And so the Catholic Bard proudly presents to you the….
Doctors of the 2nd Millenium Church
1054 The Great Schism
July 16, 1054 – East-West Schism: Humbert of Silva Candida, representative of the newly deceased Leo IX, breaks the relations between Western and Eastern Churches, through the act of placing an invalidly-issued Papal Bull of excommunication during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. There is not pope on the throne of Peter at this time. Their won’t be another pope until non-saint Pope # 153 Victor II April 13, 1055 – 28 July 28, 1057 – 2 years, 106 days)
St. Dr. Peter Damian OSB
(c. 1007 –February 21 or 22, 1072 or 1073)
Feast: February 21
Peter became a Doctor of the Church in 1828.
He was an Italian reforming Benedictine monk and cardinal in the circle of Pope Leo IX. Dante placed him in one of the highest circles of Paradiso as a great predecessor of Francis of Assisi
Any cleric or monk who seduces young men or boys, or who is apprehended in kissing or in any shameful situation, shall be publicly flogged and shall lose his clerical tonsure. Thus shorn, he shall be disgraced by spitting in his face, bound in iron chains, wasted by six months of close confinement, and for three days each week put on barley bread given him toward evening. Following this period, he shall spend a further six months living in a small segregated courtyard in custody of a spiritual elder, kept busy with manual labor and prayer, subjected to vigils and prayers, forced to walk at all times in the company of two spiritual brothers, never again allowed to associate with young men.
-Letter 31:38. To Pope Leo IX, A.D. 1049.
The Fathers of the Church, Medieval Continuation, Peter Damian: Letters 31-60, Owen J. Blum, tr., Catholic University of America Press, vol. 2, p. 29.[1]
But if I have erred in anything, I gladly come before the teaching authority of Peter.
-Letter 65:26. To Hildebrand, “archdeacon and immobile pillar of the Apostolic See,” Dec. 1059. Op. Cit., p. 39. [5]
Dr. St. Anselm of Canterbury OSB
(1033/4–1109)
Feast: April 21
Anselm became a Doctor of the Church in 1720.
He was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher, and theologian of the Catholic Church, who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109.
The ontological argument in the Western Christian tradition was proposed by Saint Anselm of Canterbury in his 1078 work, Proslogion (Latin: Proslogium, lit. ‘Discourse [on the Existence of God]’), in which he defines God as “a being than which no greater can be conceived,” and argues that such a being must exist in the mind, even in that of the person who denies the existence of God. From this, he suggests that if the greatest possible being exists in the mind, it must also exist in reality, because if it existed only in the mind, then an even greater being must be possible—one who exists both in mind and in reality. Therefore, this greatest possible being must exist in reality.
Ergo domine…credimus te esse aliquid quo nihil maius cogitari possit.
Therefore, lord…we believe that you are something than which nothing greater can be thought.
–Proslogion, ch. 2; Gregory Schufreider Confessions of a Rational Mystic: Anselm’s Early Writings (West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, 1994) pp. 324-5.
God often works more by the life of the illiterate seeking the things that are God’s, than by the ability of the learned seeking the things that are their own.
-Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 123.
1123 – Catholic Ecumenical Council # 9: First Lateran Council
1139 – Catholic Ecumenical Council # 10: Second Lateran Council
St. Dr. Bernard of Clairvaux. BOC
(1090 – August 20, 1153)
Feast: August 29
Bernard became a Doctor of the Church in 1830.
He was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templar, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through the nascent Cistercian Order.
He was sent to found Clairvaux Abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val d’Absinthe, about 15 kilometres (9 mi) southeast of Bar-sur-Aube. In the year 1128, Bernard attended the Council of Troyes, at which he traced the outlines of the Rule of the Knights Templar, which soon became an ideal of Christian nobility.
On the death of Pope Honorius II in 1130, a schism arose in the church. Bernard was a major proponent of Pope Innocent II, arguing effectively for his legitimacy over the Antipope Anacletus II.
Bernard advocated crusades in general and convinced many to participate in the unsuccessful Second Crusade, notably through a famous sermon at Vézelay (1146).
Bernard was canonized just 21 years after his death by Pope Alexander III.
Among us on the earth there is His memory; but in the Kingdom of heaven His very Presence. That Presence is the joy of those who have already attained to beatitude; the memory is the comfort of us who are still wayfarers, journeying towards the Fatherland.
From, On Loving of God, Paul Halsall trans., Ch. 3
1179 – Catholic Ecumenical Council # 11: Third Lateran Council
St. Dr. Hildegard von Bingen’s
(c. 1098 – September 17, 1179)
Feast: September 17
Hildegard became a Doctor of the Church in 2012.
She was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and as a medical writer and practitioner during the High Middle Ages.[1][2] She is one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony, as well as the most recorded in modern history She has been considered by a number of scholars to be the founder of scientific natural history in Germany.
O Eternal God, now may it please you
to burn in love
so that we become the limbs
fashioned in the love you felt
when you begot your Son
at the first dawn
before all creation.
And consider this need which falls upon us,
take it from us for the sake of your Son,
and lead us to the joy of your salvation.
“O eterne deus”
1215 – Catholic Ecumenical Council #12: Fourth Lateran Council
St. Dr. Anthony of Padua
(Auust 15, 1195–June 13, 1231)
Feast: June 13
Anthony became a Doctor of the Church in 1946.
He was a Portuguese Catholic priest and member of the Order of Friars Minor. Anthony was born and raised by a wealthy family in Lisbon, Portugal, and died in Padua, Italy. Noted by his contemporaries for his powerful preaching, expert knowledge of scripture, and undying love and devotion to the poor and the sick, he was one of the most quickly canonized saints in church history, being canonized less than a year after his death.
The traditional practice of praying for St. Anthony’s help in finding lost or stolen things is traced to an incident during his lifetime that occurred in Bologna. According to the story, Anthony had a book of psalms that was important to him, as it contained his notes and comments for use in teaching his students. A novice who had chosen to leave had taken the psalter with him. Prior to the invention of the printing press, any book was hand-copied, and thus, an item of high value; a Franciscan friar in particular, given his vow of poverty, would have found such an item difficult to replace. When Anthony realized his psalter was missing, he prayed it would be found or returned, after which the thief was moved to not only return the book to Anthony, but also return to the order. The stolen book is said to be preserved in the Franciscan friary in Bologna
In another often-told story, which took place also in Rimini, Anthony was challenged by a heretic to prove the reality of the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The man, who sought to mock Anthony, brought out a half-starved mule and showed it fresh fodder. Saint Anthony showed the mule the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament. The mule ignored the fodder and bowed before the Blessed Sacrament.[9] The Tempietto of Sant’Antonio marks the spot where the miracle took place. Other versions of this miracle place it in Toulouse or Bourges.
The saints are like the stars, who, in His providence, Christ hides under a seal, lest they appear whenever they wish. Instead, they are always ready to disembark from the quiet of contemplation into the works of mercy at the time decided upon by God, whenever their heart should hear the word of command.
Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Easter (Part III: De Christi omnium scientia, par. 10)
1245 – Catholic Ecumenical Council # 13: First Council of Lyons
St. Dr.Thomas Aquinas
(c. 1225 –March 7, 1274)
Feast: January 28
Thomas became a Doctor of the Church in 1567.
He was an Italian Dominican friar and priest, an influential philosopher and theologian, and a jurist in the tradition of scholasticism from the county of Aquino in the Kingdom of Sicily.
Thomas was a proponent of natural theology and the father of a school of thought (encompassing both theology and philosophy) known as Thomism. He argued that God is the source of the light of natural reason and the light of faith. He embraced several ideas put forward by Aristotle and attempted to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity. He has been described as “the most influential thinker of the medieval period“ and “the greatest of the medieval philosopher-theologians”. According to the English philosopher Anthony Kenny, Thomas was “one of the greatest philosophers of the Western world”.
Thomas’s best-known works are the unfinished Summa Theologica, or Summa Theologiae (1265–1274), the Disputed Questions on Truth (1256–1259) and the Summa contra Gentiles (1259–1265). His commentaries on Christian Scripture and on Aristotle also form an important part of his body of work. He is also notable for his Eucharistic hymns, which form a part of the Church’s liturgy.
As a Doctor of the Church, Thomas Aquinas is considered one of the Catholic Church’s greatest theologians and philosophers.[14] He is known in Catholic theology as the Doctor Angelicus (“Angelic Doctor”, with the title “doctor” meaning “teacher”), and the Doctor Communis (“Universal Doctor”).[a] In 1999, John Paul II added a new title to these traditional ones: Doctor Humanitatis (“Doctor of Humanity/Humaneness”).
“Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine”
“We must love them both, those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject, for both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in finding it.”
1274 – Catholic Ecumenical Council # 14 – Second Council of Lyons:
St. Dr. Bonaventure OFM
(1221 –July 15, 1274)
Feast: July 15
Bonaventure became a Doctor of the Church in 1588.
He was an Italian Catholic Franciscan bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher.
The seventh Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, he also served for a time as Bishop of Albano. He was canonised on 14 April 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1588 by Pope Sixtus V, becoming known as the “Seraphic Doctor” (Latin: Doctor Seraphicus). His feast day is 15 July.
Many writings from the Middle Ages once attributed to him have been subsequently re-classified under the name “Pseudo-Bonaventure“.
Christ’s death on the Cross should live in our thoughts and imagination, for frequent thought on the Passion of Christ keeps aflame and brings to intense heat the fires of earnest piety.
-Holiness of Life
Saint Dr. Albert the Great,
c. 1200 –November 15, 1280)
Feast: November 15
Albert became a Doctor of the Church in 1931.
He was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop, considered one of the greatest medieval philosophers and thinkers.
Canonized in 1931, he was known during his lifetime as Doctor universalis and Doctor expertus; late in his life the sobriquet Magnus was appended to his name. Scholars such as James A. Weisheipl and Joachim R. Söder have referred to him as the greatest German philosopher and theologian of the Middle Ages.
“Above all one should accept everything, in general and individually, in oneself or in others, agreeable or disagreeable, with a prompt and confident spirit, as coming from the hand of his infallible Providence or the order he has arranged.”
― On Cleaving To God
1311–1312- Catholic Ecumenical Council # 15: Council of Vienne
St. Dr. Catherine of Siena
(March 25, 1347 –April 29, 1380)
Feast: April 29
Catherine became a Doctor of the Church in 1970.
She was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, she is revered as a saint and as a Doctor of the Church due to her extensive theological authorship. She is also considered to have influenced Italian literature.
All the way to heaven is heaven, for Jesus said, I am the way.
As attributed in The Fear of Beggars : Stewardship and Poverty in Christian Ethics (2007) by Kelly S. Johnson, p. 209
If you are what you ought to be, you will set fire to all Italy, and not only yonder. (Letter 368 to Stefano Maconi)
Variant versions:
If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze! As quoted by Pope John Paul II in | an address to the Regnum Christi Movement and the Legionaries of Christ (4 January 2001)
Also as quoted by Pope John Paul II in | The Closing Homily at World Youth Day, Tor Vergata, (Sunday 20 August 2000)
Important Historical Happenings
1414–1418: Catholic Ecumenical Council # 16 Council of Constance.
1431–1445: Catholic Ecumenical Council # 17 Council of Basel, Ferrara and Florence
1441: The first enslaved black Africans are brought to Europe at Lagos in the Kingdom of Portugal.
1454: The press of Johannes Gutenberg (at Mainz on the Rhine) produces the first printed documents bearing a date.
August 2, 1492- The Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus sails with three ships from Palos de la Frontera, in the service of the Crown of Castile, on his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, intending to reach Asia.
St. Dr. John of Ávila
(January 6, 1499 – May 10, 1569)
Feast: May 10
John became a Doctor of the Church in 2012.
He was a Spanish priest, preacher, scholastic author, and religious mystic. He is called the “Apostle of Andalusia“, for his extensive ministry in that region.
“Blessed be God, for so bountifully providing for us that He even bestows on us His very Self. The Son is given to us, and through Him the Holy Spirit, and with Them comes the Father. Thus, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit reside within us, and we already have a beginning here of that communion with God which will be perfect in the next life. Let us thank Him for all His mercies and prepare ourselves to receive the favors that still remain to be bestowed on us.”
― Finding Confidence in Times of Trial: Letters of St. John of Avila
1512–1517: Catholic Ecumenical Council # 18 –Fifth Lateran Council.
Saint Dr. Teresa of Ávila
(1515–1582)
Feast: October 15
Giving Her Children Brown Scapulars
Discalced Carmelites
Teresa became a Doctor of the Church in 1970.
She was a Carmelite nun and prominent Spanish mystic and religious reformer.
Active during the Counter-Reformation, Teresa became the central figure of a movement of spiritual and monastic renewal, reforming the Carmelite Orders of both women and men.[2] The movement was later joined by the younger Carmelite friar and mystic Saint John of the Cross, with whom she established the Discalced Carmelites. A formal papal decree adopting the split from the old order was issued in 1580.[web 3]
Her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus, and her books, The Interior Castle and The Way of Perfection, are prominent works on Christian mysticism and Christian meditation practice. In her autobiography, written as a defense of her ecstatic mystical experiences, she discerns four stages in the ascent of the soul to God: mental prayer and meditation; the prayer of quiet; absorption-in-God; ecstatic consciousness. The Interior Castle, written as a spiritual guide for her Carmelite sisters, uses the illustration of seven mansions within the castle of the soul to describe the different states one’s soul can be in during life.
Forty years after her death, in 1622, Teresa was canonized by Pope Gregory XV. On 27 September 1970 Pope Paul VI proclaimed Teresa the first female Doctor of the Church in recognition of her centuries-long spiritual legacy to Catholicism.
The prayer Nada te turbe (Let nothing disturb you) is attributed to Teresa, having been found within her breviary:
Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing make you afraid.
All things are passing.
God alone never changes.
Patience gains all things.
If you have God you will want for nothing.
God alone suffices
— Teresa of Ávila
October 31, 1517 – Reformation: Martin Luther publishes his 95 Theses (posting them on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church). This story is possibly apocryphal. This event kicked off the Protestant Reformation,
St. Dr. John of the Cross
(1542 –December 14, 1591)
Feast: December 14
Giving Her Children Brown Scapulars
Discalced Carmelites General Roman Calendar
John became a Doctor of the Church in 1926.
He was a Spanish Catholic priest, mystic, and Carmelite friar of converso origin. He is a major figure of the Counter-Reformation in Spain.
John of the Cross is known for his writings. He was mentored by and corresponded with the older Carmelite, Teresa of Ávila. Both his poetry and his studies on the development of the soul, particularly his Noche Obscura are considered the summit of mystical Spanish literature and among the greatest works of all Spanish literature. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726. He is known as the “mystical doctor”.
Upon a darkened night the flame of love was burning in my breast
And by a lantern bright I fled my house while all in quiet rest.
Shrouded by the night and by the secret stair I quickly fled.
The veil concealed my eyes while all within lay quiet as the dead
Dark Night of the Soul-Variant adapted for music by Loreena McKennitt (1994)
Saint Dr. Peter Canisius SJ
(May 8, 1521 – December 21, 1597)
Feast: December 21
All Kinds of Saints Day
Peter became a Doctor of the Church in 1925.
He was a Dutch Jesuit priest. He became known for his strong support for the Catholic faith during the Protestant Reformation in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Switzerland and the British Isles. The restoration of the Catholic Church in Germany after the Protestant Reformation is largely attributed to the work there of the Society of Jesus, which he led.
It is plainly wrong to meet non-Catholics with bitterness or to treat them with discourtesy. For this is nothing else than the reverse of Christ’s example because it breaks the bruised reed and quenches the smoking flax. We ought to instruct with meekness those whom heresy has made bitter and suspicious, and has estranged from orthodox Catholics, especially from our fellow Jesuits. Thus, by whole-hearted charity and good will we may win them over to us in the Lord.
Again, it is a mistaken policy to behave in a contentious fashion and to start disputes about matters of belief with argumentative people who are disposed by their very natures to wrangling. Indeed, the fact of their being so constituted is a reason the more why such people should be attracted and won to the simplicity of the faith as much by example as by argument.
St. Peter Canisius, SJ (1521—1597) – IgnatianSpirituality.com
1545–1563: Ecumenical Council # 19- The Council of Trent defined the Church’s position in the Catholic Reformation.
St. Dr. Lawrence of Brindisi
(July 22, 1559 – July 22, 1619)
Feast: July 21
Lawrence became a Doctor of the Church in 1959.
He was an Neapolitan Catholic priest, theologian and member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. An accomplished linguist, in addition to his native Italian, Lawrence could read and speak Latin, Hebrew, Greek, German, Czech, Spanish, and French fluently. Lawrence was ordained a priest at the age of 23
“The word of the Lord is a light for the mind and a fire for the will, so that man may know and love God. For the inner man, who lives through the living grace of God’s Spirit, it is bread and water, but bread sweeter than honey and water better than wine or milk…. It is a weapon against a heart stubbornly entrenched in vice. It is a sword against the flesh, the world and the devil, to destroy every sin.” What We Can Learn from St. Lawrence of Brindisi – National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Dr. St. Robert Bellarmine
(October 4, 1542 – September 17, 1621)
Feast: September 17
Robert became a Doctor of the Church in 1921.
He was an Italian Jesuit and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was one of the most important figures in the Counter-Reformation.
Bellarmine was a professor of theology and later rector of the Roman College, and in 1602 became Archbishop of Capua. He supported the reform decrees of the Council of Trent. He is also widely remembered for his role in the Giordano Bruno affair, the Galileo affair, and the trial of Friar Fulgenzio Manfredi.
The school of Christ is the school of charity. On the last day, when the general examination takes place, there will be no question at all on the text of Aristotle, the aphorisms of Hippocrates, or the paragraphs of Justinian. Charity will fill the whole syllabus.—Robert Bellarmine, sermon preached at the University of Louvain CH
St. Dr. Francis de Sales
(August 21, 1567 – December 28, 1622)
Feast: January 24
Francis became a Doctor of the Church in 1877.
He was a Savoyard Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Geneva and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to the religious divisions in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation. He is known also for his writings on the topic of spiritual direction and spiritual formation, particularly the Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God.
“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.
Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections,
but instantly set about remedying them—every day begin the task anew.”
December 8, 1869 and was adjourned on 20 September 1870 Catholic Ecumenical Council # First Vatican Council
Dr. St. Alphonsus Liguori
(September 27, 1696 – August 1, 1787)
Feast: August 1
Alphonsus became a Doctor of the Church in 1871.
He was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, in November 1732.
In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant’Agata dei Goti. A prolific writer, he published nine editions of his Moral Theology in his lifetime, in addition to other devotional and ascetic works and letters. Among his best known works are The Glories of Mary and The Way of the Cross, the latter still used in parishes during Lenten devotions.
He was canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI.
The preacher should often speak of the love which Jesus Christ bears towards us, of the love which we should bear to Jesus Christ, and of the confidence we should have in his mercy whenever we are resolved to amend our lives. It would appear that some preachers do not know how to speak of anything but the justice of God, terrors, threats, and chastisements. There is no doubt but that terrifying discourses are of use to arouse sinners from the sleep of sin; but we should be persuaded at the same time, that those who abstain from sin solely through the fear of punishment, will with difficulty persevere for a long time. Love is that golden link which binds the soul to God, and makes it faithful in repelling temptation and practising virtue.
Liguori, Saint Alphonsus M. (published 1882). Sermons for All the Sundays in the Year. (N. Callan, Trans.) (Eighth Edition, p. 4). Dublin; London: James Duffy & Sons.
Dr. St. Thérèse of Lisieux
(January 2, 1873 – September 30, 1897)
Feast: October 1
Giving Her Children Brown Scapulars
St. Therese And The Hidden Life Exposed
Thérèse became a Doctor of the Church in 1997.
She is also known as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus et de la Sainte Face), was a French Discalced Carmelite who is widely venerated in modern times. She is popularly known in English as the Little Flower of Jesus, or simply the Little Flower, and in French as la petite Thérèse (“little Therese”).
Therese has been a highly influential model of sanctity for Catholics and for others because of the simplicity and practicality of her approach to the spiritual life. She is one of the most popular saints in the history of the church, although she was obscure during her lifetime. Pope Pius X called her “the greatest saint of modern times”.
Therese felt an early call to religious life and, after overcoming various obstacles, in 1888, at the early age of 15, she became a nun and joined two of her elder sisters in the cloistered Carmelite community of Lisieux, Normandy (another sister, Céline, also later joined the order). After nine years as a Carmelite nun, having fulfilled various offices such as sacristan and assistant to the novice mistress, in her last eighteen months in Carmel she fell into a night of faith, in which she is said to have felt Jesus was absent and been tormented by doubts that God existed. Therese died at the age of 24 from tuberculosis.
She is well known throughout the world, with the Basilica of Lisieux being the second most popular place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes.
I do not have the courage to force myself to search out beautiful prayers in books. There are so many of them it really gives me a headache! and each prayer is more beautiful than the others. I cannot recite them all and not knowing which to choose, I do like children who do not know how to read, I say very simply to God what I wish to say, without composing beautiful sentences, and He always understands me. For me, prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus.
Ch. XI: Those Whom You Have Given Me, 1896–1897 As translated by Fr. John Clarke (1976), p. 242.
The words in italics were underlined by Thérèse.
Catholic Ecumenical Council # 21 Second Vatican Council 11 October 1962 – 8 December 1965
Find out about More Saints.
The CB’s List of 2nd Millenium Catholic Saints: 1000 – 1499
The CB’s List of 2nd Millenium Catholic Saints: 1500 – 1749
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