The Singing-Masters: Church Fathers from Greek East and Latin West
About this book
"I . . . find these Fathers to be, in words of William Butler Yeats, 'singing-masters of my soul'. Anyone who prays through the year the Office of Readings in the Roman Liturgy of the Hours will understand why."— Fr. Aidan Nichols , From the Introduction The Singing-Masters , written by the author of Rome and the Eastern Churches , is a passionate, personalized account of the theological achievement of eighteen of the Church Fathers. Ten come from the Greek Irenaeus , Origen , Athanasius , Gregory of Nyssa , Gregory of Nazianzus , Basil the Great , Cyril of Alexandria , Denys the Areopagite , Maximus the Confessor , and John Damascene . Eight come from the Latin Tertullian , Cyprian , Ambrose , Jerome , Augustine , Leo the Great , Gregory the Great , and Bede the Venerable . The Fathers chosen here are those who have been especially authoritative for Catholic doctrine or particularly influential in Church life. While giving a dramatic, humanized account of patristic thought, colored by biographical detail, Aidan Nichols, O.P., draws the reader into a serious discussion of the Fathers' complex theological doctrines. The Singing-Masters offers a holistic and loving introduction to the figures who most shaped Christian thought, both in the East and in the West.