Patristic Limericks

"The four Cappadocians," by the hand of C. Kalvesmaki

The spirit of St. Patrick’s Day afflicted me in the final moments of that day: I wrote some limericks.

St. John Chrysostom (exiled for his criticism of Byzantine empress Aelia Eudoxia)
There once was a man named Chyrsóstom —
Some thought about Christ and them lost Him —
But John, if you please,
Did preach from his knees,
Thus truth to Eudoxia cost him.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (who accepted the term homoousios at Constantinople, though he may not always have)
There also was Cyril the bishop,
Who in the end offered his wish up:
In 381
"One substance" — the Son,
Whose Flesh is humanity’s hyssop.

St. Macrina the Elder (grandma of St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Macrina the Younger)
Have you heard of Macrina the Elder?
In esteem Cappadocia held her.
Her grandkids, those three,
She reared at her knee,
And wisdom from them gave us shelter.