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.