Common of Doctors of the Church — Generic prayer to the Holy Teachers of the Faith

The Church has distinguished, throughout the centuries, certain Saints with the ecclesiastical title of Doctor of the Church (in Latin, Doctor Ecclesiae): saints whose orthodox doctrine, holy life and relevance for the universal Church were such that they merited this solemn recognition. The four Latin Doctors of the West were declared by Pope Boniface VIII in 1298 (St Ambrose, St Augustine, St Jerome, St Gregory the Great); the four Greek Doctors of the East, by St Pius V in 1568 (St Athanasius, St Basil the Great, St Gregory Nazianzen, St John Chrysostom). At present there are 37 Doctors of the Church, including four women: St Teresa of Avila (Paul VI 1970), St Catherine of Siena (Paul VI 1970), St Thérèse of the Child Jesus (John Paul II 1997), and St Hildegard of Bingen (Benedict XVI 2012). This prayer is the generic collect for any feast of a Doctor of the Church in the Calendar.

Lord Jesus Christ, eternal Wisdom of the Father, who sent your Holy Spirit to lead the Church into all truth (cf. Jn 16:13), and raised up in every age Holy Doctors to defend the integrity of the Deposit of Faith against heresies and to enlighten the intelligence of the faithful in the exposition of the mysteries of salvation: grant us to venerate worthily the Holy Doctor (N.) celebrated today, and to read with profit his/her writings as a treasure of the living Tradition.

Through his/her intercession, give to your Church, in every age, new Doctors faithful to the Magisterium; preserve among the faithful the thirst for truth against indifference to dogma; and give to this unworthy and small heart, in reading your works, docility to the Holy Spirit, first author of all true doctrine.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be.