Dottore Subito!

St Gregory of Narek is now officially a Doctor of the Church, following a ceremony in St Peter's today. I note with interest a post by Fr Z, in reality a petition to Pope Francis, to declare St John Paul II a Doctor of the Church. Father is certainly zealous and daring: he asks for it to be done on Divine Mercy Sunday next year, and even suggests a doctoral title: Doctor Misericordiae, the Doctor of Mercy.

This time last year I was at the canonisation, and after it I sent a tweet saying that now we had him canonised, the next process is to get him declared a Doctor, so I am in total agreement with Fr Z on this. 

So, dear faithful, what can we do? Well, Fr Z has shown us: we petition the Holy Father - that's how it starts. The faithful, and then of course theologians, preferably groups of them, send formal requests to the Pope that a particular saint be considered for the honour. If there is merit in the requests, an investigation is opened in the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. As we know from incidents since his election, Pope Francis takes great interest in his post, so we have no excuse. Off we go. 

Dottore subito!

A New Doctor Of The Church

Earlier today the Holy Father declared a new Doctor of the Church - St Gregory of Narek, an Armenian. St Gregory, like St Ephraim the Syrian for the Church in the East, is a major figure in Armenia, so his elevation to the ranks of the Doctors reflects the eminence his teaching has enjoyed for many centuries. This elevation is to be welcomed for a number of reasons, one of them being a recognition of the importance of the Eastern and other Rites within the Church. 

St Gregory lived all his life in what is now Armenia. Born in 951 he entered a monastery in Narek and would remain there for the rest of his life. He was ordained priest at the age of 25. He was a contemplative and a mystic and his writings reflect these. He wrote a number of works including a commentary on The Song of Songs, but it is his Lamentations which are the source of his fame. These are a series of prayers which are both beautifully poetic and theologically profound. In this work he reminds me of our other poetic Doctor, St Ephraim. St Gregory died in 1003. His monastery lasted until the 20th century when it was destroyed following the Armenian genocide. 

May our new Doctor pray for us and guide our souls to find refuge in the Lord. May this "watchful angel in human form" be our protector.

A New Doctor of the Church?



According to RomeReports, St John of Avila is being considered for the honour of Doctor of the Church.  This would be most interesting since he was a friend of St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross, and is very much in the tradition of Spanish mysticism.  He is not very well known outside of Spain, yet his writings have been highly influential, particularly in the areas of mystical theology and spirituality.  A number of years ago the Spanish bishops petitioned to have the honour conferred on the Saint and in 2006 they announced that their request was going to be granted.

St John was born in Almodovar del Campo, Spain,  in 1500.  He studied law in Salamanca, but he was not impressed with jurisprudence, so he went home for a long think.  For three years he lived an ascetic life until a Franciscan friar who was passing through Almodovar suggested he go and study theology.  Taking up the suggestion he went to Alcala, and as he did so discovered a vocation to the priesthood.  His parents died during his seminary years.  Ordained priest, he sold his inheritance and began making arrangements to go on the missions to America, however God had other designs: he was indeed to be a missionary, but in his own land - a far tougher assignment.  Before the boat left his preaching ability came to attention of the Archbishop of Seville who asked him to become a missionary in Andalusia.  Seeing the movement of the Holy Spirit in this, he said yes and began his life as an itinerant preacher in Spain. 

St John's sermons brought thousands back to the practice of the faith while gaining him many enemies.  He was sought after for his spiritual direction and advice, among those who sought his help and advice were St Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross and St Francis Borgia.  His enemies made false accusations against him and he was brought before the Inquisition, but his innocence was quickly established and the Inquisitors invited him to preach at the Church of San Salvador in Seville confounding his critics and delighting the ordinary people who loved him.  After forty years of preaching he died in Montilla in 1569.  He was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970.   His many works, sermons and letters were published in the 17th century and are still available today. So St John is a worthy candidate for the honour of Doctor.

I still look forward to the same honour being conferred on St Louis-Marie de Montfort – I believe a number of submissions have been made on his behalf.  And of course another worthy candidate is St Veronica Giuliani, the great Italian mystic and stigmatic who has left us remarkable writings: the bishops of Umbria have already petitioned for the honour to be conferred on her.  All that said, I wonder what chance St Faustina Kowalska would have?  I believe St Bernadine of Siena is also being considered – I think they have been studying his writings for some time now – the original petition requesting his inclusion among the Doctors was submitted in 1882, so I suppose it is early days yet!

The report says Pope Benedict may declare St John a Doctor at World Youth Day this year – I doubt it somehow – he may announce that he will declare him a Doctor, just as Blessed John Paul announced his intention to confer the honour on St Therese at World Youth Day in Paris.  I would imagine, though, that a separate ceremony would be held in Rome.  But then Pope Benedict is his own man.  Interestingly, the Holy Father did not include St John of Avila in his recent Wednesday catechises.

Love Has Let Himself Be Found!

Yesterday the Holy Father dedicated his weekly audience to one of my favourite saints - St Veronica Giuliani, Capuchin Poor Clare and mystic.  St Veronica was a remarkable woman, one who would remind you of St Teresa of Avila, who has left us volumes of profound and insightful works.  Her Diary is one of the most extraordinary Christian documents which gives us a real glimpse of the mystical life - a life we are all invited to enter. 

Like her brother Capuchin, St Pio, she bore the stigmata, and endured years of suspicion and investigation, growing in holiness and earning the deep respect and love of her sisters in the Monastery.  When all censures were lifted, as the Church, having completed an exhaustive investigation, recognised that her stigmata and mystical gifts came from God, she was elected Abbess at the first opportunity, an office she served with great wisdom, simplicity, love and practicality - she may have been a mystic, but her head was not in the clouds.  

St Veronica offers us so many wonderful insights, but my favourite quotation from her is in fact her last - her dying words.  As she looked into eternity, about to leap into the arms of God she said, "Love has let himself be found" - that sums up her whole life, her teaching and her lesson to us.

She was also a great devotee of Our Lady who dictated part of the Diary.  In fact, it was Our Lady who told her that her death was near and so said to the saint that now it was time to call a "Halt" to the writings, which Veronica did.   At the moment those writings are being examined by the Church with the view to possibly declaring her a Doctor of the Church.  Let us pray that she will be, soon.  Veronica is one of the Church's great treasures, but at the moment a hidden one.  Her elevation as the fourth woman Doctor will be a gift to the Church in these times, one who with the other Doctors, brings a unique teaching which will help us grow in knowledge and love of God.  I see in his talk the Holy Father sees her as a great devotee of Scripture, perhaps he is reflecting on a possible declaration, and sees her contribution to the understanding of Sacred Scripture as a possible reason to raise her.

The Holy Father's talk can be found here.