Doctors of the Church

DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH. - I. THEOLOGY. -
They are illustrious men of the Catholic Church who, for their holiness, their orthodoxy in the faith, and above all for their eminent knowledge of sacred things, attested especially by their writings, have been decorated with this title by a special decree of the Church.

Just as with the "Fathers of the Church," so too for the Doctors holiness, orthodoxy, knowledge and ecclesiastical consent are required, but the difference lies in this: 1) for the Fathers of the Church antiquity is necessary, that is, they must be from the first centuries of the Church, so that one can say they almost gave it birth, whereas this is not required for the Doctors; 2) for the Fathers explicit ecclesiastical approval is not required, practical consent suffices, whereas for the Doctors proclamation by official decree either of a council or of the supreme pontiff is necessary; 3) for the Fathers it is not necessary that their knowledge be exceptional, whereas for the Doctors knowledge must be the special characteristic. The Fathers, therefore, have "antiquity" as their characteristic, the Doctors instead "knowledge." This, however, does not prevent the same person from possessing both qualities, and thus from being at once a Father and a Doctor of the Church. This is in fact the case for several figures, among whom are the four greatest Fathers of the Latin Church: St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome and St. Gregory the Great, and the four greatest Fathers of the Greek Church: St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nazianzus and St. John Chrysostom; who are also regarded as the "great Doctors" of the Church.

These concepts, so distinct now, were not so in the past: since "doctor" means teacher, and in the first centuries of the Church those were called doctors who possessed doctrine in an eminent degree, and had the gift of knowing how to teach it with ease and fruit. St. Paul also alludes to this when he says that Jesus "appointed some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and doctors" (Eph. 4, 11; cf. II Cor. 12, 28; Act. 13, 1).

In time the doctorate became an increasingly specific title, but at first it was commonly attributed only to the Fathers of the Church, and precisely to those who stood out most for their knowledge.

Thus arose the double title of "Father and Doctor of the Church." The Doctor, therefore, then also had the characteristic of antiquity. The first to give a list in this sense, of the commonly recognized Fathers and Doctors of the Church, is the Venerable Bede, in the 8th century (Bede, Epist. resp. ad Accam Ep.: PL 92, 304). He gives the names of St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Jerome and St. Gregory the Great. The name of a martyr, as can be seen, does not appear here, nor will it appear later, even if the martyr, as, for example, St. Cyprian, is eminent in doctrine, because he who gave his life for Christ has the title of "martyr," which prevails over every other title.

In the 16th century the exclusive note of antiquity was abandoned; that is, one began to proclaim as Doctors figures even of more recent times. The first proclamation without this note was made by Pius V in 1567, for St. Thomas Aquinas (v. below). From then on others followed, down to that of St. Alphonsus de' Liguori (d. 1787), who, among the Doctors of the Church, is the one who lived in times closest to our own.

Besides the Doctors recognized throughout the whole Church, however, there are others who are honored with this title either in some nation only, or in some religious Order, and there they also have the liturgical formulary of Doctors, for example, St. Leander of Seville for Spain, St. Prosper of Aquitaine for the Canons Regular Lateranense.

(phot. Alinari)

The service that the Doctors render to the Church is well symbolized by the four statues that, in 1667, by order of Alexander VII, Bernini placed in the apse of the Vatican basilica: they depict St. Athanasius and St. John Chrysostom, of the Eastern Church, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, of the Western Church, supporting the Chair of St. Peter.

Vincenzo Pugliese

II. LITURGY

1. The liturgical prerogatives of the Doctors of the Church

The feasts of the Doctors of the Church have the double rite, must be celebrated by the whole Church, and enjoy their own formularies for the Mass: In medio Ecclesiae; Gospel: Vos estis sal terrae; the Creed. In the Office they follow that of Confessor pontiffs or non-pontiffs, but have certain parts of their own, above all the antiphon at Vespers: O doctor optime; a proper "oremus"; a proper responsory VIII: In medio Ecclesiae; proper lessons in the 2nd and 3rd Nocturn.

The formulary: In medio Ecclesiae is derived from the Introit of the Mass of St. John the Evangelist, the "theologian" among the Apostles and Evangelists. As for the antiphon: O doctor optime, it is not yet certain when it was first introduced, but it is certain that by the 13th century it was already in use. The Creed in the Mass, according to Gavanti, was prescribed by Gregory XI and by Urban VI, but he does not indicate any source (B. Gavanti-C. M. Merati, Thesaurus sacr. rituum, I, Venice 1762, p. 62 ff.). The double rite was introduced by Boniface VIII, with the letter "Gloriosus Deus" (Anagni 24 Sept. 1294) addressed to the archbishop of Reims and his suffragans, later incorporated into his Decretals (l. III, tit. XXIII, dated Rome 1298); but to wish to see, as is often done, in this disposition of Boniface VIII the formal institution of the Doctors of the Church is not exact; he confers upon the four great luminaries of the Church, as such already named and venerated since the 8th century, a liturgical prerogative, which had become opportune, given that the double rite had been assigned to other saints of lesser importance for the universal Church. Moreover, the decretal of Boniface VIII did not enter into force everywhere; still in the 16th century there are liturgical books in which the four Doctors have the semidouble rite. Only with the liturgical reform of St. Pius V (Breviary, 1568; Missal, 1570) was uniformity established throughout the Church. He extended the liturgical honors, due to the four Doctors of the Latin Church, equally to those of the Greek Church, Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, John Chrysostom and Athanasius.

2. The two great medieval Doctors: St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure. - The whole Middle Ages would never have conceived the idea of conferring the title of Doctor of the Church on any but the well-known great four theologians. Now, the enormous flowering of medieval theology produced a new type of theologian, the "magister" or the "doctor theologiae". Some, not always the greatest, soon also acquired a characteristic nickname, sometimes already during their lifetime (Doctor subtilis, solemnis, profundus, etc.). Among the "masters" and "doctors", one soon came to surpass all the others, the "doctor communis" Thomas Aquinas, d. in 1274 and canonized in 1323 by John XXII; a very important element in his cause of canonization was his doctrine, as is evident from the bull itself and from the Dominican liturgical books (b. Thomas confessor et doctor Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum). The title begins to become liturgical rather than honorific from 28 Jan. 1368 on the occasion of the translation of the Saint's body to Fossanova. The contemporary friar Raymond already entitles his account: Historia translationis corporis x.nii Ecclesiae Doctoris divi Thomae de Aquino, and on the same occasion Urban V, in a letter (Montefiascone, 22 June 1368), also wrote: " tamquam doctor egregius per sua perlucida ac salutifera documenta universalem illustravit Ecclesiam " (Acta SS. Martii, I, Paris 1865, p. 731). Of the authority attained by St. Thomas in theology, there was proof during the Council of Trent, where his doctrine truly "enlightened the Church". It was natural therefore that St. Pius V, summarizing in brief words the history of the influence of Thomistic theology throughout the whole Church, should equate him with the other four great Doctors by conferring upon him the same liturgical honors (bull Mirabilis Deus, 11 Apr. 1567: Bullarium Romanum, VII, Turin 1862, pp. 564-65).

Also Bonaventure of Bagnoregio of the Friars Minor was by Sixtus IV, in the same bull of canonization (14 Apr. 1482: Bullarium Romanum, V, Turin 1860, pp. 284-89) aggregated to the ranks of the Doctors " ipsumque sanctorum confessorum pontificum et doctorum, quos sancta veneratur Ecclesia, consortio solemniter in praesentiarum adscribimus aggregamusque ". This proclamation became formal with Sixtus V (bull Triumphantis Hierusalem gloriam, 14 March 1588), who thus conformed to what St. Pius V had done for St. Thomas. In this way the two celebrated "Doctors of theology" of the University of Paris, by a natural transition of ideas, became "Doctors of the universal Church".

3. Further developments of the idea of the "Doctors of the Church"

According to a report that appears certain, Pope Gregory IX, after the solemn canonization of St. Anthony of Padua, intoned the antiphon O doctor optime (F. Antonelli, op. cit. in bibl., pp. 258-59). In fact, Anthony was a doctor in theology, one of the first of the Franciscan Order, greatly esteemed by the Pope for his preaching. In the Franciscan Order the Saint soon enjoyed the liturgical privileges of the true Doctors of the Church, a fact that was repeated also in certain places for certain learned men and "doctors" of other Orders, as for Sts. Hilary, Peter Chrysologus, Isidore, Bede the Venerable, Peter Damian, Anselm, Bernard.

It was therefore almost inevitable that one day the Holy See would be asked to extend such a pre-existing use, limited in scope, to the whole Church. And indeed, this step was finally taken in 1720, under Clement XI, for St. Anselm, luminary of Scholasticism and venerated as a Doctor in the Benedictine Order and in England. From then on the declarations of new Doctors follow one another at an increasing rate, based almost always on the precedent of local cult and on the fact that the person was a saint of the Middle Ages.

A final phase was reached under Pius IX, with the elevation to Doctor of modern saints (Alphonsus Liguori, 1871 and Francis de Sales, 1877). Leo XIII, out of special regard for the dissident Churches of the East, elevated to Doctors of the universal Church certain great Eastern Fathers and theologians. The preparation of such an act was entrusted, because of its predominantly liturgical character, to the Sacred Congregation of Rites.

4. The Doctors according to date of death:

1. 367 Hilary
2. 373 Athanasius
3. 378 Ephrem
4. 379 Basil
5. 386 Cyril of Jerusalem
6. ca. 390 Gregory of Nazianzus
7. 397 Ambrose
8. 407 John Chrysostom
9. 419-20 Jerome
10. 430 Augustine
11. 444 Cyril of Alexandria
12. ca. 450 Peter Chrysologus

13. 461 Leo the Great
14. 604 Gregory the Great
15. 636 Isidore
16. 735 Bede the Venerable
17. 749? John Damascene
18. 1072 Peter Damian
19. 1109 Anselm, doctor Marianus
20. 1153 Bernard, doctor mellifluus
21. 1231 Anthony of Padua, doctor evangelicus
22. 1274 Thomas Aquinas, doctor angelicus, communis, cherubicus
23. 1274 Bonaventure, doctor seraficus
24. 1280 Albert the Great, doctor universalis
25. 1591 John of the Cross
26. 1597 Peter Canisius
27. 1621 Robert Bellarmine
28. 1622 Francis de Sales
29. 1787 Alphonsus M. de' Liguori, doctor zelantissimus

5. The Doctors according to order of declaration:

a) The group of the "great Doctors", venerated since the early Middle Ages:

The "great" Doctors of the West:

1. Ambrose (d. in 397)
2. Jerome (d. in 419-20)
3. Augustine (d. in 430)
4. Gregory the Great (d. in 604).

The "great Doctors" of the East:

5. Basil the Great (d. in 379)
6. Gregory of Nazianzus (d. ca. in 390)
7. John Chrysostom (d. in 407)
8. Athanasius (d. in 373; note that the Easterners recognize only three "great" Doctors; St. Athanasius was added by the Westerners).

b) The two "great" medieval Doctors:

9. 1567 11 Apr. Thomas Pius V
10. 1588 14 March Bonaventure Sixtus V

c) The group of Doctors from the 18th century onward:

11. 1720, Feb. 3 Anselm Clement XI
12. 1722, Apr. 25 Isidore Innocent XIII
13. 1729, Feb. 10 Peter Chrysologus Benedict XIII
14. 1754, Oct. 15 Leo the Great Benedict XIV
15. 1829, Sept. 27 Peter Damian Leo XII
16. 1830, Aug. 20 Bernard Pius VIII
17. 1851, May 13 Hilary Pius IX
18. 1871, June 7 Alphonsus M. de' Liguori Pius IX
19. 1877, Sept. 16 Francis de Sales Pius IX
20. 1882, July 28 Cyril of Jerusalem Leo XIII
21. 1882, July 28 Cyril of Alexandria Leo XIII
22. 1890, Aug. 19 John Damascene Leo XIII
23. 1899, Nov. 13 Bede the Venerable Leo XIII
24. 1920, Oct. 5 Ephrem Benedict XV
25. 1925, May 31 Peter Canisius Pius XI
26. 1926, Aug. 24 John of the Cross Pius XI
27. 1931, Sept. 17 Robert Bellarmine Pius XI
28. 1931, Dec. 16 Albert the Great Pius XI
29. 1946, Jan. 16 Anthony of Padua Pius XII

Giuseppe Löw

III. ICONOGRAPHY

In the iconographic hierarchy the Doctors of the Church follow the Apostles and the Evangelists, indicating the spiritual forces of the Church Militant who fought for the affirmation of the truths of faith.

The Fathers of the Latin Church who open the series had greater diffusion in art than those of the Greek Church. To these, in Byzantine iconography, St. Cyril of Alexandria was also added, and all were represented with the common symbol of the book or the scroll inscribed with excerpts drawn from their own writings. Almost without exception they had their right hand raised in the Greek manner of blessing, and their respective name was always indicated at their side. Thus in the mosaics of the dome of the baptistery of St. Mark in Venice and in those of the cathedral of Monreale.

In Western art, as a consequence of the schism that divided the two hagiographies, representations of the Doctors of the Greek Church are rare (Pala di S. Giovanni Crisostomo [1510] by Sebastiano del Piombo in the church of the same name in Venice).

For the Fathers of the Latin Church, apart from the individual iconographic indications (for which v. under the individual entries), the reference to doctrine recurred quite often in Western representations.

St. Jerome had a wide diffusion in Venetian painting of the Renaissance; represented in cardinal's vestments, with the pen, the book and the lion crouching (referring to the episode of the thorn that the Saint is said to have extracted from its paw), or else as a penitent and hermit in a barren and desolate landscape, he always had the reference to the title of Doctor of the Church with the book and the pen at his feet. Even more pertinent is the other figuration that presents the Saint in his library intent on the study of the Holy Scriptures.

St. Ambrose, St. Augustine and St. Gregory the Great added to their particular symbols also the book of knowledge.

The Doctors of the Church were represented in isolation or grouped together (for example, in the decoration by Pizzolo, ca. 1449, in the church of the Eremitani in Padua), and also in the stories of Jesus and of the Virgin or in the side compartments of triptychs and polyptychs (v. the Vivarini polyptych of the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice).

Of the various legends, traditions and stories of the life of the Doctors of the Church, not all took account of the specific attribute. For the other Doctors, invested later with the title, from St. Thomas (Pius V, 1568) to St. Anthony of Padua (Pius XII, 1946), there is no characteristic iconography to cite that particularly concerns their title. - See plates CXX-CXXI.

Giovanni Carandente