AUTHORS 29 AUTHORS

Authors

The historical authors of the prayers in this collection, listed in chronological order. Where attribution is disputed or traditional, the relevant prayer page documents the scholarly view.

c. 155-220 AD · The first major Christian theologian to write in Latin and the founder of Latin Christian theological vocabulary.

Cyprian of Carthage

c. 200-258 AD · 3rd-century bishop of Carthage, theologian of Church unity, and martyr under the Valerian persecution.

Ephrem the Syrian

c. 306-373 AD · Syriac deacon and hymnographer whose Lenten Prayer is central to Orthodox devotion.

Basil the Great

c. 329-379 AD · 4th-century bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia and one of the foundational theologians of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Niceta of Remesiana

c. 335-414 AD · 4th-century bishop and probable author of the Te Deum.

John Chrysostom

c. 347-407 AD · Archbishop of Constantinople and one of the great preachers of the early Greek Church.

Augustine of Hippo

354-430 AD · North African bishop and theologian whose Confessions established the spiritual autobiography as a Christian form.

Patrick of Ireland

c. 387-461 AD · 5th-century missionary bishop and traditional author of the Lorica.

Romanos the Melodist

c. 490-556 AD · Byzantine hymnographer and traditional author of the Akathist to the Theotokos.

Symeon the New Theologian

949-1022 · 11th-century Byzantine monk and one of the three figures in Eastern Orthodoxy granted the title 'Theologian.'

Wipo of Burgundy

c. 995-1048 · 11th-century imperial chaplain and author of the Victimae Paschali Laudes.

Hermann of Reichenau

1013-1054 · 11th-century Benedictine monk and traditional author of the Salve Regina.

Anselm of Canterbury

1033-1109 · Benedictine monk, Archbishop of Canterbury, and father of scholastic theology.

Stephen Langton

c. 1150-1228 · Archbishop of Canterbury and probable author of the Veni Sancte Spiritus.

Francis of Assisi

1181-1226 · Founder of the Franciscan order and traditional (but disputed) namesake of the Prayer for Peace.

1225-1274 · 13th-century Dominican theologian and the principal liturgical poet of Corpus Christi.

Jacopone da Todi

c. 1230-1306 · Italian Franciscan friar, mystic, and the probable author of the Stabat Mater.

Thomas a Kempis

c. 1380-1471 · Augustinian monk whose Imitation of Christ is the second-most-translated Christian book after the Bible.

1483-1546 · German reformer whose Small Catechism reshaped daily Christian prayer in the home.

1489-1556 · Archbishop of Canterbury and principal author of the Book of Common Prayer.

Ignatius of Loyola

1491-1556 · Spanish nobleman, soldier, and founder of the Society of Jesus.

1509-1564 · French reformer whose liturgy in Geneva shaped Reformed and Presbyterian prayer.

Edward Reynolds

1599-1676 · Bishop of Norwich and author of the BCP General Thanksgiving.

c. 1620-1686 · English Puritan minister ejected from his parish in 1662.

1703-1791 · Anglican priest and founder of the Methodist movement.

1707-1788 · 18th-century Anglican priest, Methodist co-founder, and the most prolific hymn writer in English-language Christian history.

Sojourner Truth

c. 1797-1883 · Formerly enslaved African-American abolitionist, preacher, and women's rights advocate.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

1834-1892 · Baptist preacher at London's Metropolitan Tabernacle and one of the most widely read Christians of the 19th century.

Reinhold Niebuhr

1892-1971 · American theologian and author of the Serenity Prayer.