Figures

Bishop of Jerusalem whose Catechetical Lectures instruct the newly baptized; his Mystagogical Catecheses are among the earliest detailed witnesses to eucharistic faith and practice.

Archbishop of Constantinople, called “golden-mouthed” for his preaching; his Homilies on the Gospel of John are a major patristic commentary on the Bread of Life discourse.

Bishop of Milan and teacher of Augustine; his On the Mysteries (De Mysteriis) instructs the newly baptized on the sacraments.

Bishop of Antioch, martyred at Rome; his seven letters, written on the way to martyrdom, are among the earliest Christian writings after the New Testament.

Philosopher and Christian apologist; his First Apology, addressed to the Roman emperor, gives the earliest extended description of the Eucharist.

Patriarch of Alexandria and defender of the title Theotokos at Ephesus; his Commentary on Luke survives in homilies excerpted through the Catena Aurea.

Anglo-Saxon monk of Wearmouth-Jarrow, historian and exegete; his commentaries on the Gospels carried the patristic reading into the early medieval West.

Monk of Mar Saba near Jerusalem and the last of the Greek Fathers; his Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith summarizes the Eastern patristic inheritance.