Way of the Fathers

St. Severinus Boethius was a man with one foot in the ancient world and one foot in the middle ages. He is another one of our lesser-known fathers who were anything but forgotten among the medieval scholastics. In this episode, Dr. Papandrea introduces another enigmatic but highly influential Church father. This is the last episode of our interim series on “Forgotten Fathers” - the next episode of The Way of the Fathers will introduce us to the Doctors of the Church, and begin our new series on the Doctors. Links If you need a refresher on Arianism, listen to episode 4.11 in our series on The Heresies: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/411-heresies-arianism-man-who-became-god/ To read Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14328/14328-h/14328-h.htm To read Boethius’ On the Trinity: https://www.logicmuseum.com/authors/boethius/boethiusdetrinitate.htm Here’s the video with an interpretation of the reconstruction of Boethius’ songs: https://youtu.be/w-tALWHHUaE?si=YSyNj-gFt3TIMWAp For more general information on the historical context of the early Church, see the book: Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/ SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/ DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch Join the conversation in the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/ Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/  

Whenever you see “Pseudo-“ in front of a name like this, it means we don’t really know who the person was. This Church father wrote under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite, a convert of St. Paul mentioned in the book of Acts. But the documents attributed to him were written hundreds of years later. Nevertheless, this unknown pseudonymous author was hugely influential for some of the most important fathers and doctors of the Church. The medieval scholastics and mystics found these writings especially inspiring. Links To listen to Mike Aquilina’s episode on other anonymous Church fathers: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-6-whats-in-name-anonymous-texts-from-early-church/ To go deeper into the case of Dionysius the Areopagite, with some more cautions about this author’s theology and its use throughout history, see the New Advent article: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05013a.htm To read Pseudo-Dionysius’ treatise, The Divine Names: https://ccel.org/ccel/rolt/dionysius/dionysius.iv.ii.html To read Pseudo-Dionysius’ treatise, The Mystical Theology: https://ccel.org/ccel/rolt/dionysius/dionysius.v.html For more general information on the historical context of the early Church, see the book: Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/ SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/ DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch Join the conversation in the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/ Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com   Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/  

Egeria (or Etheria) was a woman who embarked on a three-year pilgrimage to the Holy Land, in the late fourth century. From her “pilgrimage diary” (actually fragments from her letters to her “sisters” back in Spain) we learn much about liturgy in Jerusalem. There we can see the beginnings of the lectionary, and the seeds of the Stations of the Cross. In this episode, Dr. Papandrea also talks about the history of the spiritual discipline of pilgrimage itself.  Links To listen to Mike Aquilina’s episode on the city of Jerusalem, Episode 3.2: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/32-cities-god-jerusalem-city-origin/ To listen to Mike Aquilina’s episode on Cyril of Jerusalem, Episode 34: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/cyril-jerusalemmystery-and-mayhem/ To read the fragments from Egeria’s “diary” (letters): https://www.ccel.org/m/mcclure/etheria/etheria.htm For more on the historical context of the early Church in the fourth century, see the book: Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/ SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/ DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch Join the conversation in the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/ Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/  

Rufinus is mostly known as the translator of Origen, and the opponent of St. Jerome in the controversy over Origen. But he also wrote an important commentary on the Apostles’ Creed, which is on Dr. Papandrea’s list of “state of the art documents,” patristic works that succinctly showcase the state of the development of doctrine at the time they were written. Links To listen to Mike Aquilina’s episodes on Origen, Episode 19: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/life-origen-most-controversial-christian-ever/ and Episode 20: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/origen-part-2-hero-heretic-or-hybrid/ To listen to Mike Aquilina’s episode on Jerome, Episode 37: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/37jerome-curmudgeonly-commentator/ To read Jerome’s Letter to Rufinus of Aquileia: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2887&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2376957 To read Rufinus’ Apology (reply to Jerome): https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2887&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2471912 To read Rufinus’ Commentary on the Apostle’s Creed: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2889&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2471912 For more on the historical context of the early Church, including the development of the Christian Bible, see the book: Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/ SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/ DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch Join the conversation in the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/ Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/