Tertullian on prayer. Tertullian gives us the essentials on prayer. Starting with the Lord’s Prayer, he breaks down each section, giving us expounded meaning into each phrase. He then goes on to discuss where and when we should pray, how we should pray, and what the importance of prayer is in our faith life.

The Apology (Latin: Apologeticum or Apologeticus) is Tertullian's most famous work, consisting of apologetic and polemic. In this book, Tertullian defends the Christian Church, demanding legal toleration and that Christians be treated as all other sects or religions of the Roman Empire. It is in this treatise that one finds the phrase: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church."

Happy is our sacrament of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life! A treatise on this matter will not be superfluous; instructing not only such as are just becoming formed (in the faith), but them who, content with having simply believed, without full examination of the grounds of the traditions, carry (in mind), through ignorance, an untried though probable faith.

Speaking of the Greek priests of Korfou, the erudite bishop of Lincoln, lately deceased, has remarked, “There is something very picturesque in the appearance of these persons, with their black caps resembling the modius seen on the heads of the ancient statues of Serapis and Osiris, their long beards and pale complexions, and their black flowing cloak, - a relic, no doubt, of the old ecclesiastical garment of which Tertullian wrote.”

The principal crime of the human race, the highest guilt charged upon the world, the whole procuring cause of judgment, is idolatry. Do you inquire whom he has slain? If it contributes ought to the aggravation of the indictment, no stranger nor personal enemy, but his own self. By what snares? Those of his error. By what weapon? The offense done to God. By how many blows? As many as are his idolatries.

The character of the times in which we live is such as to call forth from us even this admonition, that we ought not to be astonished at the heresies (which abound) neither ought their existence to surprise us, for it was foretold that they should come to pass; nor the fact that they subvert the faith of some, for their final cause is, by affording a trial to faith, to give it also the opportunity of being “approved”. - Tertullian

And this species of the divine patience indeed being, as it were, at a distance, may perhaps be esteemed as among “things too high for us”; but what is that which, in a certain way, has been grasped by hand among men openly on the Earth? God suffers himself to be conceived in a mother’s womb, and awaits the time for birth; and, when born, bears the delay of growing up; and, when grown up, is not eager to be recognized, but is furthermore contumelious to himself, and is baptized by his own servant; and repels with words alone the assaults of the tempter.

Irenaeus was an early Christian writer who gives us great insight into primitive Christian theology and doctrine. His words are wise and filled with the grace of God. Truly an important father of the faith, many Christians today are ignorant of his works and of other early Christians like him. This piece of literature is actually a collection of fragments from his writings that have been found. The hungry soul should be truly blessed while listening to this marvelous book by such a great man of God!

Modesty, the flower of manners, the honor of our bodies, the grace of the sexes, the integrity of the blood, the guarantee of our race, the basis of sanctity, the pre-indication of every good disposition; rare though it is, and not easily perfected, and scarce ever retained in perpetuity, will yet up to a certain point linger in the world, if nature shall have laid the preliminary groundwork of it, discipline persuaded to it, censorial rigor curbed its excesses.

Praxeas was a Monarchian from Asia Minor. He believed in the unity of the Godhead and vehemently disagreed with any attempt at division of the personalities or personages of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Christian Church....

This was written by our author in confutation of certain heretics who denied the reality of Christ’s flesh, or at least its identity with human flesh - fearing that, if they admitted the reality of Christ’s flesh, they must also admit his resurrection in the flesh; and, consequently, the resurrection of the human body after death.

This commentary on Galatians was compiled from six homilies given by St. John Chrysostom (347 - 407), the great preacher of Constantinople, providing a detailed verse by verse study of this important letter by the apostle St. Paul. The epistle is the ninth book in the New Testament and is addressed to the Christians in Galatia, a region of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). In the letter, St. Paul addresses the controversy of the Mosaic law and how it applies to non-Jewish Christians. It is also notable for recording the controversy between Paul and Peter over "Judaizers".

This sermon by St. John Chrysostom points out the error of scrutinizing the sins of others with great exactitude while we let our own pass. He argues that we ought to do the contrary, to keep our own faults unforgotten but never even to admit a thought of those of others. He argues that God would be more inclined to forgive their sins if people did that.

Ignatius was a man discipled by the Apostle John, who was deeply rich in humility and wisdom. His letters live on, long after his death, and today we have the opportunity of hearing them! Friends, let us study the holy Scriptures, for this is the very thing greater than all earthly bread, but let us also not neglect the study of the very men that walked and lived in the days of the Apostles, for their wisdom and words are valuable to our development unto holiness and godly virtue.

If ancient illustrations of faith that both testify to God’s grace and tend to man’s edification are collected in writing, so that by the perusal of them, as if by the reproduction of the facts, as well God may be honored, as man may be strengthened; why should not new instances be also collected, that shall be equally suitable for both purposes - if only on the ground that these modern examples will one day become ancient and available for posterity, although in their present time they are esteemed of less authority, by reason of the presumed veneration for antiquity?