Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts

Matthew 18:10

There are 30 footnotes for this reference.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 336, footnote 7 (Image)

Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus

Irenæus (HTML)

Against Heresies: Book I (HTML)

Chapter XIV.—The various hypotheses of Marcus and others. Theories respecting letters and syllables. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2832 (In-Text, Margin)

... each of the elements. This teacher declares that the restitution of all things will take place, when all these, mixing into one letter, shall utter one and the same sound. He imagines that the emblem of this utterance is found in Amen, which we pronounce in concert. The diverse sounds (he adds) are those which give form to that Æon who is without material substance and unbegotten, and these, again, are the forms which the Lord has called angels, who continually behold the face of the Father.[Matthew 18:10]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 466, footnote 3 (Image)

Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria (HTML)

The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)

Book V (HTML)
Chapter XIV.—Greek Plagiarism from the Hebrews. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3112 (In-Text, Margin)

But indicating “the angels” as the Scripture says, “of the little ones, and of the least, which see God,” and also the oversight reaching to us exercised by the tutelary angels,[Matthew 18:10] he shrinks not from writing, “That when all the souls have selected their several lives, according as it has fallen to their lot, they advance in order to Lachesis; and she sends along with each one, as his guide in life, and the joint accomplisher of his purposes, the demon which he has chosen.” Perhaps also the demon of Socrates suggested to him something similar.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 600, footnote 3 (Image)

Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria (HTML)

Who is the Rich Man that shall be saved? (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3884 (In-Text, Margin)

XXXI. Such He names children, and sons, and little children, and friends, and little ones here, in reference to their future greatness above. “Despise not,” He says, “one of these little ones; for their angels always behold the face of My Father in heaven.”[Matthew 18:10] And in another place, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom of heaven.” Similarly also He says that “the least in the kingdom of heaven” that is His own disciple “is greater than John, the greatest among those born of women.” And again, “He that receiveth a righteous man or a prophet in the name of a righteous man or a ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 265, footnote 1 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Origen. (HTML)

Origen De Principiis. (HTML)

Book I (HTML)
On the Angels. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2061 (In-Text, Margin)

... not indiscriminately and fortuitously, but by a most appropriate and just decision of God, who arranged them according to deserts, in accordance with His own approval and judgment: so that to one angel the Church of the Ephesians was to be entrusted; to another, that of the Smyrnæans; one angel was to be Peter’s, another Paul’s; and so on through every one of the little ones that are in the Church, for such and such angels as even daily behold the face of God must be assigned to each one of them;[Matthew 18:10] and there must also be some angel that encampeth round about them that fear God. All of which things, assuredly, it is to be believed, are not performed by accident or chance, or because they (the angels) were so created, lest on that view the ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 592, footnote 4 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Origen. (HTML)

Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)

Book VI (HTML)
Chapter XLI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4482 (In-Text, Margin)

... conformity with the Christianity which comes by Jesus, and who live according to His Gospel, using night and day, continuously and becomingly, the prescribed prayers, are not carried away either by magic or demons. For verily “the angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them” from all evil; and the angels of the little ones in the Church, who are appointed to watch over them, are said always to behold the face of their Father who is in heaven,[Matthew 18:10] whatever be the meaning of “face” or of “behold.”

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 653, footnote 5 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Origen. (HTML)

Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)

Book VIII (HTML)
Chapter XXXIV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4912 (In-Text, Margin)

... and as if by common agreement they visit with all manner of kindness and deliverance those who pray to God, to whom they themselves also pray: “For they are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation.” Let the learned Greeks say that the human soul at its birth is placed under the charge of demons: Jesus has taught us not to despise even the little ones in His Church, saying, “Their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven.”[Matthew 18:10] And the prophet says, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.” We do not, then, deny that there are many demons upon earth, but we maintain that they exist and exercise power among the wicked, as a ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 654, footnote 2 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Origen. (HTML)

Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)

Book VIII (HTML)
Chapter XXXVI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4919 (In-Text, Margin)

... such spirits; although if, in ignorance of certain things, they have come under the power of other demons, they may suffer punishment from them. But the Christian—the true Christian, I mean—who has submitted to God alone and His Word, will suffer nothing from demons, for He is mightier than demons. And the Christian will suffer nothing, for “the angel of the Lord will encamp about them that fear Him, and will deliver them,” and his “angel,” who “always beholds the face of his Father in heaven,”[Matthew 18:10] offers up his prayers through the one High Priest to the God of all, and also joins his own prayers with those of the man who is committed to his keeping. Let not, then, Celsus try to scare us with threats of mischief from demons, for we despise ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 403, footnote 9 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book II. Of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons (HTML)

Sec. III.—How the Bishop is to Treat the Innocent, the Guilty, and the Penitent (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2681 (In-Text, Margin)

... lest he contemn and neglect the plantation of God; and, on account of his carelessness, hear that which is said in Hosea: “Why have ye held your peace at impiety, and have reaped the fruit thereof?”XVIII. Let the bishop, therefore, extend his concern to all sorts of people: to those who have not offended, that they may continue innocent; to those who offend, that they may repent. For to you does the Lord speak thus: “Take heed that ye offend not one of these little ones.”[Matthew 18:10] It is your duty also to give remission to the penitent. For as soon as ever one who has offended says, in the sincerity of his soul, “I have sinned against the Lord,” the Holy Spirit answers, “The Lord also hath forgiven thy sin; be of good cheer, ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 319, footnote 10 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Pseudo-Clementine Literature. (HTML)

The Clementine Homilies. (HTML)

Homily XVII. (HTML)
Man in the Shape of God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1330 (In-Text, Margin)

“Knowing therefore that we knew all that was spoken by Him, and that we could supply the proofs, He sent us to the ignorant Gentiles to baptize them for remission of sins, and commanded us to teach them first. Of His commandments this is the first and great one, to fear the Lord God, and to serve Him only. But He meant us to fear that God whose angels they are who are the angels of the least of the faithful amongst us, and who stand in heaven continually beholding the face of the Father.[Matthew 18:10] For He has shape, and He has every limb primarily and solely for beauty’s sake, and not for use. For He has not eyes that He may see with them; for He sees on every side, since He is incomparably more brilliant in His body than the visual spirit which ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 85, footnote 37 (Image)

Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen

The Diatessaron of Tatian. (HTML)

The Diatessaron. (HTML)

Section XXVII. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1906 (In-Text, Margin)

... to his will, shall meet with much punishment; but he that knoweth not, and doeth something for which he meriteth punishment, shall meet with slight punishment. Every one to whom much hath been given, much shall be asked of him; and he that hath had much committed to him, much shall be [26] required at his hand. I came to cast fire upon the earth; and I would that it had [27] been kindled already. And I have a baptism to be baptized with, and greatly am [28] I straitened till it be accomplished.[Matthew 18:10] See that ye despise not one of these little ones that believe in me. Verily I say unto you, Their angels at all times see the [29] face of my Father which is in heaven. The Son of man came to save the thing which was lost.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 490, footnote 1 (Image)

Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen

Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. (HTML)

Origen's Commentary on Matthew. (HTML)

Book XIII. (HTML)
The Little Ones and Their Angels. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5974 (In-Text, Margin)

See that ye despise not one of these little ones.[Matthew 18:10] It seems to me that as among the bodies of men there are differences in point of size,—so that some are little, and others great, and others of middle height, and, again, there are differences among the little, as they are more or less little, and the same holds of the great, and of those of middle height,—so also among the souls of men, there are some things which give them the stamp of littleness, and other things the stamp of greatness, so to speak, and ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 490, footnote 8 (Image)

Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen

Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. (HTML)

Origen's Commentary on Matthew. (HTML)

Book XIII. (HTML)
The Little Ones and Their Angels. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5981 (In-Text, Margin)

... but the little ones are “the newborn babes which long for the reasonable milk which is without guile,” such as stand in need of nursing-fathers and nursing-mothers, spoken of in Isaiah when he says, about the calling from the Gentiles, “And they shall bring the sons in the bosom, and take their daughters on the shoulders, and kings shall be thy nursing-fathers and their princesses thy nursing-mothers.” For these reasons you will, then, attend to the word, “Do not despise one of these little ones,”[Matthew 18:10] and consider whether it is their angels who bring them in their bosom, since they have become sons, and also take on their shoulders what are called daughters, and whether from them are the nursing-fathers who are called kings, and the ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 491, footnote 11 (Image)

Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen

Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. (HTML)

Origen's Commentary on Matthew. (HTML)

Book XIII. (HTML)
Close Relationship of Angels to Their “Little Ones.” (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 6001 (In-Text, Margin)

... might be something like the following, which would say, that as it is possible for a man to change from unbelief to faith, and from intemperance to temperance, and generally from wickedness to virtue, so also it is possible that the angel, to whom any soul has been entrusted at birth, may be wicked at the first, but afterwards may at some time believe in proportion as the man believes, and may make such advance that he may become one of the angels who always behold the face of the Father in heaven,[Matthew 18:10] beginning from the time that he is yoked along with the man who was foreknown and foreordained to believe at that time, the judgments of God, which are unspeakable and unsearchable and like to the depths, fitly bringing together all this harmonious ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 491, footnote 13 (Image)

Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen

Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. (HTML)

Origen's Commentary on Matthew. (HTML)

Book XIII. (HTML)
Close Relationship of Angels to Their “Little Ones.” (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 6003 (In-Text, Margin)

... the word of those who did not accurately know, when one as being little and God-fearing is governed by angels, and when now by the Lord Himself. After this, in order to establish our conception of the little one which we have brought forward, it will be said that we need no command about “not despising” in the case of the great, but we do need it in the case of the little; wherefore it is not merely said, “Do not despise one of these,” pointing to all the disciples, but “one of these little ones,”[Matthew 18:10] pointed out by Him, who sees the littleness and the greatness of the soul.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 196, footnote 1 (Image)

Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters

The Confessions (HTML)

Of the goodness of God explained in the creation of things, and of the Trinity as found in the first words of Genesis. The story concerning the origin of the world (Gen. I.) is allegorically explained, and he applies it to those things which God works for sanctified and blessed man. Finally, he makes an end of this work, having implored eternal rest from God. (HTML)

Allegorical Explanation of the Firmament and Upper Works, Ver. 6. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1273 (In-Text, Margin)

18. Other “waters” there be “above” this “firmament,” I believe immortal, and removed from earthly corruption. Let them praise Thy Name,—those super-celestial people, Thine angels, who have no need to look up at this firmament, or by reading to attain the knowledge of Thy Word,—let them praise Thee. For they always behold Thy face,[Matthew 18:10] and therein read without any syllables in time what Thy eternal will willeth. They read, they choose, they love. They are always reading; and that which they read never passeth away. For, by choosing and by loving, they read the very unchangeableness of Thy counsel. Their book is not closed, nor is the scroll folded up, because ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 206, footnote 7 (Image)

Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine

City of God (HTML)

Augustin passes to the second part of the work, in which the origin, progress, and destinies of the earthly and heavenly cities are discussed.—Speculations regarding the creation of the world. (HTML)

That the World is Neither Without Beginning, Nor Yet Created by a New Decree of God, by Which He Afterwards Willed What He Had Not Before Willed. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 455 (In-Text, Margin)

... heard Him? Nowhere more distinctly than in the Holy Scriptures, where His prophet said, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Was the prophet present when God made the heavens and the earth? No; but the wisdom of God, by whom all things were made, was there, and wisdom insinuates itself into holy souls, and makes them the friends of God and His prophets, and noiselessly informs them of His works. They are taught also by the angels of God, who always behold the face of the Father,[Matthew 18:10] and announce His will to whom it befits. Of these prophets was he who said and wrote, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And so fit a witness was he of God, that the same Spirit of God, who revealed these things to him, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 224, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine

City of God (HTML)

Augustin passes to the second part of the work, in which the origin, progress, and destinies of the earthly and heavenly cities are discussed.—Speculations regarding the creation of the world. (HTML)

Of the Opinion that the Angels Were Created Before the World. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 514 (In-Text, Margin)

... angels in their heavenly abodes are, though not, indeed, co-eternal with God, yet secure and certain of eternal and true felicity. To their company the Lord teaches that His little ones belong; and not only says, “They shall be equal to the angels of God,” but shows, too, what blessed contemplation the angels themselves enjoy, saying, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”[Matthew 18:10]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 507, footnote 4 (Image)

Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine

City of God (HTML)

Of the eternal happiness of the saints, the resurrection of the body, and the miracles of the early Church. (HTML)

Of the Beatific Vision. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1672 (In-Text, Margin)

... begin to belong to those angels with whom we shall enjoy that holy and most delightful city of God of which we have now written so much. Thus, then, the angels of God are our angels, as Christ is God’s and also ours. They are God’s, because they have not abandoned Him; they are ours, because we are their fellow-citizens. The Lord Jesus also said, “See that ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always see the face of my Father which is in heaven.”[Matthew 18:10] As, then, they see, so shall we also see; but not yet do we thus see. Wherefore the apostle uses the words cited a little ago, “Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.” This vision is reserved as the reward of our faith; and of it ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 373, footnote 5 (Image)

Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies

Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)

Chapter XVI. 12, 13. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1569 (In-Text, Margin)

... which is perhaps of that same character, and yet you have received it; and you have not only been able to bear it, but have also listened to it with pleasure. But were that inward Teacher, who, while still speaking in an external way to the disciples, said, “I have still many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now,” wishing to speak inwardly to us of what I have said of the incorporeal nature of God in the same way as He speaks to the angels, who always behold the face of the Father,[Matthew 18:10] we should still be unable to bear them. Accordingly, when He says, “He will teach you all truth,” or “will guide you into all truth,” I do not think the fulfillment is possible in any one’s mind in this present life (for who is there, while living ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 166, footnote 3 (Image)

Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome

The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)

Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus. (HTML)

The Immutable. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1007 (In-Text, Margin)

Eran. —But the Lord said, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you that their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”[Matthew 18:10]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 167, footnote 1 (Image)

Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome

The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)

Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus. (HTML)

The Immutable. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1016 (In-Text, Margin)

Orth. —So also then let us understand of the angels when we hear that they daily see the face of your Father.[Matthew 18:10] For what they see is not the divine substance which cannot be circumscribed, comprehended, or apprehended, which embraces the universe, but some glory made commensurate with their nature.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 287, footnote 2 (Image)

Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome

The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)

Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus. (HTML)

To Bishop Basilius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1822 (In-Text, Margin)

... what is the case at the present moment? Why in the world, my dear friend, do you not utter a word against falsehood, while you allow a friend to be calumniated and the truth to be assailed? If this is because you disregard the helpless and insignificant, remember the plain proclamation of the commandment of the Lord “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones which believe in me, for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”[Matthew 18:10] If however it is the influence of my calumniators which imposes silence upon you, you must listen to the other law which says “Thou shalt not honour the person of the mighty” and “Judge righteous judgment” and “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 155, footnote 12 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Theodora. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2280 (In-Text, Margin)

... but on earth where sedition reigns, and war and discord hold sway, peace must be gained by prayer, and it is to be found not among all but only among men of good will, who pay heed to the apostolic salutation: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” For “His abode is in peace and His dwelling place is in Zion,” that is, on a watch-tower, on a height of doctrines and of virtues, in the soul of the believer; for the angel of this latter daily beholds the face of God,[Matthew 18:10] and contemplates with unveiled face the glory of God.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 34, footnote 9 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)

Concerning the Unity of God.  On the Article, I Believe in One God.  Also Concerning Heresies. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 833 (In-Text, Margin)

6. What then, some man will say, is it not written, The little ones’ Angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven[Matthew 18:10]? Yes, but the Angels see God not as He is, but as far as they themselves are capable. For it is Jesus Himself who saith, Not that any man hath seen the Father, save He which is of God, He hath seen the Father. The Angels therefore behold as much as they can bear, and Archangels as much as they are able; and Thrones and Dominions more than the former, but yet less than His worthiness: for with the Son the Holy Ghost ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 46, footnote 16 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)

The Father. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1008 (In-Text, Margin)

11. We believe then In One God the Father the Unsearchable and Ineffable, Whom no man hath seen, but the Only-begotten alone hath declared Him. For He which is of God, He hath seen God: whose face the Angels do alway behold in heaven[Matthew 18:10], behold, however, each according to the measure of his own rank. But the undimmed vision of the Father is reserved in its purity for the Son with the Holy Ghost.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 24, footnote 12 (Image)

Basil: Letters and Select Works

De Spiritu Sancto. (HTML)

That the Holy Spirit is in every conception inseparable from the Father and the Son, alike in the creation of perceptible objects, in the dispensation of human affairs, and in the judgment to come. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1048 (In-Text, Margin)

... Spirit is prophecy. And whence did he who was ordained to announce the mysteries of the vision to the Man of Desires derive the wisdom whereby he was enabled to teach hidden things, if not from the Holy Spirit? The revelation of mysteries is indeed the peculiar function of the Spirit, as it is written, “God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.” And how could “thrones, dominions, principalities and powers” live their blessed life, did they not “behold the face of the Father which is in heaven”?[Matthew 18:10] But to behold it is impossible without the Spirit! Just as at night, if you withdraw the light from the house, the eyes fall blind and their faculties become inactive, and the worth of objects cannot be discerned, and gold is trodden on in ignorance ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 161, footnote 1 (Image)

Basil: Letters and Select Works

The Letters. (HTML)

To Gregory, his uncle. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2220 (In-Text, Margin)

... to be silent: they reap the result of our disagreement, and it is not to their gain. I am not speaking to indulge my grief but to put a stop to it. And your intelligence, I am sure, has suffered nothing to escape you. You will yourself be better able to discern and to tell to others points of far greater importance than I can conceive. You saw the mischief done to the Churches before I did; and you are grieving more than I am, for you have long learnt from the Lord not to despise even the least.[Matthew 18:10] And now the mischief is not confined to one or two, but whole cities and peoples are sharers in my calamities. What need to tell what kind of report will spread about me even beyond our borders? It were well for you, large hearted as you are, to ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 381, footnote 3 (Image)

Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian

The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)

The Conferences of John Cassian. Part I. Containing Conferences I-X. (HTML)

Conference VIII. The Second Conference of Abbot Serenus. On Principalities. (HTML)
Chapter XVII. Of the fact that two angels always cling to every man. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1545 (In-Text, Margin)

For Holy Scripture bears witness that two angels, a good and a bad one, cling to each one of us. And of the good ones the Saviour says: “Do not despise one of these little ones; for I say unto you that their angels in heaven do always behold the face of thy Father which is in heaven:”[Matthew 18:10] and this also: “the angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear Him, and deliver them.” Moreover this also which is said in the Acts of the Apostles, of Peter, that “it is his angel.” But of both sorts the book of the Shepherd teaches us very fully. But if we consider about him who attacked the blessed Job we shall clearly learn ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 13, page 230, footnote 10 (Image)

Gregory the Great II, Ephriam Syrus, Aphrahat

Selections from the Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian and from the Demonstrations of Aphrahat the Persian Sage. (HTML)

Ephraim Syrus:  Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh. (HTML)

Hymn III. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 409 (In-Text, Margin)

... Godhead! Answer today the voice of our petition; let our prayer which is in words take effect in deeds. Heal us, O my Master; every time that we see Thy Feast, may it cause rumours that we have heard to pass away. Our mind wanders amid these voices. O Voice of the Father, still [other] voices; the world is noisy, in Thee let it gain itself quiet; for by Thee the sea was stilled from its storms. The devils rejoiced when they heard the voice of blasphemy: let the Watchers rejoice in us as they are wont.[Matthew 18:10] From amongst Thy fold there is the voice of sorrowfulness; O Thou that makest all rejoice, let Thy flock rejoice! as for our murmur, O my Master, in it reject us not: our mouth murmurs since it is sinful. Let Thy day, O Lord, give us all manner of ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 13, page 372, footnote 6 (Image)

Gregory the Great II, Ephriam Syrus, Aphrahat

Selections from the Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian and from the Demonstrations of Aphrahat the Persian Sage. (HTML)

Aphrahat:  Select Demonstrations. (HTML)

Of Monks. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 937 (In-Text, Margin)

15. This is the Spirit, my beloved, that the Prophets received, and thus also have we received. And it is not at every time found with those that receive it, but sometimes it returns to Him that sent it, and sometimes it goes to him that receives it. Hearken to that which our Lord said:— Despise not one of these little ones that believe on Me, for their angels in heaven do always behold the face of My Father.[Matthew 18:10] This Spirit then goes frequently and stands before God and beholds His face, and whosoever injures the temple in which it dwells, it will accuse him before God.

Online Dictionary & Commentary of Early Church Beliefs