Church Fathers

The Fathers of the Church are those saints who, by the richness of their teaching, contributed especially to the building up of the Church in its early centuries. They are witnesses and authors of Tradition. They share three common characteristics:

• Holiness declared by the Church.
• Antiquity — up to the year 750.
• Writings of recognized standing with correct Christian doctrine.

God our Lord guides the Church and wished to enlighten in a special way certain saints of the early centuries so that the teachings of Jesus Christ would be well understood and correctly transmitted from the beginning. The writings of the Church Fathers are a true treasure for not straying from the path traced by the Lord. Their works, together with the Bible and the Magisterium of the Popes, form the sources from which Catholic theology draws its nourishment.

The most important Fathers of the Church lived in the fourth and fifth centuries. The following stand out in the fourth century:

• Saint Athanasius: Bishop of Alexandria and defender of the Church against Arianism.
• The great Cappadocians: they perfected Trinitarian theology in response to Arianism. There were three: Saint Basil the Great, who organized Eastern monasticism; his brother Saint Gregory of Nyssa, a profound theologian and mystic; and his friend Saint Gregory Nazianzen, an eloquent theologian.
• Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, a great orator.
• Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.

The following Church Fathers stand out in the fifth century:

• Saint Cyril of Alexandria: he took part in the Council of Ephesus and defended the Church against Nestorianism.
• Saint Jerome: a great expert on the Bible; he translated it into Latin (the famous Vulgate, the official text of the Church for many centuries).
• Saint Augustine: the principal Father of the Church and a central figure in history. He treated all the great themes, making decisive theological advances.
• Saint Leo I the Great: a great Pope; his letter to Flavian — a sound patriarch of Constantinople — is one of the great texts of the Magisterium of the Church and was decisive at the Council of Chalcedon in clarifying the two natures of Jesus Christ.

Other Church Fathers can also be mentioned:

• In the second century, Saint Irenaeus defended the Church against Gnosticism.
• In the sixth century, Saint Gregory the Great stands out — a great Pope with important and clear writings; he promoted what is known as Gregorian chant.
• Other notable Church Fathers include: Saint Ephrem, Saint Hilary, Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Saint Peter Chrysologus, Saint Isidore, Saint Bede, Saint John Damascene, etc.

(Earlier history in: Early Christians)