Everlasting God, who didst so kindle the flame of holy love in the heart of blessed Catherine of Siena, as she meditated on the passion of thy Son our Savior, that she devoted her life to the poor and the sick, and to the peace and unity of the Church: Grant that we also may share in the mystery of Christ’s death, and rejoice in the revelation of His Glory, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Catherine of Sienna is one of only three women to be included among the 36 “Doctors” of the Church, i.e., teachers of universal importance. The others, I believe, are Julian of Norwich and Teresa of Avila. I’m referring, of course, to the officail Roman Catholic list, as Anglicanism has never come up with an equivalent list of Doctors of the Church.
But Catherine certainly deserves recognition as someone who displayed the sort of heroic sanctity that makes one a saint worthy of emulation.
David Handy+
Fr. Handy,
Its always a pleasure reading your comments.
I believe the RC Church now has four women Doctors of the Church:
St. Catherine of Sienna
St. Teresa of Avila
St. Thérèse of Lisieux
and most recently, St Hildegard of Bingen
Tangentially, the Catherine of Siena Institute focuses on discipleship of laypersons. I’m thinking some of their stuff would be useful to Anglicans.
http://www.siena.org/
Thank you for the information. The presence of Catherine in that estimable company is certainly merited.
But for some time I’ve wondered if English-speaking Christians shouldn’t adopt another term besides “Doctor” to describe these theologians. In common parlance “doctor” of course denotes a medical person. Now some Doctors of the Church (like Catherine) were also healers of the Church (!), but unless you are among the [i]cognoscenti[/i], fluent in church-speak, maybe we should pioneer a term more meaningful for the average person, who actually might want to learn about these folks. Doctors are [i]teachers[/i], as the Latin root of the word suggests.
Thanks to all who have chimed in here, especially Anthony in TX (#2), who set the record straight. I’m happy to stand corrected. I should learn to Google first and check my facts before spouting off and displaying how faulty my memory is. Although the number of officially recognized female “Doctors” of the Church may have grown slightly to four, the gender imbalance remains woeful. I also think that we Anglicans would be wise to imitate Rome in creating a similar list of especially prominent saints who are highlighted for their importance as universal teachers of the Christian faith and life. But I’m not holding my breath on that.
Usually these sorts of saint’s day threads attract fail to attract any comments at all, so I’m glad that this one has garnered a few.
Gratefully,
David Handy+