Without further ado, we present Church #17-27:
17. St. Bede the Venerable
Lived 673-735. A Benedictine monk, St. Bede is the only Englishman to be named Doctor of the Church.
Patron of English writers and historians.
Feast Day: May 25
18. St. Peter Damian
Lived 1007-1072. Another Benedictine monk, renowned for his asceticism and his battles against Church corruption.
Feast Day: February 21
19. St. Anselm of Canterbury
Lived 1033-1109. Of northern Italian origins, but ascended to the rank of Archbishop of Canterbury, England. Considered the Church’s first “Scholastic” for his philosophical work.
Feast Day: April 21
20. St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Lived 1090-1153. A French Cistercian abbot said to have been endowed with the gift of miracles.
Patron of the Cistercians, Burgundy, beekeepers and candlemakers.
Feast Day: August 20
21. St. Hildegard of Bingen
Lived 1098-1179. A German Benedictine abbess and mystic, known for her visions, music and poetry.
Feast Day: September 17
22. St. Anthony of Padua
Lived 1195-1231. Born in Portugal, he began religious life as a Benedictine but left to join the newly formed Franciscan Order.
Patron of lost things.
Feast Day: June 13
23. St. Albert the Great
Lived 1200-1280. A German Dominican and the teacher of the great St. Thomas Aquinas. A voluminous writer on topics ranging from geography to philosophy, law, friendship, astronomy and love.
Patron of scientists, philosophers, medical technicians, and the natural sciences.
Feast Day: November 15
24. St. Bonaventure
Lived 1221-1274. A Franciscan priest known as the “seraphic doctor.”
Feast Day: July 15
25. St. Thomas Aquinas
Lived 1225-1274. A Dominican priest known for his intense devotion to purity, his towering intellect, for integrating Aristotelian philosophy with Catholic thought, especially through his magnum opus, the Summa Theologiae.
Patron of students and universities.
Feast Day: January 28
26. St. Catherine of Siena
Lived 1347-1379. A Third Order (lay) Dominican and alleged stigmatist. In great holy boldness, she traveled to Avignon to convince Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome.
Patron of fire prevention.
Feast Day: April 29
27. St. Gregory of Narek
Lived 951-1003. 10th Century Armenian monk and poet best known for his literary book of 95 prayers called the “Book of Lamentations.” The most recently declared Doctor of the Church (2015 by Pope Francis).
Feast Day: February 27
More Resources On The Doctors of the Church
