Why read the Church Fathers?

A group of Byzantine Catholic men (and sometimes even a few women) have been gathering for over a year now to read and discuss the Fathers of the Church. The idea was born in 2004 during a Theology of the Body retreat for men at our parish. We’ve wrestled with some of the letters of St. Basil, ascended Sinai with St. Gregory of Nyssa in the Life of Moses, and perused the Theological Orations of St. Gregory the Theologian. We also tackled St. Athanasius’ magnum opus, On the Incarnation. Now, we’re reading Saint Irenaeus of Lyons — a disciple of the brutally martyred St. Polycarp, who was in turn a disciple of St. John the Theologian.

The call to rediscover the Church Fathers is not a new one. John Paul the Great, of blessed memory, noted in his Apostolic Letter Orientale Lumen, which was promulgated on 2 May 1995, “Therefore, it is earnestly recommended that Catholics avail themselves more often of the spiritual riches of the Eastern Fathers which lift up the whole man to the contemplation of the divine mysteries.” His Holiness Benedict XVI is a well-known patristics scholar.

For Byzantine Catholics, a rediscovery and living experience of the Church Fathers is key to configuring our Church more closely to Christ. Up next: The Fathers, Beer and a good meal. Now, who would want to miss that?