With no printing presses and no schools, the Church’s ordinary medium was the liturgical assembly. The Fathers did much of their teaching when their people came to Mass. They aimed their teaching at adults, assuming that parents would pass the Catholic faith on to their children. And they tried to convey the important details in memorable ways—through hymns, for example, or prayers, or poems, or brief slogans. In the early years, a parish “church” was rarely a dedicated building. The church met for