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March 12 is the feast day of Pope Saint Gregory the Great on the traditional Catholic calendar. It also marks the date of his death in AD 604. One of the greatest Popes, Gregory reigned for 14 of the most tumultuous years in Church history, preoccupied as it was with the ongoing Lombard invasion of Italy. Wracked with a chronic illness, Gregory nonetheless managed Church and civil affairs with vigor and aplomb as prompted by the Holy Spirit. His reign is often considered the bridge between the ancient Papacy and the medieval Papacy in which the Pope played the role...

On December 2, Christians commemorate Saint Bibiana, a Roman martyr of the 4th century AD. Unfortunately, the facts about Bibiana's martyrdom are few as the surviving account of her passion is considered unreliable, recorded as it was centuries after her death. We know for sure that Bibiana was an early martyr as a shrine was built for her in Rome which exists to this day. Sadly, the present-day Church of St. Bibiana sits adjacent to the Termini train station in a shabby section of Rome, complete with graffiti, even on the exterior walls of the Church itself. We know that...

Saint Cyprian of Carthage is little remembered today, and that is a shame. For those familiar with the traditional Canon of the Roman Mass, Cyprian’s name is there, preserved for posterity in between Cornelius and Lawrence, two other martyrs of the mid-3rd century. But if the words and deeds of many of the saints from that era are obscure to us today, the life of Cyprian can not be classified as such. He wrote voluminously and many of his works have come down to us from antiquity—enough to fill the 600 page tome known as The Complete Works of Saint...

Today, September 3, is the feast of Pope Saint Gregory the Great on the modern calendar. This great pope who is simultaneously considered the last Father of the ancient Church and the first of the medieval Church, has featured frequently on this blog (see his rebuke of the bishops of Dalmatia and his ponderings on Purgatory, in particular). I had not previously looked into Gregory’s early life, however, and falling as it does in the mid-6th century which is right in my wheel-house, I figured I would do a little research. It seems that the earliest Vita of Gregory was...

May 26 is the feast of the early Church father Saint Quadratus of Athens. He is primarily known as a very early apologist for the faith who presented his arguments directly to the emperor Hadrian while the latter was visiting Athens, sometime between AD 124 and AD 132. Practically all of what is known of his life may be found in this brief biographical notice in Saint Jerome’s work, On Illustrious Men: Quadratus, disciple of the apostles, after Publius bishop of Athens had been crowned with martyrdom on account of his faith in Christ, was substituted in his place, and...

The feast day of Saint Flavian, martyr, falls on February 18. Flavian was archbishop of Constantinople from AD 446 through 449. Though he lived long after the traditional age of Christian martyrs, Flavian is nonetheless accounted one of their number, though he was slain by men calling themselves Christians--indeed, he died either during or in the immediate aftermath of a Church Council. The deposition of Saint Flavian from Shea's The Pictorial Life of the Saints. As one of the principle parties at the so-called Robber Council of Ephesus, Flavian found himself on the wrong side of the powerful Patriarch of...

"Pray without ceasing on behalf of other men...For cannot he that falls rise again?"~Saint Ignatius of Antioch Ignatius of Antioch is one of the earliest of the Church fathers who left significant writings behind. Born in the mid-First Century AD, it is believed that he, along with Polycarp, were disciples of Saint John the Evangelist. Ecclesiastical historians of the fourth and fifth centuries mention that Ignatius was consecrated bishop of Antioch by Saint Peter himself. His feast day, on the traditional calendar, is February 1. Ignatius was martyred during the reign of Trajan, thus sometime between AD 98 and 117....

“A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, ‘You are mad; you are not like us.'”~Saint Anthony the Great January 17 is the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great, the founder of monasticism. He is reputed to have lived over 100 years, dying in ca. AD 356 after having lived most of his life in the harsh Egyptian desert. Today, he is known by a variety of names, including, among others: Saint Anthony the Abbot Saint Anthony the Hermit Saint Anthony of the...

In about AD 530, when Italy was ruled by the unstable successors of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric immediately prior to the Byzantine re-conquest, many noblemen of Rome entrusted their young sons to Benedictus, a holy monk who lived in the mountains of nearby Subiaco. One such boy was Maurus who is identified by Saint Gregory the Great as the son of a noble named Evitius. Another was Placidus, who was brought by Tertullius, a senator. These two were among earliest disciples of a man who would be known to history of St. Benedict of Nursia. Writing about 60 years after...

These books contain important accounts and teachings from the early Church that every Christian should at least be familiar with. Unfortunately, many of these ancient resources are unknown to Christians today. How many of these have you read? Take the challenge here: Fifty Works From the Early Church That Every Christian Should ReadIf you have read less than 5 of these, you rank as a catechumen. If you have read at least 5, you are a novice. If you have read at least 10, you are an acolyte. If you have read at least 20, you would qualify as a...

As Christmas approaches, it is well to remember that many of the traditional Nativity practices of the Church were instituted deep in antiquity. One such is the celebration of Mass at midnight on Christmas eve. There is evidence that this tradition began as early as about AD 130 and was instituted by Pope Saint Telesphoros. We find the following passage in the Liber Pontificalis which was likely first compiled in the 5th or 6th century: "[Telesphoros] appointed that at the season of the nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, masses should be celebrated during the night, for in general no...

It's that festive time of year when those who profess not to care a whit about religion expend countless hours and billions of pixels to demonstrate that Jesus Christ was not born on Christmas. But before you succumb to their pathological zeal, take a few minutes to read some of the ancient sources from which we originally derived the date of December 25 as the nativity of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. The first clear source for this date is Hippolytus of Rome, a somewhat mysterious figure from antiquity who may have been an...

December 7 is the feast day of Aurelius Ambrosius, known to history as Saint Ambrose of Milan. He was born in Trier to a wealthy Roman family—his father, also named Ambrose, was Praetorian Prefect of Gaul according to Ambrose's ancient biographer, Paulinus of Milan. Paulinus relates a miracle associated with Ambrose's youth that seemed to presage a great future for the child: When he, as an infant placed in a cradle within the courtyard of the governor's residence, was sleeping with open mouth, suddenly a swarm of bees came and covered his face and lips in such a way that...

December 6 is the feast of Saint Nicholas of Myra, later of Bari. Though known more commonly in modern times for his connection with “Santa Claus”, Saint Nicholas was considered a great saint in his day and numerous anecdotes relating to his acts of holiness, courage and generosity have come down to us from antiquity. Here is an excerpt from an anonymous history from the 4th century AD entitled, Praxis de Stratelatis (Act of the Generals). In it, we see Saint Nicholas doing what he does best: using his authority as bishop to rescue the innocent and speak the truth...

If you’ve never heard of Saint Saturninus of Toulouse, you may be forgiven. Though obscure today, he was among the most illustrious early martyrs of the Church in France. His feast day is November 29. Saturninus is certainly worth knowing about, however, because the account of his death represents one of the most ancient extant Christian works to originate from the Roman province of Gaul. Saturninus was bishop of Tolosa — Toulouse in modern-day France. He was martyred either during the the persecution of Christians initiated by Decius (AD 250) or Valerian (AD 258). Saturninus is mentioned by the 6th...

For this date in the year AD 420, the Chronicon of Prosper of Aquitaine (written in the mid-5th century) contains the following notice: Hieronimus presbyter moritur anno aetatis suae XCI pridie kalendas Octobris. That is, in English: “The priest Jerome died at the age of 91 on 30 September.” His full name was Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus, but he is known to later ages simply as Saint Jerome, Doctor of the Church. Along with Augustine of Hippo, Jerome was one of the most voluminous scholars of antiquity whose works have come down to us. In his own book entitled: De Viris...

Here is a new book that is about to publish: The Life of Saint Ambrose by Paulinus of Milan, also known as the Vita Sancti Ambrosii. Well, in truth, it’s a reprint of a text that was originally published in 1928. It has been out of print for nearly 100 years and is the only stand-alone English translation of this ancient work currently available. Aurelius Ambrosius is one of the towering figures of Late Antiquity. A voluminous writer and homilist, and a spiritual father to other great saints including Augustine of Hippo, Ambrose was deeply involved in the theological and...

Today, September 14, is the 1,611th anniversary of the death of Saint John Chrysostom, the great patriarch of Constantinople. St. John perished while on his way to a more distant exile on the shores of the Black Sea in AD 407. Though an outstanding orator and one of the greatest theologians of the early Church, John became embroiled in the religious and political factions in Constantinople. He was particularly known for railing against the excesses of the imperial court, drawing the ire of the Empress Eudoxia, wife of Arcadius, who felt that John’s invectives against immodest and gaudy female dress...

January 19 is the birthday of Saint Pulcheria. Though little remembered today, Pulcheria played an important role in helping the Eastern Roman Empire survive the 5th century intact. She is commemorated as a saint by the Eastern and Western Churches on September 10. Daughter of the Eastern Emperor Arcadius and granddaughter of Theodosius the Great, Pulcheria was pushed into imperial politics at the tender age of 10. When her father died in AD 408, her younger brother, Theodosius II, inherited the throne as a small child, under the regency of two powerful men at court, the praetorian prefects Anthemius and...

Dark political machinations occur. Huge sums of money change hands. The secular power intrudes upon the domain of the Church, creating a situation whereby the reigning Pope is deposed and another is set up in his place. The deposed Pope is silenced, made a monk and sent into exile. The new Pope is secretly beholden to the secular powers who afforded him his seat. They now expect to see their temporal and ecclesiastical goals supported and advanced by the authority of the Papal office. Indeed, they are willing to coerce the Holy Father if he shows any reticence —and they’ve...