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Doctors of the Church

 

This title Doctor here does not reference medicine but is rather the Latin word for “teacher”.  Thus these “Doctors of the Church” are those men and women who have been raised up by the Church as it’s official teachers.  These are those Saints who explicated the faith most clearly, precisely, completely, and sublimely.  And in many cases these Saints made large contributions toward the definitions of important dogmas of the faith.

 

Saint Athanasius (297-373)
The Father of Orthodoxy
Traditional Feast Day: May 2nd

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Saint Ephrem (306-373)
Harp of the Holy Ghost
Mary’s own Singer
Father of Hymnody
Traditional Feast Day: June 18th

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Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386)
Father of Catechesis
Traditional Feast Day: March 18th

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Saint Hilary of Poitiers (315-368)
The Athansius of the West
Traditional Feast Day: January 14th

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Saint Gregory the Nazianzen (329-389)
The Theologian
The Christian Demosthenes
Traditional Feast Day: May 9th

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Saint Basil the Great (329-379)
Father of Eastern Monasticism
Traditional Feast Day: June 14th

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Saint Ambrose (340-397)
Patron of the Veneration of Mary
Honey Tongued Doctor
Traditional Feast Day: December 7th

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Saint Jerome (342-420)
Father of Biblical Science
Traditional Feast Day: September 30th

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Saint John Chrysostom (347-407)
The Golden-Mouthed
Doctor of the Eucharist
Traditional Feast Day: January 27th

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Saint Augustine (354-430)
Doctor of Grace
Doctor of Doctors
Traditional Feast Day: August 28th

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Saint Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)
Doctor of the Incarnation
Seal of the Fathers
Traditional Feast Day: February 9th

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Pope Saint Leo the Great (400-461)
Doctor of the Unity of the Church
Traditional Feast Day: April 11th

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Saint Peter Chrysologus (406-450)
The Golden-Worded
Traditional Feast Day: December 4th

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Pope Saint Gregory the Great (540-604)
The Greatest of the Great
Traditional Feast Day: March 12th

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Saint Isidore of Seville (560-636)
Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages
Traditional Feast Day: April 4th

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Saint Bede the Venerable (673-735)
Father of English History
Traditional Feast Day: May 27th

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Saint John Damascene (676-749)
Doctor of Christian Art
Doctor of the Assumption
Traditional Feast Day: March 27th

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Saint Peter Damian (1007-1072)
Monitor of the Popes
Traditional Feast Day: February 23rd

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Saint Anselm (1033-1109)
Father of Scholasticism
Defender of the Rights of the Church
Traditional Feast Day: April 21st

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Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
The Mellifluous Doctor
Oracle of the Twelfth Century
Thaumaturgus of the West
Arbiter of Christendom
The Last of the Fathers
Traditional Feast Day: August 20th

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Saint Anthony of Padua (1195-1231)
Doctor of the Gospel
Hammer of Heretics
Ark of Both Covenants
Traditional Feast Day: June 13th

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Saint Albert the Great (1206-1280)
Universal Doctor of the Church
Traditional Feast Day: November 15th

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Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274)
The Seraphic Doctor
Traditional Feast Day: July 14th

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Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
The Angelic Doctor
The Common Doctor
Traditional Feast Day: March 7th

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Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
The Seraphic Virgin
Mystic of the Incarnate Word
Mystic of the Mystical Body of Christ
Traditional Feast Day: April 30th

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Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Doctor of Prayer
Traditional Feast Day: October 15th

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Saint Peter Canisius (1521-1597)
Doctor of the Catechism
Traditional Feast Day: April 27th

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Saint Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621)
Prince of Apologists
Gentle Doctor of “The Controversies”
Traditional Feast Day: May 13th

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Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Doctor of Mystical Theology
Traditional Feast Day: November 24th

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Saint Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619)
The Apostolic Doctor
Traditional Feast Day: July 21st

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Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
The Gentlemen Doctor
Patron of the Catholic Press
Everyman’s Spiritual Director
Traditional Feast Day: January 29th

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Saint Alphonsus Ligouri (1696-1787)
Prince of Moralists
Most Zealous Doctor
Patron of Confessors and Moral Theologians
Traditional Feast Day: August 2nd

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Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)
Doctor of The Little Way of Spiritual Childhood
Doctor of Merciful Love
Traditional Feast Day: October 3rd

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2 thoughts on “Doctors of the Church

  1. Edward Buckle says:

    Your list has 33 I have seen other lists claiming 35 doctors of the faith Others not on your list St Hildegard of Bingen, St. Gregory of Narek, 951-1003 (from the Armenian Church)

    Reply
    • admin says:

      Yes. Pope Benedict named Saint Hildegard and Saint John of Avila as Doctors of the Church subsequent to the creation of this page. I haven’t gotten around to updating it. Saint Gregory of Narek is a new one to me, but he’s not one included in the official doctors of the church as far as I’m aware. The Eastern Churches within the Catholic church do revere a number of great holy Saints as great teachers of the faith that have not been declared Doctors of the Church.

      Reply

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