[résumé de l'éditeur] Raniero Cantalamessa, a Franciscan Capuchin ordained priest in 1958, earned a PhD in Theology (1962) from the University of Freiburg (Switzerland), and a PhD in Classics from the Catholic University of Milan (1966). From 1970 to 1979, he held the first Chair of Early Christian Studies in Italy and was the first Director of the Department of Religious Studies of the Catholic University of Milan. His main works deal with Tertullian, Pseudo-Hippolytus, Christian apologetics, Easter and Christology in the Ancient Church. In 1979, Father Cantalamessa resigned his teaching position and, in 1980, was appointed by Pope John Paul II Preacher to the Papal Household. This volume is an homage published by friends and colleagues in Patristic studies to honour him as both a scholar and a theologian on the occasion of his 80th birthday.