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A Year with the Church Fathers

Select a Category A Year with Mary A Year with the Angels A Year with the Church Fathers Book News Children's Review Featured CD Giveaway Guest Post Interview Linked Review Media review Movie Review New Releases Off the Shelf Review speakers Teen Review The Clergy Speaks The Laity Speaks The Open Book Podcast Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012

December 2017

December 07, 2017

Don’t blame God for what bad people do; Church Fathers: Day 136

God gave us free will, and we often misuse it. When Christians are persecuted, says...

December 06, 2017

See the big picture; Church Fathers: Day 135

In the natural world, things grow, die, and decay. Is God’s creation imperfect, then? No,...

December 05, 2017

Everything in good order; Church Fathers: Day 134

St. Clement of Rome tells us that we’re all different for a reason. Not everyone...

December 04, 2017

Don’t try to limit God; Church Fathers: Day 133

God is always beyond the grasp of our reason, as St. Hilary of Poitiers tells...

December 03, 2017

Let reason console you for your losses; Church Fathers: Day 132

Writing to a widowed noblewoman, Theodoret tells her that reason will be a consolation in...

December 02, 2017

Loss is only temporary; Church Fathers: Day 131

This isn’t the sort of thing we usually hear at a funeral these days, but...

December 01, 2017

Work through your grief; Church Fathers: Day 130

To a congregation that had lost its pastor, St. Basil sends his condolences. Grief is...

November 2017

November 30, 2017

Beware of depression; Church Fathers: Day 129

Are you feeling gloomy? That’s good if it leads you to repent your sins, says...

November 29, 2017

Work for the Kingdom is never wasted; Church Fathers: Day 128

When we work, says St. Basil, we do it for the sake of the good...

November 28, 2017

Trust God’s promises, and take what comes; Church Fathers: Day 127

When Jesus was transfigured, says St. Gregory the Great, Peter wanted to live in that...

November 26, 2017

Be pleased with what pleases God; Church Fathers: Day 126

God knows more than we do, and sometimes hard times may do us as much...

November 26, 2017

Give your leisure to the Lord; Church Fathers: Day 125

Making a humorous but still pointed apology for a long sermon, St. Basil tells his...

November 24, 2017

Be happy with enough, and you’ll get what you want; Church Fathers: Day 123

The rich have many problems, says Tatian, and the poor have few. Be satisfied with...

November 23, 2017

Be satisfied with enough; Church Fathers: Day 122

It’s easy to have more than enough to get by, says St. Ambrose. But lust...

November 22, 2017

Learn contentment from the fish; Church Fathers: Day 121

Fish follow the order of nature, says St. Basil, and no one has to tell...

November 21, 2017

Don’t forget to give thanks; Church Fathers: Day 120

Rome came very close to being destroyed by Attila the Hun, but Pope St. Leo...

November 20, 2017

Praise according to your ability; Church Fathers: Day 119

We can’t ever completely comprehend the nature of God, says St. Cyril of Jerusalem. But...

November 19, 2017

Be cheerful; Church Fathers: Day 118

You can’t be a Christian and a grump at the same time, the visionary Hermas...

November 18, 2017

Suit your practice to your nature; Church Fathers: Day 117

Not everyone can fast heroically, says St. John Cassian. We need to take our own...

November 17, 2017

Learn good habits during Lent; Church Fathers: Day 116

The Church requires every Christian to fast during Lent. We should take this opportunity, says...

November 16, 2017

Be like steel, not like wax; Church Fathers: Day 115

St. John Cassian remembers the wise comparison of the abbot Theodore. Your mind, he says,...

November 15, 2017

Love virtue for its own sake; Church Fathers: Day 114

The Syrian abbot Chaeremon, as St. John Cassian remembers, explained that it’s far better to...

November 14, 2017

Trust God to bring good even from the wicked; Church Fathers: Day 113

The devil stirs up heretics to attack the Church, says St. Augustine, but God turns...

November 13, 2017

Never despair of God’s help; Church Fathers: Day 112

When barbarians sacked Rome in the year 410, some pagans argued that the Christian God...

November 12, 2017

Remember that God controls your destiny; Church Fathers: Day 111

A correspondent had asked Theodoret an interesting hypothetical question. Theodoret’s answer quotes Jesus’ advice to...

November 10, 2017

Learn to distinguish what really matters; Church Fathers: Day 110

We can never know in this world why bad things happen to some people and...

November 10, 2017

Feel pity for your persecutors; Church Fathers: Day 109

The wise abbot Chaeremon told St. John Cassian that forgiveness and compassion are the signs...

November 09, 2017

Make the right use of your worries; Church Fathers: Day 108

We worry all the time, and with reason. Who can predict what will happen tomorrow?...

November 08, 2017

Let difficulties be your teachers; Church Fathers: Day 107

The expulsion from Paradise was a bad thing. Yet look what good came of it,...

November 07, 2017

Cultivate patience and be at peace; Church Fathers: Day 106

If you cultivate patience, says St. John Cassian, you will be at peace not only...

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