Ancient TalkSt Ignatius of Antioch
Bishop of Antioch, arrested and taken to Rome to be martyred. On the way he wrote seven letters to churches urging unity around the bishop and the Eucharist.
Authors
St Irenaeus of Lyons
A disciple of Polycarp, who knew the Apostle John. As bishop of Lyons he wrote Against Heresies, defending the apostolic faith against Gnosticism.
St Athanasius
Bishop of Alexandria and tireless defender of the Nicene Creed, exiled five times. His On the Incarnation remains one of the clearest accounts of why God became man.
St Ephrem the Syrian
Deacon of Nisibis and later Edessa, and the greatest poet of the Syriac-speaking Church, called the “Harp of the Spirit.” He taught the faith in hymns sung by choirs; the Lenten prayer that bears his name is said throughout Great Lent.
St John Chrysostom
Archbishop of Constantinople, called “Golden-Mouthed” for his preaching. His homilies on Scripture and the Divine Liturgy bearing his name are still in daily use.
St Gregory the Theologian
Gregory of Nazianzus, friend of St Basil the Great and one of the Cappadocian Fathers. As bishop in Constantinople he preached the Five Theological Orations in defence of the Holy Trinity, which earned him the title “the Theologian.”
St Gregory of Nyssa
One of the Cappadocian Fathers with his brother Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus; a profound mystical theologian of the soul's endless ascent into God.
St Augustine of Hippo
North African bishop, converted after a restless youth in 386. His Confessions and City of God shaped Western Christianity more than almost any other writings.
The Desert Fathers
Hermits and monks of the Egyptian desert such as St Anthony the Great and Abba Poemen. Their short sayings on prayer, humility and repentance are timeless.
St Isaac the Syrian
Isaac of Nineveh, a monk and briefly bishop of the Church of the East, who withdrew to solitude. His Ascetical Homilies on prayer, tears and God's mercy are beloved across East and West.
St Maximus the Confessor
Byzantine monk and theologian who defended the truth that Christ has a human will as well as a divine will. For this confession he was mutilated and died in exile; the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680–681) upheld his teaching. No public-domain English translation of his works exists yet, so we link to the original Greek.
The Philokalia
An anthology of writings on watchfulness and the prayer of the heart by Fathers from the 4th to the 15th century, compiled by St Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St Makarios of Corinth. The English translations are still under copyright, so we link to the first Greek edition.
Thomas à Kempis
An Augustinian canon in the Netherlands, generally credited with The Imitation of Christ, a gentle guide to inward life and humility.
G.K. Chesterton
English journalist, novelist and apologist known for his paradox and good humour. Author of Orthodoxy, The Everlasting Man and the Father Brown stories; he entered the Catholic Church in 1922.