A new illustrated archive

Lives that carried
the light eastward.

Meet the principal saints, teachers, martyrs, and missionaries of the Church of the East through concise, carefully sourced lives.

Explore their lives Why “Paradise”?

An old and beloved name,
carried into a new work of remembrance.

DOCUMENTED DEVOTIONAL IMAGE · CC0

✦Apostles of the EastMar Addai & Mar MariMission · Memory · Liturgy

SaintsLives, places, and sources ManuscriptsWitnesses written by hand BooksTexts behind the archive

Featured lives

A constellation of lives.

Begin with three voices: an apostolic missionary, a poet of sacred learning, and a master of mercy and stillness.

MissionariesApostolic tradition

Mar Addai

The apostle of Edessa

An apostolic missionary at the heart of early Syriac Christian memory and the tradition of Edessa.

TeachersDied c. 500–502

Mar Narsai

Poet and teacher

A formative poet-theologian and teacher associated with the celebrated schools of Edessa and Nisibis.

MonasticsLate 7th century

Mar Isaac of Nineveh

Writer of the inner life

A bishop and spiritual writer whose teaching on mercy, prayer, and stillness crossed ecclesial borders.

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Featured manuscripts

Faith preserved in ink, parchment, and memory.

Three catalogued witnesses introduce the craft, prayer, and memory of the East Syriac scribal world.

Enter the manuscript room

Church of the East Psalter

Eastern Syriac vocalization and line illustrations.

British Library · Add MS 7154Open manuscript record

Gospel Lectionary

Geometric illumination within an East Syriac book.

British Library · Add MS 7174Open manuscript record

The name behind the project

An old name.
A new collection.

The Paradise of the Fathers is the familiar English name of a classic Syriac collection. This website is a new, independent illustrated series about saints of the Church of the East.

It respectfully borrows the name; it does not claim to be a new edition or translation of the ancient book.

Read the full story

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One life at a time

The past becomes a mirror.

Begin with a single saint. Stay long enough to notice what their life asks of yours.