The Patristic ABCs

When my boys were a couple years younger, just learning the alphabet, they fell in love with song from YouTube, "Phonics Song 2". So I decided to write a song to the same tune, which would not only teach our kids the alphabet, but also the names of the early church fathers. Here are the lyrics to "The Patristic ABCs." Please feel free to use this is in all your nursery-level Sunday School classes, or your doctorate-level patristics classes, as the case may be (though you'll have to check with A. J. Jenkins of KidsTV123 for rights to the tune).

 The Patristic ABCs

 A is for Augustine, Athanasius, Ambrose

B is for Basil, Benedict, Boethius

C is for Cyril, Clement, and Cyprian

D is for Didymus and for Dionysius

E is for Ephrem and for Eusebius

F  is for Flavian and Minucius Felix

G is for Gregory, a whole bunch of Gregorys

H is for Hippolytus, Hermas, and Hilary

                These are the letters of our alphabet

And these are the fathers of our church (x2)

I is for Ignatius, Irenaeus, Isidore

J is for John Chrysostom, Justin and Jerome

K is for letters they never used back then

L is for Lactantius and for Leo

M is for Macarius, Martin, Melito

N is for Nazianzen and for Nestorius

O is for Origen and for Osius

P is for Polycarp, Papias, Paulinus

                These are the letters of our alphabet

And these are the fathers of our church (x2)

Q is for Quadratus the early apologist

R is for Rufinus and for Rabbulas

S is for Severus, Socrates, Sozomen

T is for Tatian, Tertullian, and Theodore

U is for Ulfilas (early gothic missionary)

V is for Victor and for Vigilius

W is for women, the core of the early church

X is for Latin, where names don’t start with X

Y is for Yohannan, Yohannan the elder

Z is for Zosimus and Zephyrinus

These are the letters of our alphabet

And these are the fathers of our church (x2)

Now I know my Patristic ABCs

Next time won’t you sing with me?