Hans Urs von Balthasar Von Balthasar presents one of the few serious studies available on the thought of one of the most important, and yet most neglected Fathers of the Church, Gregory of Nyssa. He was the most profound Greek philosopher of the Christian era, a mystic and an incomparable poet whom St. Maximus designated as the "Universal Doctor" and the Second Council of Nicaea declared him …

A survey of the principal themes of patristic writing, touching on the major Greek and Latin Fathers of the Church.  

St. Clement's epistle, written c. 96, is called the first epistle, and is a model of a pastoral letter. The epistles of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Smyrna at the beginning of the second century, are addressed to six Christian communities. 

Probably written in 406-408, this dialogue between an unidentified bishop and Theodore, a deacon of the Church of Rome, has as its aim to point out Chrysostom as a model of what a true Christian bishop should be. 

This work, which establishes Irenaeus as the most important of the theologians of the second century, is a detailed and effective refutation of Gnosticism, and a major source of information on the various Gnostic sects and doctrines. 

St. Patrick did not consider himself a man of letters; the short texts that survive reflect, however, his powerful personality. A contemporary and fellow missionary of St. Patrick, Secundinus is an enthusiastic admirer and defender of St. Patrick in this hymn. 

Origen (185-ca. 254), one of the most prolific and influential of the early Church Fathers, is best known to us for his Scripture exegesis. Henri de Lubac’s History and Spirit is a landmark study of Origen’s understanding of Scripture and his exegetical methods. In exploring Origen’s efforts to interpret the four different senses of Scripture, de Lubac leads the reader …

John Climacus (c. 579-649) was abbot of the monastery of Catherine on Mount Sinai. His Ladder was the most widely used handbook of the ascetical life in the ancient Greek Church. 

This monumental classic collection studies the ancient Christian writers and their teachings about the early church.

The Fathers of the Church were great, holy men of history who lived in the early centuries of Christianity and made a significant impact on the Church and society by their lives and their teachings & writings. There are various groups of such men considered to be Fathers of the Church, and this work focuses on the lives, adventures and central teachings of the great Greek Fathers, whose …

Drawing on his early experience as a monk in Bethlehem and Egypt, St. John Cassian (c. 365-c. 435) journeyed to the West to found monasteries in Marseilles and the region of Provence. Conferences is his masterpiece, a study of the Egyptian ideal of the monk.  

In this volume is a translation of a collection of hymns of Christ, composed by Ephrem the Syrian (c. 306-373), the most famous and prolific of the Fathers of the Syriac-speaking Church. 

The Place of the Patriarchs of Antioch traces with broad strokes the prestigious history of the Church of Antioch from St. Peter to Patriarch Maximos V Hakim. Exarch Elias presents—in the style of Eusebius’ Church History —an erudite account of the prominent role Antioch played in the Church’s missionary, dogmatic and cultural development. This son of Antioch recounts …

This volume includes a translation of four spiritual treatises of Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662), plus an account of his trial. Included are The Four Hundred Chapters of Love, Commentary on the Lord's Prayer, Chapters on Knowledge, The Church's Mystagogy, and Trial of Maximus.  

Here are the important and influential writings of a Christian mystic and early father of the Church. Origen (c. 185-254) was born in Alexandria and lived through the turbulent years during the collapse of the Roman Empire. 

This book is a new release and will be published in May 2008.

St. Symeon (942-1022), abbot, spiritual director, theologian and church reformer, was the great spiritual master of Eastern Christianity. His Discourses, the central work of his life, were preached to his monks during their Matins ritual. 

The writings of Pseudo-Macarius, a Syrian monk of the 4th century, bring to Western Christianity a holistic “heart” spirituality that offers a necessary complementarity to the “head” spirituality of the West. The homilies reveal the typical traits of Eastern Christian asceticism and The Great Letter instructs the monastic community. 

Adrian Fortescue, a British apologist for the Catholic faith in the early part of the 20th century, wrote this classic of clear exposition on the faith of the early Church in the papacy based upon the writings of the Church fathers until 451. No ultramontanist, Fortescue can be a keen critic of personal failings of various Popes, but he shows through his brilliant assessment of the writings of …

Pambo, Evagrius, Macarius of Egypt and Macarius of Alexandria, the four fathers presented in this volume, were well-known in Alexandria and Lower Egypt some 1600 years ago. Their lives, brought to fame by Palladius' Lausiac History, provide valuable insight into the Egyptian monastic communities of the fourth century and into the saintly tradition of the Coptic Church. This volume serves as a …