TSP 24: Mike Aquilina on the Early Church "Mothers"

Best-selling author and patristics expert, Mike Aquilina, comes on the show to discuss a new book he recently co-wrote with Christopher Bailey, The Mothers of the Church: The Witness of Early Christian Women (Huntington, Ind.: Our Sunday Visitor, 2012).

This is a tremendously good book and it fills an important lacuna in books on the early Church--here we have a book that focuses on the influence of important Christian women.

• How did ancients view the role of women? How did Christianity bring about a revolution?
• Did you know one of the Capadocian fathers described a woman as "the Teacher"? 
• Who are Felicity and Perpetua? The two saints are mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer #1 and are therefore probably familiar to most Catholics--but most do not know much about them!

Mike is a great guest. . . I'm sure you'll agree!

Listen on iTunes or click the link below.

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TSP 24: Mike Aquilina on the Early Church "Mothers"

Here's a bit more about our guest from the St. Paul Center website:

Mike Aquilina, Executive Vice President and Trustee of The St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, is a widely recognized Catholic author and lecturer. Aquilina’s books include the best-selling, The Fathers of the Church: An Introduction to the First Christian Teachers (2nd ed 2006); Living the Mysteries: A Guide for Unfinished Christians (2003) co-written with Dr. Scott Hahn; The Mass of the Early Christians (2001); What Catholics Believe: A Pocket Catechism (2000); The How-To Book of Catholic Devotions (2000); and A Pocket Catechism for Kids (2001). He is also the author of Praying in the Presence of Our Lord with St. Thomas Aquinas (2002), The Way of the Fathers: Praying with the Early Christians (2000), Love in the Little Things: Tales of Family Life (2007), Signs and Mysteries (2008) and is co-author of Weapons of the Spirit: Selected Writings of Father John Hugo, along with St. Paul Center colleague, David Scott. His most recent book is Take 5: On the Job Meditations With St. Ignatius (2008). All of Aquilina’s books are published by Our Sunday Visitor Books. 

His ongoing research is concerned with early Christian community and worship. He is past Associate Editor of Scripture Matters, the bulletin of The Institute of Applied Biblical Studies and past Editor of New Covenant, a Catholic spirituality magazine, and The Pittsburgh Catholic, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. His reviews, essays and journalism have appeared in First Things, Touchstone, Crisis, National Catholic Register, Child and Family and elsewhere. 

Aquilina has also co-hosted, along with Dr. Hahn, several popular series on scripture and theology airing on the Eternal Word Television Network. He and his wife Terri live in the Pittsburgh area with their six children.