These books contain important accounts and teachings from the early Church that every Christian should at least be familiar with. Unfortunately, many of these ancient resources are unknown to Christians today.
If you have read less than 5 of these, you rank as a catechumen.
If you have read at least 5, you are a novice.
If you have read at least 10, you are an acolyte.
If you have read at least 20, you would qualify as a sub-deacon.
If you have read at least 30, you could be a deacon.
If you have read up to 40, you should consider the priesthood.
If you have read all 50, we may declare you a bishop by acclamation.
I enjoyed compiling this list because the process revealed how lacking I am in my own patristic reading. For every one of these works I've read, there seem to be a dozen more that I haven't!
