Fathers
Church Fathers
Explore the lives and writings of early Christian bishops, theologians, poets, confessors, and martyrs represented in the Library.
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2 Fathers
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St Pachomius the Great
c. 292–mid-4th century
· Upper Egypt (Thebaid)
Monastic father and founder of communal monastic life
St Pachomius the Great was an Egyptian monk and one of the great fathers of Christian monasticism. He gathered monks into organized communities where they prayed, worked, ate, and served together, giving lasting shape to the common monastic life.
1 writing
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St Polycarp of Smyrna
d. mid-2nd century
· Smyrna, Asia Minor
Bishop of Smyrna, Apostolic Father, and martyr
St Polycarp was bishop of Smyrna, a disciple of the apostolic age, and a beloved martyr of the early Church. St Irenaeus remembered hearing him in his youth and testified that Polycarp had known apostles and faithfully passed on their teaching.
2 related
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