44—Prudentius, Poet Laureate of the Western Fathers
By Mike Aquilina ( bio - articles - email ) | Jul 26, 2021 | In Way of the Fathers (Podcast)
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Prudentius is the Latin poet most praised from the ancient Church. Phenomenally creative, he invented new poetic forms and genres—and established artistic standards that would hold through the Middle Ages. Scholars as varied as C.S. Lewis and Robert Wilken call him “the first Christian poet,” the first great representative of a real Christian literature. Compared to Prudentius, all earlier Christian poets were dabblers. Upon his model depended such later luminaries as Bunyan, Milton, and Spenser.
LINKS
The Hymns of Prudentius (Cathemerinon) https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14959/14959-h/14959-h.htm
Latin text of two works by Prudentius https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/prud.html
Prudentius’s page at Hymnary. org https://hymnary.org/person/Prudentius_AC
Study of Prudentius by F.J.E. Raby https://archive.org/details/historyofchristi2edunse_t5b7/page/44/mode/2up
Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com
Mike Aquilina’s books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/
Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org
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Mike Aquilina is a popular author working in the area of Church history, especially patristics. He is executive vice-president and trustee of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, a contributing editor of Angelus (magazine) and general editor of the Reclaiming Catholic History Series from Ave Maria Press. See full bio.
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