Who are the "Church Fathers"?

Have you ever heard anyone make reference to the "early Church Fathers?" These were the great theologians of the first 8 centuries or so. They were noted not only for their orthodoxy and theological brilliance, but also for their holiness.

To read the Church fathers is to embark upon an incredible journey. Always reflecting upon Scripture and the Tradition of the Church, they have written treatises of great detail on subjects ranging from the sacraments to prayer, lengthy commentaries on Scripture and rebuttals to current heresies. If you can think of any subject of interest to Christians, the Fathers most likely tackled it. If you want to know what Christians have believed throughout history, start with the Bible and continue with the Fathers.

Joseph A. Gallegos has written a nice (brief) introduction to the Fathers, you can read it at:
http://www.trueknights.org/EarlyFathers.html

Corunum Apologetic website: Learn what early Christians writers (“Church Fathers”) taught about the Christian faith
http://www.cin.org/users/jgallegos/contents.htm

Read entire treatises of the Fathers at:
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/

A good book for beginning to read the Fathers:
http://www.amazon.com/Fathers-Church-Mike-Aquilina/dp/159276245X/sr=8-1/qid=1165447742/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8838234-7627268?ie=UTF8&s=books

Image of a famous Church father: St. Ambrose (340-397) [bishop of Milan and the teacher of St. Augustine]