St. Leo the Great ... St. Gregory the Great ... St. Maximus the Confessor ... Bede, the Venerable ... St. Boniface ... St. Theodore the Studite ... St. Peter Damien ... Peter the Venerable ... and more.

These illustrious Church Fathers are the first and second generations of the Church, following the Apostles. It is upon their backs that the Church s journey through history is established and solidified.

By defending the newborn Christianity to the point of death and explaining the content of the Faith in a language understandable to the faithful, the Apostolic Fathers created a timeless anchor of faith that extends through the challenges of today.

From St. Leo the Great through St. Maximus the Confessor through Peter the Venerable and St. Bernard, the Fathers of the Church exhorted believers in the face of persecution while fighting heresies and misunderstandings. They were theologians and philosophers, orators, and pastors, leaders and problem solvers, martyrs and heroes.

In Volume II of this popular series of papal talks on the Fathers of the Church, Pope Benedict carefully explains their rich history and the vital role each one played not only in preserving the Church at the time, but also in anchoring the Church of today as well as the future.