St. Peter Chrysologus (c. 380-c. 450) | WEST

(Updated July 16, 2025)

This Author Quote Archive collects pertinent quotes from the Church Father, St. Peter Chrysologus.

Next to each quote are the Topic Quote Archives in which they are included.

This Quote Archive is being continuously updated as research continues. Quotes marked with “***” have not yet been organized into their respective Topic Quote Archives.

Sermons

St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 57: On the Apostles’ Creed: To the Catechumens¹

• The Church Fathers Explain “Catholic”

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“The holy Catholic Church”–yes, because neither are the members separated from the head, nor the spouse from her husband. But, by such a union, the Church becomes one spirit; she becomes all things, and God is in them all. Therefore, he believes in God who acknowledges the holy Church as something united to God.

St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 58: Third Sermon on the Creed

• The Church Fathers Explain “Catholic” | §12

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(§12)²

And the holy Church, as though united to Christ, in order to be conveyed to the full glory of divinity.

St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 59: Fourth Sermon on the Creed

• The Church Fathers Explain “Catholic” | §14

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(§14)³

And the Holy Church. We also believe in the Church, 228 | 229 which we believe and profess has been received and confirmed into Christ’s glory.

St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 60: Fifth Sermon on the Creed

• The Church Fathers Explain “Catholic” | §14

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• (§14)⁴

We believe in the holy Church, which Christ took to himself in such a way as to make her a sharer in his divinity.

St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 61: On the Apostles’ Creed: To the Catechumens⁵

• The Church Fathers Explain “Catholic”

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“I believe in the Holy Church”–that you may acknowledge that the Church, the Bride of Christ, will remain in everlasting union in Him.

St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 62: Seventh Sermon on the Creed

• The Church Fathers Explain “Catholic” | §15

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(§15)⁶

In the holy Church: because the Church is in Christ, and Christ is in the Church. The one who confesses the Church has professed that he has believed in the Church.

St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 62A: Eighth Sermon on the Creed

• The Church Fathers Explain “Catholic” | §11

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(§11)⁷

The Holy Church: insofar as she herself is the Body of Christ, and her head is Christ. So we profess Christ in the Holy Church.

Letters

St. Peter Chrysologus, Letter to Eutyches (448)

• The Papacy and the Invincibility of the Church | §2

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(§2)⁸

However, we give you this exhortation in regard to everything, honorable brother: obediently heed these matters which the most blessed Pope of the City of Rome has written, because blessed Peter who lives and presides in his own see proffers the truth of faith to those who seek it. 286 | 287 For, in accordance with our pursuit of peace and of faith, we cannot decide upon cases of faith without the harmonious agreement of the Bishop of Rome.

Footnotes

1. St. Peter Chrysologus and St. Valerian, George E. Ganss, S.J., trans., The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 17: Saint Peter Chrysologus Selected Sermons; Saint Valerian Homilies (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004), 109. ↩︎
2. St. Peter Chrysologus, William B. Palardy, trans., The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 109: St. Peter Chrysologus, Selected Sermons, Volume 2 (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004), 224. ↩︎
3. St. Peter Chrysologus, William B. Palardy, trans., The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 109: St. Peter Chrysologus, Selected Sermons, Volume 2 (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004), 228-29. ↩︎
4. St. Peter Chrysologus, William B. Palardy, trans., The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 109: St. Peter Chrysologus, Selected Sermons, Volume 2 (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004), 236. ↩︎
5. St. Peter Chrysologus and St. Valerian, George E. Ganss, S.J., trans., The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 17: Saint Peter Chrysologus Selected Sermons; Saint Valerian Homilies (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004), 114. ↩︎
6. St. Peter Chrysologus, William B. Palardy, trans., The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 109: St. Peter Chrysologus, Selected Sermons, Volume 2 (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004), 245. ↩︎
7. St. Peter Chrysologus, William B. Palardy, trans., The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 109: St. Peter Chrysologus, Selected Sermons, Volume 2 (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004), 247. ↩︎
8. St. Peter Chrysologus and St. Valerian, George E. Ganss, S.J., trans., The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 17: Saint Peter Chrysologus Selected Sermons; Saint Valerian Homilies (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004), 286-87. ↩︎