Why?

My interest in the Fathers of the Church began in 1957 when Msgr. John Dignan, a scholarly historiographer, first introduced me to the great leaders in Church history in a graduate class in Historiography.

Then in 1958 I had the privilege of having another professor, Msgr. John Tracy Ellis from Catholic University and editor of the prestigious “Catholic Historical Review.” He introduced me to John Henry Newman. It was Newman’s APOLOGIA PRO VITA SUA that introduced me to the Fathers of the Church in a manner that influenced the rest of my life.

Now that I have retired from my thirty-six year career of teaching history on the college and high school levels, I have continued my interest, expressing it in teaching courses to the laity in my parish church of St. Vincent de Paul, especially the courses on Fathers and Doctors of the Church which now I am making available on this blog.  As a retired professional research historian, this is a real pleasure and hopefully a service for all Christians.  This will provide them with relevant materials for meaningful discussion on the spiritual level.

In this blog, I am collaborating with a convert to the Catholic Faith.  Her faith journey led her from Australia where she grew up as the daughter of a Baptist missionary, to studying at a Fundamentalist Christian university in the USA and on to Corporate America. Through her love of music, Holy Scripture, prayer and much Divine Providence, she found her spiritual home in the Catholic Church. Her perspective, comments and input are essential elements in conveying our message to you.