The Complete, Up-To-Date (2019), List Of The Thirty-Six Doctors Of The Catholic Church.

“The Mass Of The Foundation Of The Trinitarian Order”.

Artist: Juan Carreño de Miranda.

Illustration: LOUVRE

This Article, by Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio,
is taken from, and can be read in full at,
CROSSROADS INITIATIVE

The Title “Doctor of The Church,” unlike the popular Title “Father of The Church,” is an official designation that is bestowed by the Pope in recognition of the outstanding contribution a person has made to the understanding and interpretation of The Sacred Scriptures and the development of Christian Doctrine.

As of 2019, the Official List includes thirty-six men and women who hail from all ages of The Church’s history.

Of these, four are women:

Catherine of Siena;

Teresa of Avila;

Therese of Lisieux; 

Hildegard of Bingen.

And twenty-four are quoted in The Catechism of The Catholic Church.

Those who are not quoted in The Catechism of The Catholic Church are:

Ephræm;

Isidore;

“The Venerable Bede”;

Albert the Great;

Anthony of Padua;

Peter Canisius;

Robert Bellarmine;

John of Avila;

Hildegard of Bingen;

Gregory of Narek;

Lawrence of Brindisi.

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

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

2.   Depth of Doctrinal Insight;

3.   An extensive Body of Writings which The Church can recommend as an expression of the authentic and life-giving Catholic Tradition.

During the era of The Church Fathers, (approximately 100 A.D. - 800 A.D.), eight Doctors of The Church particularly stand out, and are called “Ecumenical Fathers”, because of their widespread influence. Bronze statues of several of these eight are to be found in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome.

Four of these hailed from The Western (Latin-speaking) half of The Roman Empire.

St. Ambrose

340 A.D. - 397 A.D.

St. Jerome 345 A.D. - 420 A.D.

St. Augustine

354 A.D. - 430 A.D.

St. Gregory the Great (Pope)

540 A.D. - 604 A.D.

Four of The Ecumenical Fathers, also deemed Doctors of The Church, came from The Eastern (Greek-speaking) Roman Empire:

St. Athanasius

295 A.D. - 373 A.D.

St. Basil the Great

330 A.D. - 379 A.D.

St. Gregory of Nazianzus

330 A.D. - 390 A.D.

St. John Chrysostom

345 A.D. - 407 A.D.

There are eight other Doctors of The Church from The Patristic Period, making, in total, sixteen Fathers from The Patristic Period who are recognised as Doctors of the Church:

St. Ephræm the Deacon

306 A.D. - 373 A.D. (Syriac).

St. Hilary

315 A.D. - 368 A.D. (Latin).

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

315 A.D. - 387 A.D. (Greek).

St. Cyril of Alexandria

376 A.D. - 444 A.D. (Greek).

St. Leo the Great (Pope)

390 A.D. - 461 A.D. (Latin).

St. Peter Chrysologus

400 A.D. - 450 A.D. (Latin).

St. Isidore of Seville

(last of The Latin Fathers)

560 A.D. - 636 A.D.
(Wikimedia Commons)

St. John Damascene

(last of the Greek Fathers)

676 A.D. - 749 A.D.

There are eleven Doctors of The Church from The Middle Ages, all of them except the last from The Latin or Western Church:

St. Bede “The Venerable”

673 A.D. - 735 A.D.

St. Peter Damian

1007 - 1072.
(Wikimedia Commons)

St. Anselm

1033 - 1109.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

1090 - 1153.

St. Hildegard of Bingen

1098 - 1179.
(Wikimedia Commons)

St. Anthony of Padua

1195 - 1231.

St. Albert the Great

1200-1280.

(Wikimedia Commons)

St. Bonaventure

1217-1274.

St. Thomas Aquinas

1225-1274.

St. Catherine of Siena

1347-1379.

St. Gregory of Narek

951 A.D. - 1003

(from the Armenian Church).

There are seven Doctors of The Catholic Church who were prominent in the 16th-Century Catholic Reformation, all from The Latin Church:

St. John of Avila

1499-1569.

(Wikimedia Commons)

St. Teresa of Avila

1515-1582.

St. Peter Canisius

1521-1597.

(Wikimedia Commons)

St. John of the Cross

1542-1591.

(Wikimedia Commons)

St. Robert Bellarmine.

1542-1621.

(Wikimedia Commons)

St. Lawrence of Brindisi.

1559-1619.

(Wikimedia Commons)

St. Francis de Sales

1567-1622.

(Wikiquote)

There are two Doctors of The Church in the modern era, both from The Latin Church:

St. Alphonsus Liguori

1696-1787.

(Wikimedia Commons)

St. Therese of Lisieux

1873-1897.

This list and definition of The Doctors of The Church was adapted and updated from that provided by Louis Miller, Beacons of Light: Profiles of Ecclesiastical Writers Cited in the Catechism (Liguori, MO: Liguori, 1995), 61-62.

Saint Romuald. Abbot. Feast Day 7 February.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Romuald.
   Abbot.
   Feast Day 7 February.

Double.

White Vestments.

Saint Romuald. Abbot.

The Church of San Romualdo, Ravenna, Italy.

An Angel uses the Abbot's Baton to chastise an errant figure.

Artist: Guercino (1591–1666).

Date: 1640.

Current location: Pinacoteca Comunale di Ravenna, Italy.

Source/Photographer: Web Gallery of Art

(Wikimedia Commons)

Monks' Night Office.

Illustration: CANTICUM SALOMONIS

Saint Romuald was born at Ravenna, Italy, and left the World at the age of twenty (Gospel) to give himself up in Prayer and Meditation (Introit) to the work of Penance undertaken by Jesus.

Attacked by Satan, who tried to ensnare him, he always drove him away in terror (Epistle). He enjoyed, over Princes and Kings, a great influence (ibid), which he used for the good of Souls.

Like the Patriarch, Jacob, he saw in a vision a ladder which reached from Earth to Heaven, on which ascended and descended Monks clothed in White. This happened in Tuscany, Italy, on the field of a certain Maldoli.

Romuald bought this "Campo Maldoli" and Founded there the Monastery of "Camaldoli" and "The Camaldolese" Branch of The Benedictine Order (Communion).

He died in 1027 at the age of 120 at Val de Castro, Piceno, Italy. His body, found intact five years later, was placed in the Church of the Monastery at Fabriano. Saint Romuald always showed, in the midst of his austerities, a face so full of joy that those who saw him rejoiced.

Let us imitate him in the Holy Season of Lent.

Mass: Os justi. Of Abbots.
In Lent: Commemoration and Last Gospel of The Feria.

Sexagesima Sunday.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Sexagesima Sunday.

Station at Saint Paul-without-the-Walls.

Semi-Double.

Privileged Sunday of The Second Class.

Violet Vestments.

The Seed is The Word of God.

Illustration: UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY

Artist: René de Cramer.

"Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium".

Used with Permission.

As on Septuagesima Sunday, and on those which follow until Passion Sunday, The Church teaches us "to Celebrate The Paschal Sacrament" by "The Scriptures of both Testaments" (Prayer of Holy Saturday after The Seventh Prophecy).

Through the whole of this week, The Divine Office is full of the thought of Noah. God, seeing man's wickedness was great upon the Earth, said: "I will destroy man, whom I have created"; and He told Noah: "I will establish my Covenant with thee and thou shalt enter into The Ark."

For forty days and forty nights, rain fell on the Earth, while the Ark floated on the waters which rose above the mountain tops and covered them; and, in this whirlpool, all men were carried away "like stubble" (Gradual); only Noah and his companions in The Ark remaining alive.

Then, God remembered them, and, at length, the rain ceased. After some time, Noah opened the window of The Ark and set free a dove, which returned with a fresh olive leaf, and Noah understood that the waters no longer covered the Earth.

"Exsurge, quare obdormis, Domine ?"

The Introit for Sexagesima Sunday.

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

And God told him: "Go out of The Ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons and the wives of thy sons, with thee" (Communion). And the rainbow appeared as a sign of reconciliation between God and men.

That Noah's story is related to The Paschal Mystery is shown by the fact that The Church reads it on Holy Saturday [Second Prophecy); and this is how she, herself, applies it, in the Liturgy, to Our Lord and His Church. "The just wrath of The Creator drowned the guilty World in the vengeful waters of The Flood, only Noah being saved in The Ark.

But then the admirable power of love lavéd (washed) the World in blood" [Hymns for The Feast of The Precious Blood]. It was The Wood of The Ark, which saved the human race, and it is that of The Cross, which, in its turn, saves the World.

"Thou, alone," says The Church, speaking of The Cross, "hast been found worthy to be, for this shipwrecked World, The Ark which brings safely into port" [Hymn at Lauds in Passiontide].

"The open door in the side of The Ark, by which those enter who are to escape from The Flood, and who represent The Church, are, as is explained in the Liturgy, a type of The Mystery of Redemption; for, on The Cross, Our Lord had His Sacred Side open and, from this Gate of Life, went forth The Sacraments, giving true life to Souls. Indeed, The Blood and Water, which flow from thence, are symbols of The Eucharist and of Holy Baptism" [Lessons from Saint Chrysostom and Saint Augustine, Matins of The Feast of The Precious Blood].

Sexagesima Sunday.

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

"O God, Who by water didst wash away the crimes of the guilty World, and, by the overflowing of the deluge didst give a figure of regeneration, that one and the same element might, in a Mystery, be the end of vice and the origin of virtue: Look, O Lord, on the face of Thy Church and multiply in her Thy regenerations, opening the fonts of Baptism all over the World for the renovation of the Gentiles" [Blessing of the Baptismal Font on Holy Saturday].

"In the days of Noah," says Saint Peter, "eight Souls were saved by water, whereunto Baptism, being of the like form, now saveth you also."

On Maundy Thursday, when the Bishop Blesses The Holy Oil from the olive tree, which is to be used for The Sacraments, he says: "When of old, the crimes of the World were atoned for by the waters of The Flood, a dove, foreshadowing the gift to come, announced by an olive branch, the return of peace to the Earth.

And this indeed is made clear by its effects in latter times: When the waters of Baptism, having washed away all guilt of sin, the unction of the oil makes us joyous and serene." The Blood of Christ is The blood of The New Covenant, which Almighty God has made with man, through His Son. "Thou," cries The Church, "Who, by an olive branch, didst command the dove to proclaim peace to the World."

"Commovisti, Domine, terram . . ."

The Tract for Sexagesima Sunday.

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

Peace is often mentioned in The Mass, which is The Memorial of The Passion: "Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum." And we shall find the Collect for Easter Friday, speaking of The Paschal Sacrament, as The Seal of Reconciliation between God and man.

Above all, however, in his Divinely-Appointed Mission as father of all succeeding generations, Noah is a figure of Christ [Sixth Lesson of Septuagesima Sunday]; he was truly the second father of the human race and he remains the type of life continually renewed. We are told in the Liturgy that the olive branch, by means of its foliage, is a symbol of the prosperous fertility bestowed by Almighty God upon Noah when he came forth from The Ark, and The Ark, itself, is called by Saint Ambrose, in today's Office, the "seminarium," or nursery, that is, the place containing the seed of life which is to fill the World.

Now, Christ, much more than Noah, was the second Adam, peopling the World with a race of believing Souls, faithful to God. On Holy Saturday, in The Prayer following The Second Prophecy, which is concerned with Noah, The Church humbly asks Almighty God to "peacefully effect," by His Eternal Decree, "the work of human Salvation," and to "let the whole World experience and see that, what was fallen, is raised up; what was old, is made new," and that "all things are re-established, through Him from Whom they received their first being, Our Lord Jesus Christ".

It was through The Word that God made the World in the beginning (Last Gospel), and it is by the Preaching of His Gospel that Our Lord came to bring men to a new birth. "Being born again," says Saint Peter, "not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by The Word of God, Who liveth and reigneth for ever . . . And this is The Word, which, by the Gospel, hath been preached unto you".

Benediction after Mass.

Sexagesima Sunday,

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

From this, we can see why today's Gospel is taken from The Parable of The Sower, for "the seed is The Word of God". If, in Noah's days, men perished, Saint Paul tells us, it was because of their unbelief, while, at the same time, it was by Faith that Noah "framed The Ark . . . by the which he condemned the World, and was instituted heir of the justice which is by Faith".

In the same way, those who believe in Our Lord's words will be saved.

According to Saint Augustine's exposition, "as there were three floors in The Ark, so there are three different Spiritual Harvests". In today's Epistle, Saint Paul recounts all that he did and suffered in the course of preaching The Faith to the Gentiles and, indeed, he, The Apostle to the Gentiles, was the outstanding preacher of the World.

He is the "Minister of Christ", that is, the one whom God had chosen to unfold to all Nations the good news of The Incarnate Word. "Who will grant me", cries Saint John Chrysostom, "to walk around Saint Paul's body, to embrace his tomb, to behold the dust of that body which filled up what was lacking in Christ's Sufferings, which bore the marks of His Wounds, which, everywhere, spread abroad, like good seed, The Preaching of The Gospel ? [In The Office for The Octave of Saint Peter and Saint Paul].

The Roman Church has fulfilled this desire, in the case of her own children, by making a Station on this day to the Basilica of Saint Paul-without-the-Walls. "Through the Church's Neophytes", we read in the Liturgy, "the Earth is renewed, and thus renewed, she brings forth fruit, as it were, from the dead ! [Easter Monday at Matins].

Every Parish Priest Celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.

Mass: Exsurge, quare obdormis.
Collects: As on Septuagesima Sunday.
Preface: Of The Holy Trinity.
Common Preface. On Weekdays.

Saint Dorothy. Virgin And Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 6 February.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Dorothy.
   Virgin and Martyr.
   Feast Day 6 February.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

Saint Dorothy.

Artist: The Workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553).

Date: Circa 1530.

Current location: Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria.

References: Web Gallery of Art.

Source/Photographer: [2]

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Life of Saint Dorothy.

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

Saint Dorothy, a Virgin of Cæsarea, in Cappadocia, was condemned to be beheaded. She received The Double Palm of Virginity and Martyrdom at the end of the 3rd-Century A.D.

Mass: Me exspectavérunt (of The Common of Virgins).

Saint Titus. Bishop And Confessor. Feast Day, Today, 6 February.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise..

Saint Titus.
   Bishop and Confessor.
   Feast Day 6 February.

Double.

White Vestments.

Saint Titus.

Святой Апостол Тит Критский

Косово, XIV век. Печь Патриаршия. Церковь св. Николая

Date: 14th-Century.

Source: http://www.iconsv.ru/index.php?option=com_

joomgallery&func=detail&id=3523&Itemid=3

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Like The Divine Sower mentioned in the Gospel of Sexagesima Sunday, Titus, the well-beloved disciple of Saint Paul, "endured the fatigues of numerous and distant voyages on land and sea to go and sow The Divine Word among Nations of different Countries speaking different tongues" [Matins: Fifth Lesson].

Wherefore, The Church declares that "God had adorned him with the virtues of an Apostle" (Collect), and that he was one of the "husbandmen whom The Master of The Harvest had sent to gather it in" (Gospel.

Employed by Saint Paul in important circumstances [the name of Titus occurs ten times in the Epistles written by Saint Paul to the Corinthians and to Timothy], he landed with him in Crete and was made, by the Apostle, Bishop of the island (Introit, Epistle, Offertory). It was there that he received from his master a Letter included in The New Testament, of which we find extracts in the Epistle of certain Masses.

In today's Mass, we read, as Christ had already said (Communion), that the Bishop is "God's steward", and that "Jesus is The Saviour Who has given Himself to redeem us".

Saint Titus died at the age of ninety-four, towards the year 105 A.D., and his name is highly-praised by Saint John Chrysostom and by Saint Jerome.

Mass: Státuit, of a Confessor Bishop.

Commemoration: Of Saint Dorothy from Mass: Me exspectavérunt.
Commemoration: In Lent, of The Feria.
Last Gospel: In Lent, of The Feria.

Silverstream Priory Deluxe Framed Altar Card Set And Accessories. Available, Now, From Silverstream Priory Gift Shop.

Illustration: SILVERSTREAM PRIORY

Framed with durable Plexiglas.

Includes Vesting Prayers and Formula of Intention Cards

with hanging clasps.

Framed with high quality and elegant gold-leaf Touched Frames.

Ideal Lenten Presents for your Parish Priest 

and/or a Seminarian.

Available from The Silverstream Priory Gift Shop at

SILVERSTREAM PRIORY GIFT SHOP

Another Sign Of Support For Reverend Fr. Zuhlsdorf, Who Is Undergoing Harassment And Bullying In The United States. “You Are A Priest, Forever”. Sung By: Annie Karto.

Illustration: ST. PAUL CENTER

God Bless Fr. Zuhlsdorf,

Who Is Sharing In The Lord’s Persecution, 

Harassment, And Bullying.

“Blessed are ye,

when they shall revile you,

and persecute you,

and speak all that is evil against you,

untruly,

for My sake:

Be glad and rejoice,

for your reward is very great in Heaven.

For so they persecuted the Prophets

that were before you”.

(Matthew. 5, xi).

“You Are A Priest, Forever”.

Sung By: Annie Karto.

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

Supporting Reverend Fr. Zuhlsdorf From Harassment And Bullying In The United States.

The Crucifixion.

Artist: Léon Bonnat.

1880.

Illustration: PINTEREST

This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at,
ONCE I WAS A CLEVER BOY

Supporting Fr Zuhlsdorf.

It was from Fr Tim Finigan’s “Hermeneutic of Continuity” Blog that I learned the other day of the current harassment of the leading US Catholic Blogger Fr John Zuhlsdorf. Fr Finigan, no stranger himself to similar harassment and bullying a few years ago, in The United Kingdom, wrote about Fr Z at On the Attempted Cancellation of Father Zuhlsdorf

I have not met Fr Zuhlsdorf, although I once saw him in Oxford, have enjoyed his Blog and heard him speak on The Latin Mass Society’s Online Conference last summer.

Fr Hunwicke has also posted about the situation Fr Zuhlsdorf faces at Father John Zuhlsdorf and in it urges his readers to do something to support his fellow Priest. As some of the comments there say, there is not much someone in the UK can do in these circumstances. What I am doing is adding Fr Zuhlsdorf to my Prayers and writing this Post to draw attention to the situation. It may not be much, but it is something.

The seeming pursuit of Fr Zuhlsdorf, for daring to uphold Traditional Belief and Practice, is indicative not only of a tendency amongst certain “liberal” Catholics of a certain generation, but also apparently of the febrile state of Catholicism in the US in the wake of last year’s elections. Neither are good, and neither will be resolved quickly.

I have no doubt that Fr Zuhlsdorf as a man of Faith and Principles will surmount this particular storm, but it should not be one he has to face - although we have to remember the Dominical warning that such are indeed the trials of His followers.

Saint Agatha. Virgin And Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 5 February.

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Agatha.

Attended in Prison by Saint Peter and an Angel.

Artist: Alessandro Turchi (1578–1649).

Medium: Oil on Slate.

According to an early Christian legend, when a 3rd-Century A.D. Roman official

of Sicily desired the Christian woman, Agatha, and she refused to yield to his advances, he had her tortured, and even ordered her breasts cut off. At night, in prison, she was visited by a vision of Saint Peter and an Angel, and her breasts were miraculously restored. The grey stone of the prison wall was created by letting the slate show through, and it forms a background for the night scene, illuminated by a torch. As opposed to canvas and wood, slate gave a painting almost unlimited durability and the same kind of permanence as sculpture.

Date: 1640-1645 (Baroque).

Current location: Walters Art Museum,

Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.

Credit line: Acquired by Henry Walters, before 1909.

Source/Photographer: Walters Art Museum

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The Parish Church of Saint Agatha of Sicily,

Bischofstetten, Austria.

Deutsch: Pfarrkirche Bischofstetten, Österreich.

Photo: 8 February 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: BSonne

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Agatha of Sicily is a Christian Saint. Feast Day 5 February. Agatha was born at Catania, Sicily, and Martyred circa 251 A.D. She is one of seven women, who, along with The Blessed Virgin Mary, are commemorated by name in The Canon of The Mass.

She is The Patron Saint of: Catania, Sicily; Molise, Italy; Malta; San Marino; and Zamarramala, a municipality of the Province of Segovia, Spain. She is also The Patron Saint of breast cancer patients, Martyrs, wet nurses, Bell-Founders, bakers, fire, earthquakes, and eruptions of Mount Etna.

Agatha is buried at the Abbey Church of Saint Agatha (Badia di Sant'Agata), Catania. She is listed in the Late-6th-Century A.D. Martyrologium Hieronymianum, associated with Jerome, and the Synaxarion, The Calendar of The Church of Carthage, circa 530 A.D.

English: The Martyrdom of Saint Agatha.

Italiano: Martirio di Sant'Agata.

Artist: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

This File: 17 April 2006.

User: Crux. This image was copied from wikipedia:de

(Wikimedia Commons)

Two early Churches were Dedicated to her in Rome, notably the Church of Sant'Agata dei Goti, in via Mazzarino, a Titular Church with Apse mosaics of circa 460 A.D., and traces of a fresco cycle, over-painted by Gismondo Cerrini, in 1630. In the 6th-Century A.D., the Church was adapted to Arian Christianity, hence its name, "Saint Agatha of Goths" (Sant'Agata dei Goti), and later re-Consecrated by Pope Gregory the Great, who confirmed her Traditional Sainthood.

Agatha is also depicted in the mosaics of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, where she appears, richly dressed, in the procession of female Martyrs along the North Wall. Her image forms an initial "I" in the Sacramentary of Gellone, from the end of the 8th-Century A.D.

English: Giovanni Battista Vaccarini (1702-1768), was the

Architect of The Abbey Church of Saint Agatha, Catania, Sicily, Italy.

Italiano: Giovanni Battista Vaccarini (1702-1768),

la Chiesa della Badia di Sant'Agata a Catania (1767).

Photo: 4 July 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Giovanni Dall'Orto

(Wikimedia Commons)

One of the most-highly-Venerated Virgin Martyrs of Christian antiquity, Agatha was put to death during the Persecution of Decius (250 A.D. - 253 A.D.) in Catania, Sicily, for her steadfast profession of Faith.

Her written legend comprises “straightforward accounts of interrogation, torture, resistance, and triumph, which constitute some of the earliest hagiographic literature”, and are reflected in later recensions, the earliest surviving one being an illustrated Late-10th-Century “Passio”, bound into a composite volume, in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, originating, probably, in Autun, Burgundy; in its margin illustrations, Magdalena Carrasco detected Carolingian or Late-Antique iconographic traditions.

According to Jacobus de Voragine's, “Legenda Aurea”, circa 1288, having dedicated her Virginity to God, fifteen-year-old Agatha, from a rich and noble family, rejected the amorous advances of the low-born Roman Prefect, Quintianus, who then persecuted her for her Christian Faith. He sent Agatha to Aphrodisia, the keeper of a brothel.

English: Church of Saint Agatha,

Rabat, Malta.

Italiano: Chiesa di Sant'Agata,

Rabat, Malta.

Photo: 31 August 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Cruccone

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Madam, finding her intractable, Quintianus sends for her, argues, threatens, and finally has her put in prison. Among the tortures she underwent was the cutting off of her breasts. After further dramatic confrontations with Quintianus, represented in a sequence of dialogues in her "Passio" that document her fortitude and steadfast devotion. Saint Agatha was then sentenced to be burned at the stake, but an earthquake saved her from that fate; instead, she was sent to prison where Saint Peter the Apostle appeared to her and healed her wounds.

Saint Agatha died in prison, according to the “Legenda Aurea”, in “The Year of Our Lord two hundred and fifty-three, in the time of Decius, The Emperor of Rome”. Osbern Bokenham, “A Legend of Holy Women”, written in the 1440s, offers some further detail.

English: Saint Agatha's Chapel,

Mdina, Malta.

Italiano: Interno della cappella di Sant'Agata,

Mdina, Malta.

Photo: 31 August 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Cruccone

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Agatha's Church,

Yorkshire, England.

The Church is next to Easby Abbey.

Photo: 15 June 2008.

Source: Own work by uploader.

Author: Greenjettaguy

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Saint Agatha.
   Virgin and Martyr.
   Feast Day 5 February.

Double.

Red Vestments.

English: Cathedral of Saint Agatha,

Catania, Sicily, Italy.

Deutsch: Italien, Sizilien, Catania, Dom Sant' Agata.

Photo: 6 October 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Berthold Werner

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr (Collect), was born in Sicily of noble parentage, but she estimated that, for her, the highest nobility would be to belong to Jesus, Whom she took as her Spouse (Gospel).

Endowed with remarkable beauty, she had to resist the solicitations of the Roman Governor, Quintianus, who, unable to attain his end by persuasion, had recourse to violence. Her breast was torn by his order, but was healed on the following night, by the Apostle, Saint Peter, who appeared to her in prison (Communion).

Then, the body of the Saint was rolled on pieces of broken pottery and on burning coals, and, when she was brought back to her cell, she expired while Praying.

This happened at Catana (Catania), Sicily, in 251 A.D., during the Persecution of the Emperor, Decius. God Almighty, by granting the victory of Martyrdom to a feeble woman (Collect), wished to show that He alone is our Redeemer, for it is with this "end in view that He chooses what is weak, in the World, to confound with their nothingness those who trust in their own strength" (Epistle).

English: The Church of Saint Agatha,

Hausleiten, Austria.

Deutsch: Innenansicht der katholischen Pfarrkirche

hl. Agatha in der niederösterreichischen Gemeinde Hausleiten

Photo: 29 September 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Bwag

(Wikimedia Commons)

On several occasions, the virginal veil, which covered the tomb of Saint Agatha, held up the torrents of burning lava rushing down from Mount Etna and threatening to ruin the town. God thus honoured the resistance that her very pure Soul had shown to all the assaults of passion.

Her name is mentioned in The Canon of The Mass (Second List). Her Feast was already Celebrated at Rome in the 6th-Century A.D. The Church of Saint Agatha, in Rome, was made a Stational Church by Pope Pius XI in 1934 (The Third Tuesday in Lent).

Let us invoke Saint Agatha to preserve our homes from fire and to extinguish, through the Spirit of Penitence, the impure flames that consume our bodies and our Souls.

Mass: Gaudeámus omnes in Domino.
Commemoration: Of The Feria during Lent.
Last Gospel: Of The Feria during Lent.

[Editor: The Introit "Gaudeámus", which is used for many Feast Days, is taken from The Mass of Saint Agatha.]

Gloucester Cathedral Cloisters.

Gloucester Cathedral Cloisters.

License © All rights reserved by Martyn.Smith

Illustration: FLICKR

Saint Andrew Corsini (1302-1373). Confessor And Bishop. Feast Day 4 February.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Andrew Corsini.
   Bishop and Confessor.

Double.

White Vestments.

English: Saint Andrew Corsini, at Prayer.

Deutsch: Hl. Andreas Corsini, im Gebet.

Artist: Guido Reni (1575–1642).

Date: 1630-1635.

Current location: Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project:

10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.

DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202.

Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Permission: [1]

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Andrew, of the noble family of Corsini, was born at Florence, and, from his birth, was Consecrated to The Blessed Virgin. His mother dreamed that she had given birth to a wolf, which, on entering into The Carmelite Church, was suddenly changed into a lamb.

Her son, indeed, led a dissolute life in his youth. But Jesus exerted His redeeming power over him and Andrew entered The Carmelite Order and soon became its Head in Tuscany (Communion).

Having thus turned to good use the talents with which God had favoured him, he rose to a still-higher dignity (Gospel) and, as Bishop of Fiesole, he had a share in The Priesthood of Christ, and accomplished His work of reconciling Souls, with God.

Thus, having been sent to Bologna, as Papal Legate, by Pope Urban V, he succeeded by his great prudence in extinguishing the burning hatred which had armed the citizens against each other (Epistle). The Blessed Virgin foretold him his death, which occurred in 1373.

Made wolves by sin, let us, like Saint Andrew Corsini, become lambs by Penance, in order that, "following in the footsteps of this Holy Confessor, we may obtain the same rewards" (Collect).

Mass: Státuit. Of a Confessor Bishop.

The Church of Santa Maria del Carmine,

Florence, Italy, which contains The Corsini Chapel.

This File: 9 July 2006.

User: Sailko.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The Corsini Chapel,

Church of Santa Maria del Carmine,

Florence, Tuscany, Italy.

Français: Église Santa Maria del Carmine,

Florence, Toscane, Italie. La chapelle Corsini.

Photo: 23 September 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Tango7174

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless otherwise stated.

Andrew Corsini, O.Carm. (1302 – 1373), was an Italian Carmelite Friar and Bishop of Fiesole, who is honoured as a Saint within The Catholic Church.

Corsini was born in Florence on 30 November 1302, a member of the illustrious Corsini family. Wild and dissolute in youth, he was startled by the words of his mother about what had happened to her before his birth, and, becoming a Carmelite Friar in his native City, began a life of great mortification. He studied at Paris and Avignon.

On his return, Corsini became the "Apostle of Florence". He was regarded as a prophet and a wonder-worker. After being elected to The Office of Bishop of Fiesole, which he did not want, he fled. He was discovered by a child at The Charterhouse at Enna, and was subsequently compelled to accept the honour.

English: Church of Santa Maria del Carmine,

Florence, Tuscany, Italy.

The Vault over the entire Nave, with the Apse (Left) and main entrance (Right).

Français: Église Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Toscane, Italie.

La voûte au-dessus de la nef dans son intégralité,

l'abside étant sur la gauche et l'entrée principale sur la droite.

Photo: 23 September 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Tango7174

(Wikimedia Commons)

Corsini redoubled his austerities as a Bishop, was lavish in his care of the poor, and was sought for everywhere as a peacemaker, notably at Bologna, whither he was sent, as Papal Legate, to heal the breach between the nobility and the people.

After twelve years in the Episcopacy, Corsini died in his native Florence in 1373, at the age of seventy-one. In 1675, after his Canonisation, the members of the Corsini family had The Corsini Chapel built in The Carmelite Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in Florence, Italy, to provide his Remains a more suitable resting place.

The Corsini Chapel, Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome.

San Giovanni-in-Laterano is the Cathedral Church of Rome.

Photo: October 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Maros M r a z (Maros)

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 1373, while Corsini had been Celebrating The Midnight Mass of Christmas Eve, The Blessed Virgin appeared to him and told him he would leave this World on The Feast of The Epiphany. It came to pass, as the vision had told him, and he died on that day.

Miracles were so multiplied at his death that Pope Eugene IV permitted a public devotion to him, immediately. It was only in 1629 that Pope Urban VIII formally confirmed this. His Feast is kept on 4 February, in The Carmelite Order, and in the Cities of Florence and Fiesole.

In the Early-18th-Century, Pope Clement XII, born Lorenzo Corsini, erected, in the Roman Basilica of Saint John Lateran, a magnificent Chapel dedicated to his 14th-Century kinsman.

English: The Church of Santa Maria del Carmine,

Florence, Italy, which contains The Corsini Chapel.

Français: l'église Santa Maria del Carmine de Florence.

Photo: October 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: Emmanuel BRUNNER Manu25

(Wikimedia Commons)

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Happy Oriel Day !!! “The House of Mary, The Blessed Virgin in Oxford”.

Coat-of-Arms,

Oriel College,

Oxford University.

Official Blazon.

Gules, 

three lions passant guardant in pale Or;

 

bordure engrailed argent.

Illustration: HERALDRY OF THE WORLD

This Article was taken from, and can be read in full at,

A CHAPLAIN ABROAD - FR BEDE ROWE

HAPPY ORIEL DAY !!!

Happy Feast Day to you !,

Happy Feast Day to you !,

Happy Feast Day, dear “The House of Mary, 

The Blessed Virgin in Oxford” !,

Happy Feast Day to you !

Oriel College, Oxford.

Illustration: A CHAPLAIN ABROAD - FR BEDE ROWE

All over the world, Old Orielenses celebrate this day,

our College Feast Day. For, although as a College, Oriel is known as Oriel, its correct Title is that found above,

“The House of Mary, The Blessed Virgin in Oxford”.

Rejoice on The Purification of The Blessed Virgin.
Rejoice at The Presentation of The Child Jesus in The Temple.
Rejoice on the great Feast Day.

And may The Blessed and Most Holy Virgin Mary,

Protectress and Co-Redemptrix,
guard our Holy Church from all the wiles of Satan,

may she stand victorious

with Saint Michael and all The Angels and Saints.

Amen.

“Alma Redemptoris Mater” (Sweet Mother Of The Redeemer). The Last Day Of This Beautiful Marian Anthem. It Is Now Succeeded By “Ave Regina Cælorum” (Hail, Queen Of Heaven).

   

The Blessed Virgin Mary

is Crowned Queen of Heaven

by Her Beloved Son,

Illustration: CALEFACTORY.ORG

Today is the last day of Alma Redemptoris Mater
(Sweet Mother of The Redeemer), one of the four Marian Anthems of Praise
to The Blessed Virgin Mary. It is sung from First Vespers in Advent
to Second Vespers of Candlemas (2 February).

It is succeeded by Ave Regina Cælorum
(Hail, Queen of Heaven), which is sung from Compline,
on Candlemas (2 February), until Maundy Thursday, exclusive.

Alma Redemptoris Mater

(Sweet Mother of The Redeemer).

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

Ave Regina Cælorum

(Hail, Queen of Heaven).

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE