John Damascene, early Church Father, on the Dormition and bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the end of her earthly life. This homily is cited by Pope Pius XII in his definition of the Assumption as a Dogma of faith....
Maximus the Confessor on the Mystery of the Divine Incarnation. [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']T[/dropcaps]he Word of God, born once in the flesh (such is his kindness and his goodness), is always willing to be born spiritually in those who desire him. In them he...
St. Maximus the Confessor here makes clear the nature of true charity or love of God (one of the theological virtues), and affirms that it is not by faith alone that we secure our salvation, but also by a positive act of love of God...
St. Theodore the Studite here acclaims the cross as a life-giving tree that is the antidote to that tree in paradise that was Adam's undoing. Following the early Christian method of interpreting the Old Testament spiritually, he traces the many ways the wood 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...
[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']C[/dropcaps] hrist, who has shown by his words and actions that he was truly God and Lord of the universe, said to his disciples as he was about to go up to Jerusalem: We are going up to Jerusalem now,...
Dorotheus, a sixth century abbot, here speaks here of a shallow sort of happiness and peace that disappears when hardship comes or offense is given. The true "peace that passes understanding" cannot easily be disturbed by adversity or robbed by those giving offense....
St. Dorotheus, a wise abbot from the early Church, here explains why we get so ruffled by the criticism of others. He illustrates the value of fraternal correction and self-accusation in the spiritual life. ...
St. Gregory of Agrigentum on God's light as our joy and supreme delight and bathing in the radiance of Christ, the Sun of Justice. This excerpt from his commentary on Ecclesiastes exhorts us to a life of contemplation, since to contemplate his radiant beauty is...
This excerpt from St. Gregory of Agrigentum is an example of the Early Church Father's spiritual interpretation of Scripture whereby realities of the Old Covenant are seen as pointing beyond themselves to Jesus Christ and the realities of the new dispensation. In this case, the...