Doctors of the Church

Tony and Judy Fulton and their children,
back row from left, Bede, Thomas, Augustine,
front row from left, Bernadette, Leo, Ambrose and Basil

When Tony and Judy Fulton of Lincoln were newly married, they decided to name their future sons after Doctors of the Church.

“We wanted to provide for them specific examples to emulate,” Tony said. “We also recognized that each child would have a powerful intercessor watching over and praying for him throughout his life.”  

And they have kept that commitment.

The Fultons have six sons – twins Thomas and Augustine, Bede, Basil, Leo and Ambrose.

The Doctors of the Church are great saints recognized by the pope for their outstanding contribution to the understanding and interpretation of Sacred Scriptures and the development of Christian doctrine.

Last month and again this month, the church celebrates the feast of five Doctors of the Church – St. Bernard (Aug. 20), St. Augustine (Aug. 28), St. Gregory the Great (Sept. 3), St. John Chrysostom (Sept. 13) and St. Jerome (Sept. 30).

Tony said he and Judy also wanted to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in their marriage and life, so they chose to name their daughters after her.  

“As it is, Mary Bernadette is our only girl, and she has the most blessed of all saints to watch over and pray for her through life,” he said. “Were we to have more girls, they would have Mary as their first name.”

Each day the Fultons pray the rosary and close with a request to each of their namesakes to pray for them.  They also celebrate their children’s feast days – though depending on schedules and activities, some feast days end up with a little less fanfare than others, Tony said.

There are three requirements that must be fulfilled by a person to merit being included in the ranks of Doctors of the Church:

1.       Holiness that is truly outstanding, even among saints;

2.       depth of doctrinal insight; and

3.       an extensive body of writings that the church can recom­mend as an expression of the authentic and life-giving Catholic Tradition.

The original eight Doctors of the Church - four Western ( Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great and Jerome) and four Eastern (Athanasius, Basil the Great, Gregory Nazianzen and John Chrysostom) - were named by acclamation, or common acknowledgment; the rest have been named by various popes, starting with the addition of St. Thomas Aquinas to the list by Pope Pius V in 1568, when he promulgated the Tridentine Latin Mass.

In the 20th century, three female saints – Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila and Therese of Lisieux - were added to the list. A fourth, St. Hildegard of Bingen, was added by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, when he also added St. John of Avila to the list.

As of 2014, there are 35 officially recognized Doctors of the Church.

The following is a list of all 35 and who named them Doctors of the Church.

St. Albertus Magnus (1200-80)

Added by Pope Pius XI in 1931

St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)

Added by Pope Pius IX in 1871

St. Ambrose (340-97)

One of the original four Doctors of the Latin Church

St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)

Added by Pope Clement XI in 1720

St. Anthony of Padua (1195-1231)

Added by Pope Pius XII in 1946

St. Athanasius (297-373)

One of the original four Doctors of the Eastern Church

St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

One of the original four Doctors of the Latin Church

St. Basil the Great (329-379)

One of the original four Doctors of the Eastern Church

The Venerable Bede (673-735)

Added by Pope Leo XIII in 1899

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

Added by Pope Pius VIII in 1830

St. Bonaventure (1217-74)

Added by Pope Sixtus V in 1588

St. Catherine of Siena (1347-80)

Added by Pope Paul VI in 1970

St. Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)

Added by Pope Leo XIII in 1883

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315-87)

Added by Pope Leo XIII in 1883

St. Ephrem the Syrian (306-73)

Added by Pope Benedict XV in 1920

St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Added by Pope Pius IX in 1877

St. Gregory the Great (540-604)

One of the original four Doctors of the Latin Church

St. Gregory Nazianzen (330-90)

One of the original four Doctors of the Eastern Church

St. Hilary of Poitiers (315-68)

Added by Pope Pius IX in 1851

St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

Added by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012

St. Isidore of Seville (560-636)

Added by Pope Innocent XIII in 1722

St. Jerome (343-420)

One of the original four Doctors of the Latin Church

St. John Chrysostom (347-407)

One of the original four Doctors of the Eastern Church

St. John Damascene (675-749)

Added by Pope Leo XIII in 1883

St. John of Avila (1500-69)

Added by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012

St. John of the Cross (1542-91)

Added by Pope Pius XI in 1926

St. Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619)

Added by Pope John XXIII in 1959

St. Leo the Great (400-61)

Added by Pope Benedict XIV in 1754

St. Peter Canisius (1521-97)

Added by Pope Pius XI in 1925 

St. Peter Chrysologus (400-50)

Added by Pope Benedict XIII in 1729

St. Peter Damian (1007-72)

Added by Pope Leo XII in 1828

St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621)

Added by Pope Pius XI in 1931

St. Teresa of Avila (1515-82)

Added by Pope Paul VI in 1970

St. Therese of Lisieux (1873-97)

Added by Pope John Paul II in 1997

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74)

Added by Pope Pius V in 1568

Blogged by Lisa Maxson, senior writer/reporter.