Sundays & Festivals with the Fathers of the Church: Homilies of the Holy Fathers on the Gospels of all the Sundays and Chief Festivals of the Ecclesiastical Year
collection of homilies from the Church Fathers according to the Ecclesiastical Year. Originally published in 1901. The Fathers featured in this collection are: Sts. Gregory the Great, Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, Leo the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Hilary of Poitiers, John Chrysostom, Peter Chrysologus, and Venerable Bede. Features a new foreword by Fr. Hugh Barbour of the Norbertines of St. Michael's Abbey (Orange County, California).
On Back Cover:
The works of the Fathers of the Church form a rich library. Yet this field, so fertile in an abundance of delicious fruits, remains sterile for the greater number of the Catholic people, who perhaps know not what to choose, or are ignorant of the language of these holy writers. It seems to me that a collection of Homilies from different Fathers, arranged according to the Sundays and principal festivals of the ecclesiastical year, would be a great spiritual help to all Christians. This is the reason why I undertook this collection, and I have carefully endeavoured that it should be useful to all.... – From the Introduction
The Fathers of the Church are the most important interpreters of Holy Scripture. The age of the Fathers produced the Creeds, created the historic Liturgies, determined the shape of the biblical Canon. The Fathers are thus the accredited receivers of Apostolic Tradition, considered as all three – belief, worship, and sacred text. Through the gifts of grace, the Fathers were aligned in heart and mind with the Gospel of Christ. What better accompaniment could there be, then, for the Gospel passages read by the Church on the Sundays and Chief Festivals of her year? Arouca Press has done well to make this classic selection available once again for those who attend the Roman Liturgy in its older form. – Fr. Aidan Nichols, OP (Lector and Fellow for Blackfriars Hall)
Drawing upon the collective wisdom of the Church Fathers, both East and West, this memorable collection of carefully chosen homilies presents the mysteries of the faith as they unfold over the course of the Gospel readings in the traditional liturgical year. Whether it is Gregory the Great on the Incarnation, Augustine and Gregory of Nazianzus on the Trinity, Ambrose and the Venerable Bede on Grace, or Jerome on the Resurrection of our Lord, the readers of these sermons will encounter sound doctrine, insights into the way in which these scriptural readings have been received and understood in the Church, and invaluable lessons on applying these timeless insights to their lives as Christians. – Gregorio Montejo, PhD (Assistant Professor of Historical Theology, Boston College)
You need the right tools for the job. And if the job is understanding the scriptures read on Sunday at the old Mass, then you'll need the Fathers of the Church. They've been ignored for a long time in seminary formation, which has proven to be a catastrophe. Formation in the 70's and onward should have been saturated with the Fathers. So here is the right tool for the job, if your job is preparing a sermon for Sunday if you're a priest. And if a layman, you would have to look long and hard to find a book as good as this one is. – Fr. James Jackson, FSSP, author of Nothing Superfluous
Reproduction of this volume puts the reader in touch with some of the very patristic sources wherefrom the annual cycle of lectionary readings developed for the traditional Roman rite. What is more, the homilies of other Fathers constitute the foundational religious instruction and interpretations upon which the entire Scholastic edifice of exegesis was built in the high Middle Ages. – Rev. Dr. Christiaan Kappes, Academic Dean of Ss. Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary
