Early Church Fathers on Catholic Things

The Early Church Fathers on various topics: This was a 3700 hour project which included going through 22896 pages of the 38 volume set called Ante Nicene, Nicene, Post Nicene Fathers. I compiled 255 pages of quotes showing that the Early Church was always and completely Catholic. All of these quotes can be verified and found from the source which is free online.

Irenaeus of Lyon Fragments 3 (120-180 ad)
Notwithstanding this, those who did not keep [the feast in this way] were peacefully disposed towards those who came to them from other dioceses in which it was observed (although such observance was [felt] in more decided contrariety [as presented] to those who did not fall in with it; and none were ever cast out [of the Church] for this matter
Tertullian On Prayer ch 10 (160-240 ad)
When praying the Our Father, you are not to be angry with a brother.
Cyprian of Carthage Treatise 4 par 19 (200-270 ad)
Certainly the one both understands that he has sinned, and laments and bewails it; the other, puffed up in his heart, and pleasing himself in his very crimes, separates sons from their Mother, entices sheep from their shepherd, disturbs the sacraments of God; and while the lapsed has sinned but once, he sins daily.
Novatian Treatise Concerning the Trinity ch 9 (220- 270 ad)
For this Jesus Christ, I will once more say, the Son of this God, we read of as having been promised in the Old Testament, and we observe to be manifested in the New, fulfilling the shadows and figures of all the sacraments, with the presence of the truth embodied.
Peter of Alexandria Genuine Acts of Peter (260-311 ad)
In the meanwhile a spirited body of senators of those who are engaged in the public transport service, seeing what had happened, for they were near the sea, prepared a boat, and suddenly seizing upon the sacred relics, they placed them in it, and scaling the Pharos from behind, by a quarter which has the name of Leucado, they came to the church of the most blessed mother of God, and Ever-Virgin Mary, which, as we began to say, he had constructed in the western quarter, in a suburb, for a cemetery of the martyrs
Athanasius History of the Arians pt 3.26 (296-373 ad)
Ursacius and Valens to my Lord the most blessed Pope Julius.
Athanasius Tomus ad Antiochenos (synodal letter to Antiochians) par 3 (296-373)
And we thank their piety in that although they might have gone at once to their dioceses, they preferred to go to you at all costs, on account of the pressing need of the Church.
Athanasius De Synodis Part 2 par 16 (296-373)
Our faith from our forefathers, which also we have learned from thee, Blessed Pope, is this:--We acknowledge One God, alone Ingenerate, alone Everlasting, (pope here is talking about Alexander of Alexandria not bishop of Rome. Emphasis on blessed)
Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lecture 16 par 22 (315-386 ad)
Great indeed is what I have now said, and yet is it small. For consider, I pray, with mind enlightened by Him, how many Christians there are in all this diocese
Gregory of Nyssa Against Eunomius book 11 (325-386 ad)
For if the confession of the revered and precious Names of the Holy Trinity is useless, and the customs of the Church unprofitable, and if among these customs is the sign of the cross(9), prayer, baptism, confession of sins, a ready zeal to keep the commandment, right ordering of character, sobriety of life, regard to justice, the effort not to be excited by passion, or enslaved by pleasure, or to fall short in moral excellence,--if he says that none of such habits as these is cultivated to any good purpose, and that the sacramental tokens do not, as we have believed, secure spiritual blessings, and avert from believers the assaults directed against them by the wiles of the evil one, what else does he do but openly proclaim aloud to men that he deems the mystery which Christians cherish a fable, laughs at the majesty of the Divine Names, considers the customs of the Church a jest, and all sacramental operations idle prattle and folly?
Ambrose of Milan Concerning Virgins book 3 ch 4 (340-397 ad)
Especially he recommends the Lord's Prayer, and the repetition of Psalms by night, and the recitation of the Creed before daylight
Jerome Letter 147 par 6 (347-420 ad)
She had assumed the bridal-veil of Christ in the basilica of the apostle Peter and had vowed to live henceforth in the monastery, in the spots consecrated by the Lord's Cross,
Jerome Life of St Hilarion par 44 (347-420 ad)
There came also Constantia a holy woman whose son-in-law and daughter he had anointed with oil and saved from death (anointing of the sick)
Jerome Letter 41 par 3 (347-420 ad)
We, according to the apostolic tradition yearly; whereas they keep three in the year as though three saviours had suffered. I do not mean, of course, that it is unlawful to fast at other times through the year--always excepting Pentecost--only that while in Lent it is a duty of obligation, at other seasons it is a matter of choice.
Council of Sardica cannon 11 (344 ad)
Ye remember that in former times our fathers decreed that if a layman were staying in a city and should not come to divine worship for three [successive] Sundays [that is], for three [full] weeks, he should be repelled from communion.
Jerome Letter 22 par 32 (347-420 ad)
I lately saw the noblest lady in Rome--I suppress her name, for I am no satirist--with a band of eunuchs before her in the basilica of the blessed Peter.
Jerome Letter 114 par 2 (347-420 ad)
I admire in your work its practical aim, designed as it is to instruct by the authority of scripture ignorant persons in all the churches concerning the reverence with which they must handle holy things and minister at Christ's altar; and to impress upon them that the sacred chalices, veils,' and other accessories used in the celebration of the Lord's passion are not mere lifeless and senseless objects devoid of holiness, but that rather, from their association with the body and blood of the Lord, they are to be venerated with the same awe as the body and the blood themselves.
Jerome Letter 82 par 4 (347-420 ad)
Before my brother's ordination he said nothing of any dogmatic difference between himself and pope Epiphanius
John Chrysostom Homily 32 on Matthew’s Gospel ch 9 (347-407 ad)
And when I say, "Peace be unto you,"and ye say, "And with thy spirit," say it not with the voice only, but also with the mind; not in mouth, but in understanding also. (words at mass)
Egeria Discription of the Liturgical Year in Jerusalem XXV par 6 (348-418 ad) And they proceed to the [+] greater church, which [+] was built by Constantine, and which is situated in [+] Golgotha, that is, behind the Cross, on every Lord's [+] Day throughout the year except on the one Sunday of [+] Pentecost, when they proceed to Sion, as you will [+] find mentioned below; but even then they go to Sion [+] before the third hour, the dismissal having been first [+] made in the greater church...(every Lord’s Day)
Augustine Catechising the uninstructed par 50 (354-430 ad)
On the subject of the sacrament, indeed, which he receives, it is first to be well impressed upon his notice that the signs of divine things are, it is true, things visible, but that the invisible things themselves are also honored in them, and that that species, which is then sanctified by the blessing, is therefore not to be regarded merely in the way in which it is regarded in any common use
John Chrysostom On Priesthood book 6 par 9 (347-407 ad)
For if St. Paul feared lest he should incur a suspicion of theft, among his disciples, and therefore procured others for the management of the money, that "no one" he says, "should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us, how ought we not to do all so as to remove evil suspicions, even if they happen to be false, and most unreasonable, and very foreign to our thought? (first time seeing ST could be editor addition)
John Chrysostom Homily 16 on Romans (347-407 ad)
If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed." (anathema, Cor. xvi. 22.) That is, let him be set apart from all, removed from all. For as in the case of a thing dedicated much as to touch it with his hand or even to come near it; so too with a man who is put apart from the Church, in cutting him off from all, and removing him as far off as possible, he calls him by this name anaqema in a contrary sense, thus with much fear denouncing to all men to keep apart from him, and to spring away from him.
Egeria Discription of the Liturgical Year in Jerusalem XXV par 6 (348-418 ad) And they proceed to the [+] greater church, which [+] was built by Constantine, and which is situated in [+] Golgotha, that is, behind the Cross, on every Lord's [+] Day throughout the year except on the one Sunday of [+] Pentecost, when they proceed to Sion, as you will [+] find mentioned below; but even then they go to Sion [+] before the third hour, the dismissal having been first [+] made in the greater church...
Egeria Discription of the Liturgical Year in Jerusalem XXX par 3 (348-418 ad)
And all the children in [+] the neighbourhood, even those [+] who are too young to walk, are carried by their [+] parents on their shoulders, all of them bearing [+] branches, some of palms and some of olives, and [+] thus the bishop is escorted in the same manner as [+] the Lord was of old.
John Cassian Conference 9 ch 22 (360-435 ad)
And some dreading this when this prayer (The Lord’s Prayer), is chanted by all the people in church, silently omit this clause, for fear lest they may seem by their own utterance to bind themselves rather than to excuse themselves, as they do not understand that it is in vain that they try to offer these quibbles to the Judge of all men, who has willed to show us beforehand how He will judge His suppliants.
John Cassian Conference 7 ch 34 (360-435 ad)
Wherefore let us enjoy a little sleep, and so shake off the drowsiness that steals over our eyes, as the dawn approaches, and then we will go together to church, for the observance of Sunday bids us do this, and after service will come back, and as you wish, discuss with redoubled delight what the Lord may have given to us for our common improvement.
John Cassian Institutes Book 2 ch 4 (360-435 ad)
So, as we said, throughout the whole of Egypt and the Thebaid the number of Psalms is fixed at twelve both at Vespers and in the office of Nocturns,(3) in such a way that at the close two lessons follow, one from the Old and the other from the New Testament.(4) And this arrangement, fixed ever so long ago, has continued unbroken to the present day throughout so many ages, in all the monasteries of those districts, because it is said that it was no appointment of man's invention, but was brought down from heaven to the fathers by the ministry of an angel.
Sulpitius Severus Dialogue ch 3 (363-420 ad)
He had set down a glass vessel containing oil blessed by Martin in a pretty high window
Augustine Expositions on Psalm 41 par 9 (354-430 ad)
When out of Christ's side flowed the Sacraments of the Church? While He slept upon the Cross
Augustine On the Grace of Christ and Original Sin book 1 ch 32(354-430 ad)
All these documents, however, I may omit further notice of at present; for Pelagius himself has lately forwarded to Rome both a letter and an exposition of his belief, addressing it to Pope Innocent, of blessed memory, of whose death he was ignorant
Augustine Letter 209 par 9 (354-430 ad)
Since, then, the most blessed Pope Boniface,
Augustine Letter 209 par 9 (354-430 ad)
Since, then, the most blessed Pope Boniface, speaking of Bishop Antonius, has in his epistle, with the vigilant caution becoming a pastor, inserted in his judgment the additional clause, now the facts of the case, which in his statement to you he passed over in silence, and also the transactions which took place after the letter of that man of blessed memory had been read in Africa
Augustine Sermon 12 par 8 (354-430 ad)
Every day must this prayer be said by you, when you are baptized. For the Lord's Prayer is said daily in the Church before the Altar of God, and the faithful hear it.
Augustine Letter 211 par 7 (354-430 ad)
Be regular (instate) in prayers at the appointed hours and times. In the oratory let no one do anything else than the duty for which the place was made, and from which it has received its name; so that if any of you, having leisure, wish to pray at other hours than those appointed, they may not be hindered by others using the place for any other purpose. In the psalms and hymns used in your prayers to God, let that be pondered in the heart which is uttered by the voice; chant nothing but what you find prescribed to be chanted; whatever is not so prescribed is not to be chanted. (liturgy of the hours)
Augustine Letter 158 par 8 (354-430 ad)
This I remember hearing from more than one: for a certain holy presbyter was an eye-witness of such an apparition, having observed a multitude of such phantoms issuing from the baptistery in bodies full of light, after which he heard their prayers in the midst of the church itself.
Augustine Letter 36 ch 8par 30 (354-430 ad)
The reason why the Church prefers to appoint the fourth and sixth days of the week for fasting, is found by considering the gospel narrative. There we find that on the fourth day of the week the Jews took counsel to put the Lord to death. One day having intervened -- on the evening of which, at the close, namely, of the day which we call the fifth day of the week, the Lord ate the passover with His disciples -- He was thereafter betrayed on the night which belonged to the sixth day of the week, the day (as is everywhere known) of His passion.
Augustine Homily 3 on the First Epistle of John par 5 (354-430 ad)
Hence therefore ye may see, that many who are not of us, receive with us the Sacraments, receive with us baptism. receive with us what the faithful know they receive, Benediction, the Eucharist, and whatever there is in Holy Sacraments: the communion of the very altar they receive with us, and are not of us
Sozomen Ecclesial History Book 5 Ch 21 (375-477 ad)
for it is said that when Christ together with His disciples came from a journey to this fountain, they bathed their feet therein, and, from that time the water became a cure for disorders. (Lourdes)
Sozomen Ecclesial History Book 2 Ch 23 (375-477 ad)
ZEALOUS of reforming the life of those who were engaged about the churches, the Synod enacted laws which were called canons.
Socrates Ecclesial History book 7 ch 13 (379-450 ad)
They therefore sent persons into the streets to raise an outcry that the church named after Alexander was on fire. Thus many Christians on hearing this ran out, some from one direction and some from another, in great anxiety to save their church. The Jews immediately fell upon and slew them; readily distinguishing each other by their rings.
Vincent of Lerins Commonitory par 84 (390-450 ad)
THE foregoing would be enough and very much more than enough, to crush and annihilate every profane novelty. But yet that nothing might be wanting to such completeness of proof, we added, at the close, the twofold authority of the Apostolic See, first, that of holy Pope Sixtus, the venerable prelate who now adorns the Roman Church; and secondly that of his predecessor, Pope Celestine of blessed memory, which same we think it necessary to insert here also.
Theodoret Letter 111 (393-457 ad)
For this reason I have gladly accepted the sentence of relegation. I am ready for exile, and, for the sake of the "hope laid up for me," welcome whatever fate they may inflict. I pray without ceasing for your excellency, and beseech all the saints to share in my petitions.
Theodoret Ecclesial History book 2 ch 8 (393-457 ad)
Conference between Liberius, Pope of Rome, and the Emperor Constantius .
Leo the Great Letter 45 (395-461 ad)
what I will call the frenzy not the judgment of one man, protesting that those things which 55 were being carried through by violence and fear could not reverse the mysteries of the Church and the Creed itself composed by the Apostles, and that no injuries could sever them from that Faith which they had brought fully set forth and expounded from the See of the blessed Apostle Peter to the holy synod.
Leo the Great Sermon 17 (395-461 ad)
On Wednesday and Friday next, therefore, let us fast, and on Saturday keep vigil with the most blessed Apostle Peter, by whose prayers we may in all things obtain the Divine protection through Christ our LORD. Amen.
Apostolic Canons Section 2 par 5 (400ad)
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with you all; and let them all answer, and with Thy Spirit. [+] And after these words let him speak to the people the words of exhortation; and when he has ended his word of doctrine (I Andrew the brother of Peter speak), all standing up, let the deacon ascend upon some high seat, and proclaim, Let none of the hearers, let none of the unbelievers stay; and silence being made (sayings in mass)
Council of Carthage canon 57 (419 ad)
And that all these sacraments are altogether true and holy and divine is most certain, and in them the whole hope of the soul is placed, although the presumptuous audacity of heretics, taking to itself the name of the truth, dares to administer them. They are but one after all, as the blessed Apostle tells us, saying: "One God, one faith, one baptism," and it is not lawful to reiterate what once only ought to be administered. [Those therefore who have been so baptized] having anathematized their error may be received by the imposition of the hand into the one Church, the pillar as it is called, and the one mother of all Christians, where all these Sacraments are received unto salvation and everlasting life; even the same sacraments which obtain for those persevering in heresy the heavy penalty of damnation.
Council of Carthage canon 101 (419 ad)
IT seemed good that a letter be written to the holy Pope Innocent concerning the dissension between the Churches of Rome and Alexandria, so that each Church might keep peace with the other as the Lord commanded.
Gregory the Great Letters Book 13 letter 9 (540-604 ad)
Accordingly, in accordance with the letters of our most Excellent royal children, Brunichild and her grandson Theoderic, to the monastery of Saint Mary, where there is constituted a congregation of handmaidens of God,
Gregory the Great Letters Book 7 letter 2 (540-604 ad)
And if any one presumes ever to speak anything against the faith of these four synods and against the tome and definition of pope Leo of holy memory, let him be anathema.
Gregory the Great Letters Book 9 letter 12 (540-604 ad)
it is said to be derived from the Church of Jerusalem by the tradition of the blessed Jerome in the time of pope Damasus of blessed memory; and accordingly in this matter we have rather curtailed the former usage which had been handed down to us here from the Greeks.
Gregory the Great Letters Book 3 letter 56 (540-604 ad)
that it has hardly ever been heard of any metropolitan in any parts of the world that he has claimed to himself the use of the pallium except at the time of mass.
Gregory the Great Letters Book 14 letter 16 (540-604 ad)
To the most blessed and honourable lord, the holy father Pope Gregory, Felix lover of your Weal and Holiness.
Venerable Bede Ecclesiastical History of England Book 5 ch 4 (672-735 ad)
The bishop had sent to the woman that lay sick some of the holy water, which he had blessed for the consecration of the church, by one of the brothers who had come with me, ordering him to give her some to drink, and wash that part of her where he found that her pain was greatest, with some of the same water. This being done, the woman immediately got up whole and sound