St. Athanasius

The Catholic Encyclopedia entry on St. Athanasius opens with the following synopsis:

Bishop of Alexandria; Confessor and Doctor of the Church; born c. 296; died 2 May, 373. Athanasius was the greatest champion of Catholic belief on the subject of the Incarnation that the Church has ever known and in his lifetime earned the characteristic title of "Father of Orthodoxy", by which he has been distinguished every since. While the chronology of his career still remains for the most part a hopelessly involved problem, the fullest material for an account of the main achievements of his life will be found in his collected writings and in the contemporary records of his time.

Readings:

• Pope Benedict XVI's reflection on St. Athanasius 
• On the Incarnation -- New Advent  (optional)
• On the Incarnation -- Popular Patristics Series (optional)

"St Athanasius stood contra mundum for the Trinitarian doctrine 'whole and undefiled,' when it looked as if all the civilized world was slipping back from Christianity into the religion of Arius, into one of those 'sensible' synthetic religions which are so strongly recommended today and which then, as now, included among their devotees many highly cultivated clergymen. The glory of St Athanasius is that he did not move with the times; it is his reward that he now remains when those times, like all others, have passed away."

• Arianism as defined at New Advent
• Arianism as described by Hilaire Belloc
• Arianism and the Council of Nicea

St. Cyprian of Carthage

The Catholic Encyclopedia begins its discussion of St. Cyprian of Carthage with this synopsis:

Bishop and martyr. Of the date of the saint's birth and of his early life nothing is known. At the time of his conversion to Christianity he had, perhaps, passed middle life. He was famous as an orator and pleader, had considerable wealth, and held, no doubt, a great position in the metropolis of Africa. We learn from his deacon, St. Pontius, whose life of the saint is preserved, that his mien was dignified without severity, and cheerful without effusiveness. His gift of eloquence is evident in his writings. He was not a thinker, a philosopher, a theologian, but eminently a man of the world and an administrator, of vast energies, and of forcible and striking character.

Readings:

• Pope Benedict XVI's reflection on St. Cyprian
• Treatise IV: On the Lord's Prayer
• Treatise I: On the Unity of the Church (optional)
• Life and Passion of St. Cyprian, by Pontius the Deacon (optional)

Cyprian says:

Before all things, the Teacher of peace and the Master of unity would not have prayer to be made singly and individually, as for one who prays to pray for himself alone.  For we say not "My Father, which art in heaven," nor "Give me this day my daily bread"....  Our prayer is public and common; and when we pray, we pray not for one, but for the whole people, because we the whole people are one."

Origen of Alexandria

Note in the icon, that Origen has no 'halo'.  He has not yet been recognized by the Church as a Saint, although he is considered one of the most important writers in early Christianity.  Pope Benedict call his writings "crucial to the whole development of Christian thought".


According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Origen was...

Born in 185, Origen was barely seventeen when a bloody persecution of the Church ofAlexandrian broke out. His father Leonides, who admired his precocious genius and was charmed with his virtuous life, had given him an excellent literary education. When Leonides was cast into prison, Origen would fain have shared his lot, but being unable to carry out his resolution, as his mother had hidden his clothes, he wrote an ardent, enthusiastic letter to his father exhorting him to persevere courageously. When Leonides had won the martyr's crown and his fortune had been confiscated by the imperial authorities, the heroic child laboured to support himself, his mother, and his six younger brothers. This he successfully accomplished by becoming a teacher, selling his manuscripts, and by the generous aid of a certain rich lady, who admired his talents. He assumed, of his own accord, the direction of the catechetical school, on the withdrawal of Clement. Origen's school, which was frequented by pagans, soon became a nursery of neophytes, confessors, and martyrs. 

Readings:

• Pope Benedict's first reflection on Origen
• Pope Benedict's second reflection on Origen

Origen says:

"Study first of all the divine Scriptures.  Study them, I say.  For we need to study the divine writings deeply, lest we should speak of them faster than we think; and while you study these divine works with a believing and God-pleasing intention, knock at that which is closed in them and it shall be opened to you by the porter, of whom Jesus says, 'to him the porter opens.'  While you attend to this lectio divina, seek aright and with unwavering faith in God the hidden sense which is present in most passages of the divine Scriptures.  And do not be content with knocking and seeking, for what is absolutely necessary for understanding divine things is oratio, and in urging us to this the Saviour says not only 'knock and it will be opened to you' and 'seek and you will find,' but also 'ask and it will be given you.'"

St. Irenaeus of Lyons

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia,

St. Irenaeus (ear-en-A-us) was the Bishop of Lyons, and Father of the Church. He was born in Proconsular Asia in the first half of the second century. While still very young, Irenaeus had seen and heard the holy Bishop Polycarp (d. 155) at Smyrna. During the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, Irenaeus was a priest of the Church of Lyons. The clergy of that city, many of whom were suffering imprisonment for the Faith, sent him (177 or 178) to Rome with a letter to Pope Eleutherius concerning Montanism, and on that occasion bore emphatic testimony to his merits. Returning to Gaul, Irenaeus succeeded the martyr Saint Pothinus as Bishop of Lyons. During the religious peace which followed the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, the new bishop divided his activities between the duties of a pastor and of a missionary, and his writings, almost all of which were directed against Gnosticism, the heresy then spreading in Gaul and elsewhere. In 190 or 191 he interceded with Pope Victor to lift the sentence of excommunication laid by that pontiff upon the Christian communities of Asia Minor which persevered in the practice of the Quartodecimans in regard to the celebration of Easter. Nothing is known of the date of his death, which must have occurred at the end of the second or the beginning of the third century. In spite of some isolated and later testimony to that effect, it is not very probable that he ended his career with martyrdom. His feast is celebrated on 28 June in the Latin Church, and on 23 August in the Greek.

Readings:

• Pope Benedict XVI's reflection on St. Irenaeus
• Against Heresies (Adversus Haereses) - optional
• Book 1, Chapter 1 - description of a gnostic system: beware! painful, but instructive!
• Book 1, Chapter 6 - in gnosticism, good works were for the little people
• Book 1, Chapter 11 - anyone can create their own gnostic system
• Book 1, Chapter 13 - gnostics exploited women
• Pope Benedict's address directs us to three points Irenaeus makes regarding the Apostolic Tradition:
• Book 1, Chapter 10 - it creates UNITY in the world
• Book 3, Chapter 3 - it is PUBLIC, not private or secrete
• Book 3, Chapter 24 - it is guided by the HOLY SPIRIT present in the Church
• Catholic Encyclopedia on Gnosticism as a system of salvation by (special) knowledge
• Catholic Encyclopedia on Heresy with a definition by St. Thomas Aquinas

Some questions to think about over the coming week:

• Do you find anything like Gnosticism in the world around you today? In a small way, or on a large scale? At home, school, work, church?
• Why do we desire any special knowledge? How can we know when we have gone too far?
• How does the Church authenticate 'private revelation'?
• What is the apparent advantage to being saved by super-secret-special knowledge, rather than by the grace of God along with everyone else who cooperates?
• Can you put in your own words each of the three principles of the Apostolic Tradition? What would life be like if one principle was missing?
• Do you have a favorite quote from Irenaeus?

Irenaeus says:

"...the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it.  She also belives these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth."

St. Justin Martyr

Martyrdom of St. Justin

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia,

St. Justin Martyr was a Christian apologist, born at Flavia Neapolis, about A.D. 100, converted to Christianity about A.D. 130, taught and defended the Christian religion in Asia Minor and at Rome, where he suffered martyrdom about the year 165. Two "Apologies" bearing his name and his "Dialogue with the Jew Tryphon" have come down to us. Leo XIII had a Mass and an Office composed in his honour and set his feast for 14 April.













Readings:

• Pope Benedict's reflection on St. Justin Martyr
• First apology Justin Martyr - optional
• Ch 1 - 10 - Refuting the charge of Atheism leveled against Christians
• Ch 24, 25 - Varieties of Heathen Worship, False Gods abandoned
• Ch 65, 66, 67 - On weekly worship, administration of the sacraments
• Dialogue with Trypho - optional
• Ch 1 - 8 - autobiographical journey through philosophy
• Second apology Justin Martyr - optional
• Hortatory address to the Greeks - optional
• The martyrdom of the holy martyrs Justin (and others) at Rome - optional

Specific questions:

From OSV/Welborn:

• What is an apologist?  How did Justin fill this role?
• What is Logos?
• What was the difference between Justin’s approach to pagan philosophy and his approach to pagan religion?

From OSV/Aquilina:

• In the modern world, can we approach Science as Justin approached pagan philosophy?  Does Science lead us to Christ?
• Does knowing about Science and secular philosophies make us better evangelists?

Justin says:

"...I confess that I both boast and with all my strength strive to be found a Christian; not because the teachings of Plato are different from those of Christ, but because they are not in all respects similar, as neither are those of the others, Stoics, and poets, and historians. For each man spoke well in proportion to the share he had of the Word.... Whatever things were rightly said among all men, are the property of us Christians."

St. Clement of Rome

Pope Benedict's words at the beginning of his reflection on St. Clement are a fitting place for us to begin as well:

"Let us now devote our attention to the Apostolic Fathers, that is, to the first and second generations in the Church subsequent to the Apostles. And thus, we can see where the Church's journey begins in history".

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia...

Pope Clement I (called CLEMENS ROMANUS to distinguish him from the Alexandrian), is the first of the successors of St. Peter of whom anything definite is known, and he is the first of the "Apostolic Fathers". His feast is celebrated 23 November. He has left one genuine writing [c. 97], a letter to the Church of Corinth, and many others have been attributed to him.

Pope St Clement Adoring the Trinity
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1737-1738

Readings:

• Pope Benedict's reflection on St. Clement of  Rome
• Clement's First Epistle to the Corinthians

Specific questions from Welborn/OSV:

• Who was Clement and why is it significant that he was writing to Christian communities in other cities?
• What does Clement indicate were the root causes of the dissension in the Church in Corinth?
• What elements of the Church’s identity did Clement recommend that the Church in Corinth focus on?

Clement asks:


"Why are there strifes, and tumults, and divisions, and schisms, and wars among you? Have we not one God and one Christ? Is there not one Spirit of grace poured out upon us? And have we not one calling in Christ? Ephesians 4:4-6 Why do we divide and tear in pieces the members of Christ, and raise up strife against our own body, and have reached such a height of madness as to forget that we are members one of another? Romans 12:5"

St Juan Diego Reading Group

The St. Juan Diego reading group will begin by spending time reading about the early Church Fathers, 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 Christians.

Our basic guide for reading about the early Fathers will be reflections by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. These short writings on the lives of the saints come from weekly general audiences in 2007-2008.  He discusses 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.

The general audiences will be the basis for each week's group discussion, but optional additional material will be suggested and linked in here for those who want to dig deeper on a particular Saint.

For example the first Father, St. Clement of Rome wrote an important Epistle to the Corinthians which is considered one of the earliest authentic Christian documents outside the New Testament.  It was written around the year 97 AD.  The reading schedule page is here.