Catena Fidei

Galatians 4:3 (WEB)
So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental principles of the world.

Catechism · 1

§1972Article 1 · The Moral LawRead at vatican.va
The New Law is called a law of love because it makes us act out of the love infused by the Holy Spirit, rather than from fear; a law of grace, because it confers the strength of grace to act, by means of faith and…

John Damascene, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith IV.23Book IV
“…share to Him and be at rest, the observance of the Sabbath was devised for the carnal that were still childish and in the bonds of the elements of the world, and unable to conceive of anything beyond the body and the letter.” — editor's note: Gal. iv. 3.
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Augustine of Hippo, On the Sermon on the Mount II.4Book II
“The Apostle Paul, again, says, “The heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant;” and mentions that we have received the Spirit of adoption, “whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”” — editor's note: Rom. viii. 15–23 and Gal. iv. 1–6.
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Tertullian, The Five Books Against Marcion V.3Book V
““But,” says he, “I speak after the manner of men: when we were children, we were placed in bondage under the elements of the world.”” — editor's note: This apparent quotation is in fact a patching together of two sentences from Gal. iii. 15 and iv. 3 (Fr. Junius). “If I may be allowed to guess from the manner…
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor I.6Book I
“So also we, when we were children, were in bondage under the rudiments of the world: but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” by Him.” — editor's note: Gal. iv. 1–5.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, or Miscellanies I.11Book I
“And the child, though heir, differeth nothing from a servant, till the time appointed of the father.”” — editor's note: Gal. iv. 1, 2, 3.
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Hippolytus of Rome, The Refutation of All Heresies IX.1Book IX
“For it seems expedient that we, making an onslaught upon the opinion which constitutes the prime source of (contemporaneous) evils, should prove what are the originating principles of this (opinion), in order that its offshoots, becoming a matter of general notoriety, may be made the object of universal scorn.” — editor's note: [The Philosophumena, therefore, responds to the Apostle’s warnings. Col. ii. 8; 1 Tim. vi. 20; Gal. iv. 3, 9; Col. ii. 20.]
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