The Doctors of the Church: Teachers of the Catholic Faith

A book review on The Doctors of the Church: An Introduction to the Church's Great Teachers

These two volumes on The Doctors of the Church is a spiritual treasure that all Catholics should read, study and seek to understand. Many of the writings of these great teachers of the Church are letters, sermons, and commentaries that reflect a brilliance of wisdom and insight inspired by God.

A brief introduction

There are two volumes in this book. The first volume lists down all the writings of the doctors of the first millenium. The second volume on the other hand, lists down the doctors of the second millenium. Both volumes total 33 who are entitled by the Church with the title "Doctors of the Church" - doctor, meaning "teacher", from the Latin docere, meaning "to teach". (note: there are 4 new doctors of the Church through the papacy of Benedict XVI and Francis)

A wisdom that applies to all time

In reading one of the first millenium doctors of the Church, St. Peter Chrysologus, the reader will see clearly that what they teach is meant to be practiced in one's Christian way of life. For instance, St. Peter Chrysologus, in one of his sermons on Lent, said that "prayer opens the door, fasting obtains, and mercy receives." He says that these three form a unity and one without the other will not be effective. Applying this spiritual practice and exercising it especially during Lent, will reap for the faithful the wisdom and truth that St. Peter Chrysologus sees and teaches. It is no wonder that Peter Chrysologus and the other "Doctors of the Church" have been noted as worthy of the title.

The list of the 33 doctors of the Church according to each volume of the books

• Volume One
• Saint Athanasius
• Saint Ephrem
• Saint Hilary of Poitiers
• Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
• Saint Basil the Great
• Saint Gregory Nazianzen
• Saint John Chrysostom
• Saint Ambrose
• Saint Jerome
• Saint Augustine
• Saint Cyril of Alexandria
• Saint Peter Chrysologus
• Saint Leo the Great
• Saint Gregory the Great
• Saint Isidore of Seville
• Saint Bede
• Saint John Damascene
• Volume Two
• Saint Peter Damian
• Saint Anselm
• Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
• Saint Anthony of Padua
• Saint Albert the Great
• Saint Thomas Aquinas
• Saint Bonaventure
• Saint Catherine of Siena
• Saint Teresa of Jesus (Avila)
• Saint John of the Cross
• Saint Peter Canisius
• Saint Robert Bellarmine
• Saint Lawrence of Brindisi
• Saint Francis de Sales
• Saint Alphonsus Liguori
• Saint Therese of Lisieux

Saint Therese of Lisieux added as the 33rd doctor of the Church

It was St. John Paul II who declared Saint Therese of the Child Jesus or Saint Therese of Lisieux, as the 33rd doctor of the Church on October 19, 1997. The spiritual doctrine of this great saint, the "Little Way", has inspired so many in our modern century. We can learn about her spirituality from her own autobiography, "The Story of a Soul".

note: There are four new doctors of the Church not included in this two-volume book. Two were declared by the late Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, and two also declared by Pope Francis. They are respectively, John of Avila and Hildegard of Bingen, and Gregory of Narek and Irenaeus of Lyons.

Summary

There is a lot to learn from the writings of all these doctors of the Church. Since their writings are classics, it is still applicable for our time. What they teach can balance our modern Catholic outlook so that we can again be rooted in Scripture and the Tradition which has guided us to present times.

2nd Sunday of the Year (A)

References to the Sunday Readings for Your Reflection: 2014 (A), 2015 (B) and 2016 (C)

January 19, 2014
Liturgical readings
Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
Psalm 40
1 Corinthians 1:1-3
John 1:29-34

"After me is to come a man who ranks ahead of me."

Humility is not an easy virtue to practice. We know this by experience. It is easier to be noisy than to remain in silence. It is easier to race to be the first in line, than to remain calm, and trust that we can be first, and will get what we need eventually through patience. And it is easier to burst in righteous anger, than to avoid the slightest annoyance or irritation that can enter and invade the heart. But even if humility may not be what the world expects of us, it can be practiced, integrated into in our work, and be used by God to influence the same on others. Evangelization by example can be produced, as long as we are aware of God's will and His grace as the source of humility.

St. John the Baptist is a good example of one who knows his place before God and those in authority. He lived and evangelized in humility. In the gospel, we read what he said:

After me is to come a man who ranks ahead of me, because He was before me.

John the Baptist had an important role in the plan of God. But He knew, like the prophets of the Old Testament, that someone is to come who will be a "light to the nations". John knew that through Jesus, "salvation will reach to the ends of the earth". He was completely grounded in the truth of his being only the herald of this Messiah.

In daily life, we may oftentimes get distracted and lose our grounding in God. When this happens, the call to be humble gets blurred, and we easily get tempted to make ourselves as the source of all right and wrong - without referring to a higher authority. There is a great temptation to be unkind to others if we are not humble and speak or act with discretion. But St. John's example in the gospel can teach us how to re-ground ourselves in what is truly the Source of Truth. When John caught sight of Jesus, he pointed out: "Look there! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John teaches us to be attentive to the presence of God, and to know where we stand amidst His presence.

Scripture quotes for reflection:
The Lord said to Israel: you are my servant, through whom I show my glory (Isaiah 49)
The Lord put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God (Psalm 40)

St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishop of Nazianzus

St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishop and Doctor of the Church:
ca. 329-389 A.D.

Feast day, January 2

Birth, family background and studies

St. Gregory was born at Nazianzus, Cappadocia, Turkey, in ca. 329 A.D., to St. Gregory Nazianzen the Elder and St. Nonna. Gregory's two other siblings were Caesarius and Gorgonia, and are also venerated as saints. St. Gregory studied first at Caesarea, Cappadocia (where he met St. Basil), then in the rhetorical school at Caesarea, Palestine. He studied further for ten years at Athens (where St. Basil and Julian the Apostate were also studying).

Gregory returns to Nazianzus

When he was about 30 years old, St. Gregory joined St. Basil at Pontus on the Iris River, where the two chose to live the contemplative life as hermits. This decision was short-lived for Gregory, because his father, who was about 80 years old, and bishop of Nazianzus, called for Gregory to return home so he can help manage the diocese and the estate. Gregory had to obey. Reluctantly, Gregory was ordained in ca. 362 A.D. by his father. Gregory worked with his father and managed the diocese to prevent a schism. His father however fell into heresy when he made compromises with Arianism. But Gregory brought his father back to orthodoxy. His father died in 374 A.D.

Consecrated as bishop of Sesima

Before Gregory's father passed away, in ca. 372 A.D., St. Basil, now metropolitan of Caesarea, named St. Gregory as bishop of Sesima. Sesima was a newly created see in the middle of territory beset by Arianism. Although St. Gregory was consecrated as bishop, he never went to Sesima, to the dismay of St. Basil, but rather remained as coadjutor to his father. This severely strained the friendship between the two, as Gregory chose to remain and help his father in Nazianzus.

Prevaling over Arianism at Constantinople

After the death of his father in 374 A.D., Gregory continued to administer the see until a new bishop was chosen. He however suffered a breakdown in 375 A.D., and spent the next five years retiring to a monastery in Seleucia, Isauria (near modern Baghdad, Iraq). Here, he lived in much prayer and study. While in Seleucia, in 379 A.D., Gregory was called to help the Church of Constantinople. That Church had been under Arian dominance during the reign of Emperor Valens. But with Valens now dead, a group of orthodox bishops wanted Gregory to revitalize orthodoxy in Constantinople. Gregory went and naturally met opposition. But he prevailed over the Arians, and in 380 A.D., the newly baptized Emperor Theodosius decreed that all his subjects must be orthodox. Theodosius ordered the Arian leaders to submit or leave, and then named Gregory archbishop of Constantinople.

Resigning as bishop, retirement and death

Just a few months after Gregory's installation as bishop of Constantinople, hostilities began anew and the validity of his election was questioned at the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. (at which St. Gregory also presided). Fearing then that this present unrest would lead to bloodshed, Gregory left the office of bishop in 382 A.D. and retired to a private life - living a quiet life of prayer, meditation, penance and great austerity at Nazianzus. He devoted the last years of his life to writing until his death in 389 A.D. He died on January 25, 389 at the age of fifty-nine years.

Cappadocian Father and Doctor of the Church

St. Gregory Nazianzen is ranked along with St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nyssa as one of the "three Cappadocian Fathers". Besides his sermons, his writings include: Five Theological Orations, a compilation of Origen's writings which he did with Basil, and a poem entitled De Vita Sua. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church, St. Gregory is often surnamed "the Theologian" for his eloquent defense of orthodoxy and the decrees of the Council of Nicea in his sermons and treatises (notably his celebrated sermons on the Trinity). He shares the same feast with St. Basil the Great every 2nd of January.

References of this article

• Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney
• Saints for Our Time, by Ed Ransom
• The Doctors of the Church, by John F. Fink
• A Year With the Saints, by Don Bosco Press, Inc.