saint Augustine. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997.
Giesler, Michael. Junia: The Fictional Life and Death of an Early Christian. Princeton: Scepter, 2002.
Giesler, Michael. Marcus. Princeton: Scepter, 2004.
Newman, John Henry. Callista: A Tale of the Third Century. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame, 2001.
Waugh, Evelyn. Helena. Chicago: Loyola, 2005. A great novelist’s portrait of Constantine’s amazing mother.

Christian Artwork

Evans, Helen, editor. The Arts of Byzantium Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001.
Evans, Helen; and Wixom, William, editors. The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843-1261 Harry N. Abrams, 2000.
Murray, Peter and Linda. The Oxford Companion to Christian Art and Architecture. Oxford University Press, 1998.
Danielou, Jean. Primitive Christian Symbols. Helicon Press, 1964.
Apostolos-Cappadona, Diane. Dictionary of Christian Art. Continuum Intl Pub Group, 1994.
Beckett, Wendy. Icons: Divine Beauty Saqi Books, 2004.
Quenot, Michael. The Icon: Window on the Kingdom St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1992.
Ouspensky, Leonid and Lossky, Vladmir The Meaning of Icons St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1999.
Ourspensky, Leonid Theology of the Icon 2-volume set. Translated by Anthony Gythiel. St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1992.

Ancient Music

Gulezyan, Aram. Music from the 5th Century Global Village, 1998.

Ancient Coins

n/a Dirty Old Coins A kit that contains 10 authentic Roman coins.

The Fathers for Kids

Aquilina, Michael III. St. Jude: A Friend In Hard Times My son's book about Saint Jude.

Copyright 2000 - 2006 Mike Aquilina. All rights reserved.