“Human art, moreover, produces houses, and ships, and cities, and pictures. And how shall I tell what God makes? Behold the whole universe; it is His work: and the heaven, and the sun, and angels, and men, are the works of His fingers. How great is the power of God! His bare volition was the creation of the universe. For God alone made it, because He alone is truly God. By the bare exercise of volition He creates; His mere willing was followed by the springing into being of what He willed.” St. Clement of Alexandria (2nd-3rd centuries)

“Glory to the Beautiful One, Who conformed us to His image! Glory to the Fair One, Who did not look upon our foulness!” St. Ephraim of Syria (4th century, Doctor of the Church)

“To speak of the Godhead is, I know, like trying to cross the ocean on a raft, or trying to fly to the stars on a little bird’s wings.” St. Gregory Nazianzen (4th century, Doctor of the Church)

“What is impossible to God? Not that which is difficult to His power, but that which is contrary to His nature.” St. Ambrose (4th century, Doctor of the Church)

“God is not what you imagine or what you think you understand. If you understand, you have failed.” St. Augustine (4th-5th centuries, Doctor of the Church)

“It appears then that the most proper of all the names given to God is ‘He that is,’ as He Himself said in answer to Moses on the mountain, ‘Say to the sons of Israel, He that is has sent me’. For He keeps all being in His own embrace, like a sea of essence infinite and unseen.” St. John of Damascus (7th-8th centuries, Doctor of the Church)

“You are holy, Lord, the only God, and Your deeds are wonderful. You are strong. You are great. You are the Most High, You are almighty. You, holy Father, are King of heaven and earth. You are Three and One, Lord God all Good. You are Good, all Good, supreme Good, Lord God living and true. You are love, You are wisdom. You are humility, You are endurance. You are rest, You are peace. You are joy and gladness, You are justice and moderation. You are all our riches, and You suffice for us. You are beauty. You are gentleness. You are our protector, You are our guardian and defender. You are courage. You are our haven and our hope. You are our faith, our great consolation. You are our eternal life, great and wonderful Lord, God almighty, merciful Savior.” St. Francis of Assisi (12th-13th centuries)

“In beautiful things Saint Francis saw Beauty Himself, and through His vestiges imprinted on creation he followed his Beloved everywhere, making from all things a ladder by which he could climb up and embrace Him Who is utterly desirable.” St. Bonaventure (13th century, Doctor of the Church)

“Let men make all the technical and economic progress they can, there will be no peace nor justice in the world until they return to a sense of their dignity as creatures and sons of God, Who is the first and final cause of all created Being. Separated from God, a man is but a monster, in himself and toward others; for the right ordering of human society presupposes the right ordering of man’s conscience with God, Who is Himself the source of all justice, truth, and love.” Pope St. John XXIII (19th-20th centuries)

“And would there be in you a craving for unending life, perfect truth, and ecstatic love unless perfect Life and Truth and Love existed? In other words, you were made for God. Nothing short of the Infinite satisfies you, and to ask you to be satisfied with less would be to destroy your nature.” Ven. Fulton Sheen (19th-20th centuries)