Fathers

Orthodox icon - Clement of Rome

The St. Juan Diego reading group will kick off by spending time getting to know the early Fathers of the Church, from the Apostolic Age, to St. Augustine of Hippo, a Doctor of the Church who's timeless writings such as 'The Confessions' and 'The City of God' continue to inspire Catholic and non-Catholic Christians alike.

Our basic guide for getting to know the early Fathers will be the weekly general audiences of 2007-2008 from our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.  In these he dwells on each of the early Fathers in a short 5-10 page overview of their lives, contributions, spirituality, and the challenges the Church faced during the time they lived.   (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2007/index_en.htm)

We will read and discuss these general audiences and get to know one Father each week.  Optional additional material will be suggested each week for those who want to dig deeper on a particular Saint.  For example the first Father, St. Clement of Rome wrote an Epistle to the Corinthians which is highly regarded and considered one of the earliest authentic Christian documents outside the New Testament, probably about the year 97 AD. (http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1010.htm)

The Fathers, Pope Benedict XVI

St. Clement of Rome (+ ~100)
St. Ignatius of Antioch (+ between 98-117)
St. Justin Martyr (+165)
St. Ireneaus of Lyons
St. Clement of Alexandria
St. Origen of Alexandria  (+253)
Tertullian (+220)
St. Cyprian
Eusebius of Ceasarea
St. Athanasius of Alexandria (+373)
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
St. Basil
St Gregory Nazianzus
St. Gregory of Nyssa
St. John Chrysostom (+407)
St. Cyril of Alexandria
St. Hillary of Poitiers
St. Eusibius of Vercelli
St. Ambrose of Milan (+397)
St. Maximus of Turin
St. Jerome (+420)
Aphraates "The Sage"
St. Ephram, the Syrian
St. Chromatius of Aquileia
St. Paulinas of Nola
St. Augustine of Hippo (+430)

The Fathers, Volume II, Pope Benedict XVI

St. Leo the Great (+461)
Boethius and Cassiodorus
St. Benedict of Nursia (+547)
Psuedo-Dionysius the Aeropagite
St. Romanus, the Melodist
St. Gregory, the Great (+604)
St. Columban
St. Isidore of Seville
St. Maximus , the Confessor
John Climacus
Bede, the Venerable  (+735)
St. Boniface, the Apostle to the Germans  (+755)
Ambrose Autpert
Germanus of Constantinople
John Damascene  (+749)
St. Theodore, the Studite
Rabanus Maurus (+856)
John Scotus Erigena
Sts. Cyril and Methodius
St. Odo of Cluny  (+942)
St. Peter Damian
Symeon the New Theologian (+1022)
Peter the Venerable 
St. Bernard of Clarivaux  (+1153)

For reference, this brings us from the Apostolic Age of the church to the end of the early middle ages.  The very next century would see St. Francis, St. Dominic, and St Thomas Aquinas and the beginning of the Franciscan and Dominican orders. Sts. Francis, Dominic, and Aquinas lived during the Crusades.  So we have a very rich set of material to continue on if we decide to continue chronologically after the study of the Fathers.

St. Francis of Assisi (+1226)
St. Dominic (+1221)
St. Thomas Aquinas (+1274)
First Crusade (1096)
Last Crusade (1291)  (other sources say they continued to the battle of Lepanto, in October of 1571)