St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, commonly known as “the Little Flower,” was born Marie Françoise Thérèse Martin in Alençon, France, on January 2, 1873. After her two older sisters, Pauline and Marie, had entered the cloistered Discalced Carmelite convent at Lisieux, where the family had moved in 1881, she also applied to enter, but because she was only fourteen years of age, her entrance had to be delayed. In the meantime, she visited Rome with her father and on that occasion she met Pope Leo XIII (1878–1903). When she told the pope of her desire to enter Carmel—hoping he would intervene in her behalf—all she received was a noncommittal “You shall enter if it be God’s will.” She was finally accepted in April 1888, when she was fifteen. She spent a total of nine and a half years in the convent; her life was one of humility, simplicity, and trust in God. In 1893, she was appointed mistress of novices and filled that office for four years. She contracted tuberculosis—its first signs began to appear in Holy Week 1896—about eighteen months before her death, which occurred on September 30, 1897. Shortly before her death, she wrote her autobiography, commonly known as Story of a Soul, written at the request of her superior. In it, she tells others of her “Little Way” of approaching God. Her Little Way has nothing extraordinary about it; it is merely fidelity in the observance of the rule and in the performance of one’s duties. Without going beyond the common order of things, Thérèse achieved sanctity. She was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925, and in 1997 Pope John Paul II declared her a doctor of the Church. The opening prayer of today’s Mass also refers to “the way” of St. Thérèse.

St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

St. John Chrysostom was born in Antioch (now Antakya, Turkey), in about 349. His early education trained him in law and oratory. He was baptized when he was eighteen years of age, and he thought of becoming a monk. This dream, however, was not realized until 373, when he joined a group of hermits living in the mountains near Antioch. Seven years later, he returned to the city and began his studies for the priesthood. Shortly after his ordination in 386, he was assigned to preach. He became an outstanding preacher, and for twelve years he preached regularly to the people of Antioch. His homilies, which were commentaries on the Scriptures, were published, and it is because of these and his other writings that he was later declared a doctor of the Church. John was made Bishop of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) in 398, and he immediately instituted much-needed reforms in his diocese, opened hospitals, and saw that the poor were given the help they needed. His honesty and frankness in speaking out against the luxury of the imperial court and its laxity in morals earned him the hatred of the wealthy and influential, and thus he was forced into exile in June 404.

John spent three years at a frontier outpost in Armenia, but because he still had some influence in Constantinople by means of his letters, he was moved further away. On his way to his new place of exile, he was forced to walk the entire distance, over mountains, through rain, and under the burning sun. Finally, his health broke, and he died at Comana on the Black Sea on September 14, 407. From 438 on, a liturgical feast was celebrated in his honor, and ten years later his body was brought to Constantinople’s Church of the Apostles. By the sixth century, the name “Chrysostom,” a Greek word meaning “golden-tongued” that alludes to his eloquence, had been added to his Christian name. Then, in 1568, Pope Pius V (see April 30) declared him a doctor of the Church. The prayer in today’s Mass also speaks of his eloquence and heroic sufferings.

St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

St. Gregory was born of a patrician family in Rome in about 540. He was educated in law and entered the Roman civil service, and in about 572 he became prefect of Rome. Two years later (574), he decided to become a monk, and so he converted his house on Rome’s Coelian Hill into a monastery. In 579, Pope Pelagius II sent him to Constantinople (today’s Istanbul) as his apocrisiarius or representative to the imperial Byzantine court. Gregory was recalled to Rome (about 585 or 586) and became Pope Pelagius’s adviser. On the death of Pope Pelagius, Gregory was elected his successor and was consecrated on September 3, 590. As pope, he sent (596) St. Augustine of Canterbury (see May 27) and about thirty monks to convert England, and it was he who introduced several changes into the liturgy of the Mass, for example: the Kyrie and Christe eleison were to be sung alternately by clergy and laity, the Alleluia was to be dropped in penitential seasons, and the Lord’s Prayer was to be said after the Canon. He was interested in Church music and promoted a plainchant that now bears his name. He was the first pope to refer to himself as the “Servant of the Servants of God,” a title still in use by the popes today. In his dealing with the Church in Constantinople, he emphasized Rome’s primacy, maintaining that all bishops are subject to the Roman see, for the Roman Church has been set over all Churches. He was also a voluminous writer. Many of his homilies have been preserved, but he is best remembered for two works: Pastoral Care (about 591), which details the duties of a bishop toward his flock, and Book of Morals, a commentary on the Book of Job, which is, at the same time, a summary of dogmatic and moral theology as well as asceticism and mysticism. Gregory died on March 12, 604, but his memorial is celebrated today, the anniversary of his consecration as pope. His writings were so esteemed over the centuries that he was the most frequently quoted ecclesiastical author during the Middle Ages. Pope Boniface VIII declared him a doctor of the Church in 1298. St. Gregory is one of the four great doctors of the Latin Church.

St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Aurelius Augustine was born in Tagaste, Numidia (today’s, Souk-Ahras, Algeria), Africa, on November 13, 354. His mother was St. Monica (see August 27), and his father was Patricius, a pagan. Augustine was enrolled among the catechumens as a child, and though his baptism was put off, he, nevertheless, had a Christian upbringing. He studied (372–75) rhetoric at Carthage (in modern Tunis), and while there he got into the habit of a disordered and dissolute life. For many years, he lived with a companion who was not his wife; their son Adeodatus (“Given by God”) was born in 372. Augustine subsequently opened a school of rhetoric (376–83) in Carthage; but being attracted by the Manichaeans, he joined them and followed their teachings for nine years. When Manichaeism was unable to answer all his questions, he separated from them. In 383, he went to Rome, where he taught rhetoric for a year, and then he moved (384) on to Milan, because he had won, through a competition, that city’s chair of rhetoric. Professional curiosity led him to attend the sermons of Bishop Ambrose (see December 7); he not only found them eloquent but also his heart soon was touched by what Ambrose said. He subsequently dismissed his companion, who returned to Africa, but kept his son with him. With his mother’s arrival in Milan, Augustine retired (386) to Cassiacum, near Milan, together with his son, who died shortly thereafter, and his brother Navigius. Augustine there devoted his time to penance and prayer, preparing himself for his new life. He was baptized by Ambrose during the Easter Vigil liturgy of April 24–25, 387.

St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church

St. Bernard was born into a noble family at Fontaines, near Dijon, France, about 1090. In 1112, with thirty-one other young noblemen—some of whom were his brothers—he entered the Cistercian monastery at Cîteaux, and three years later (1115) the abbot, St. Stephen Harding (1134), appointed Bernard and twelve monks to establish a new monastery at Clairvaux. With Bernard as its abbot, Clairvaux eventually became one of the chief monastic centers in Europe, and he became one of the most influential ecclesiastics in the Church. In 1117, his father, now somewhat advanced in age, and his younger brother Nivard entered his community. During the period when there was both a pope and an antipope, Bernard persuaded the antipope Anacletus II (1130–38) to submit to Innocent II (1130–43) and, thus, he restored peace to the Church. With the election of Pope Eugene III (1145–53)—Bernard’s pupil, former monk at Clairvaux, and abbot of the Cistercian monastery of SS. Vincenzo and Anastasio outside Rome—Bernard’s influence increased. Eugene commissioned (1146) Bernard to preach the Second Crusade, and Bernard spent 1146 and 1147 traveling through France fulfilling that commission. Within his own Cistercian Order, he was known for his sermons, which were almost always commentaries on Scripture or the liturgy, for example, those on the Song of Songs. In the sphere of theology, there are his On Loving God and On Grace and Free Will. Bernard’s writings show a faith nurtured by a sublime mysticism. It was his saintliness and personality that made him so influential and popular. He died, worn out by austerities and illness, at Clairvaux on August 20, 1153, and was canonized by Pope Alexander III in 1174. In 1830, Pope Pius VIII declared him a doctor of the Church. Each of the prayers in the Mass today has a reference to St. Bernard’s life: He is called a radiant light, who strove to bring harmony to the Church and whose teachings can help us to become wise.

St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

St. Alphonsus Liguori was born into a noble Neapolitan family in the small town of Marianella, Italy, on September 27, 1696. His early education was under the care of tutors, and at the age of thirteen years (1708), he began to study law at the University of Naples. He graduated in 1713 with a degree in both canon and civil law. He then practiced law for several years, until October 1723, when he set his practice and the world aside and began to study theology. After ordination in 1726, he devoted his time and efforts to preaching and hearing confessions. In 1732, he founded a group of priests, which eventually came to be known as the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, or more commonly as the Redemptorists. Alphonsus, being aware of the needs of the faithful of his time, directed his congregation toward preaching, giving missions, and instruction. In this way, he hoped to educate the people in the faith and win back those who had become lax in their practice of it. In 1762, he was appointed bishop of Sant’ Agata dei Goti; his interests now included the reform of the clergy and the upgrading of seminaries. As bishop, he put an end to certain abuses, restored churches, fostered good liturgy, and visited the many parishes in his diocese. In 1768, he was stricken with a rheumatic illness that eventually forced him to resign his see in 1775. He spent the rest of his life supervising the growth of his congregation and writing ascetical and theological books. His ascetical writings were the outpouring of his own rich spiritual life; he wrote on the mysteries of Christ’s life, the Mass, devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, on Mary, and prayer. In all of these, he opposed the then-current Jansenist teachings. He is especially remembered for his text in moral theology, which was used in seminaries throughout the world. He died at Nocera de’ Pagani, near Salerno, on August 1, 1787, and was canonized by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839. In 1871, Pope Pius IX declared St. Alphonsus Liguori a doctor of the Church, and in 1950 Pope Pius XII made him patron of moralists and confessors.

St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

St. Peter Chrysologus was born in Imola, Italy, in about 400, and in about 431 he became bishop of Ravenna, at that time the imperial capital of the West. He was an acquaintance of Eutyches (371?–455), the originator of the Monophysite heresy (i.e., that there are not two natures, divine and human, in Christ, but only one, divine). When Eutyches asked Peter to speak out in his favor, Peter wrote to Eutyches insisting that in the matters of faith it is always necessary to adhere to the teaching of the Bishop of Rome. Eutyches’s teaching was eventually condemned at the Council of Chalcedon (451). During his life, Peter gained a reputation for being an exceptional preacher, as today’s opening Mass prayer affirms. There are 183 extant sermons attributed to him, and many of them deal with Christ’s Incarnation. Because of his eloquence, he was given the additional name Chrysologus, or “golden-worded.” This epithet first originated in the seventh century and most probably in imitation of the epithet given to St. John Chrysostom (see September 13), that is, “golden-tongued.” Peter Chrysologus is thought to have died, perhaps at Imola, on July 31, in about 450. Pope Benedict XIII proclaimed him a doctor of the Church in 1729.

St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church

St. Lawrence’s true name was Julius Caesar Russo. He was born in Brindisi, southern Italy, on July 22, 1559. After his parents’ death, he went to Venice and later entered (1575) the Capuchin Order, in which he received the name Lawrence. He studied at Padua and Venice, and during those years his remarkable ability for languages became evident. He was able to speak and preach in at least a half dozen languages. After ordination (1582), he was assigned to preaching, his most characteristic apostolate, and he traveled throughout northern Italy and beyond the Alps evangelizing the people. He likewise spent time (1599–1602, 1606–13) in Bohemia, Germany, Austria, and Hungary working to win back those who had gone over to the Reformation. Within the Capuchin Order, he held many positions of authority, and in 1602 he was chosen superior general. He also engaged in diplomacy; he served as special papal emissary and effected (1614) a peace between Spain and Savoy. Late in his life, the city of Naples, suffering under the oppressive measures of its viceroy, asked him to represent its case before King Philip III of Spain. He met the king in Lisbon and won not only a hearing but also a favorable reply. While in Lisbon, Lawrence fell ill, and he died there on July 22, 1619. He was canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1881, and Pope John XXIII named him a doctor of the Church in 1959. When today’s prayer says that God gave St. Lawrence courage and right judgment, the courage refers to his fearlessness during many years of preaching in non-Catholic lands, and the judgment to his years as a religious superior and his diplomatic missions.