The following are the biographies of the two new Doctors of the Church in the Vatican libretto for today's Proclamation and Mass.
SAN JUAN DE AVILA (1500-1569)
NB: 'De Avila' is the saint's family name, and does not mean 'of Avila' as it is often mis-translated to English, even the Vatican libretto and other English translations for today's Proclamation. He was not born in Avila but in Almodovar del Campo near Toledo, and never lived in Avila. The San Juan who was born in Avila is better known as San Juan de la Cruz (John of the Cross), also a Doctor of the Church.
JUAN DE AVILA was born on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, at Almodovar del Campo (Ciudad Real, then in the Diocese of Toledo), He was the only child of devout Christian parents who enjoyed good social and financial standing.
When he was 14, his parents brought him to the University of Salamanca to read Law but he renounced his studies in his fourth year on account of a profound conversion experience which compelled him to return to the family home in order to pray and reflect.
Intending to become a priest and to depart for the missions in America, he began studying humanities and theology. After his ordination to the priesthood in 1526, he celebrated his first Mass in his home parish. His parents were no longer alive. On this occasion, he invited 12 needy people to his table, and resolved to give the needy all the fortune derived from the silver mines owned by his family. He then set off for Sevilla to await a ship that would take him to Nueva Espana (Mexico).
Meanwhile, he preached in Sevilla and in the surrounding areas, where he met up again with his friend from his days at Alcala - another priest, Fernando de Contreras, who was by then a renowned catechist. The latter was so impressed by the younger man's preaching that he convinced the Archbishop of Sevilla to dissuade Juan from going to America and remain in Andalucia, where after centuries of Muslim control, the need to strengthen the faith was great.
So Juan remained in Sevilla, where he and Fernando shared a home, their poverty and prayer life. Juan continued his studies in theology at the Colegio de Santo Tomas in Sevilla while preaching and doing parish work.
His successes, however, were soon to be obscured by a denunciation to the Inquisition accusing him of holding some questionable doctrinal positions. During his trial in 1531-1533, he was kept in prison where he dedicated himself to prayer.
During this time, Juan received the grace of penetrating the mysteries of God's love, an insight that would shape his spiritual life and become one of the main themes for his work of evangelization.
From his prison cell, he wrote the first version of what would become his best-known work,
Audi, filia, a treatise on the spiritual life, dedicated to Dona Sancha Carillo, a young lady from a distinguished family who received spiritual direction from him after an astonishing conversion.
When the Inquisition absolved him in 1533, Juan continued his preaching with notable success. But he chose to move to Cordoba, where he was incardinated, and where he came to know his disciple, friend and first biographer, the Dominica friar Luis de Granada. In 1536., he chose Granada to be his permanent home, where he continued his studies and came to be known as 'Maestro'.
In Granada, Juan lived an austere life dedicated to prayer and preaching. Gradually, he focused on the formation of men for the priesthood. To this end, he founded minor and major colleges for priest formation, which, after the Council of Trent, would become seminaries as envisioned by the Council.
In the eyes of Maestro de Avila, the reform of the Church, which he came to regard as ever more necessary, would come about through the holiness of clerics, religious and lay faithful.
The life of Juan de Avila is associated with famous converts, such as the Marquis of Llombal who would become St. Francisco Borja, and John Cidad, who would become San Juan de Dios. But he is mostly distinguished by his dedication to the poor and by founding colleges for the education of children and adolescents. He also founded the University of Baeza in Jaen, which, for centuries, was an important center for the formation of priests.
He travelled widely throughout Andalucia and parts of neighboring Extremadura to preach. But poor health forced him to retire for good in 1546 to Montilla near Cordoba where he carried out his apostolate through correspondence.
It was also in Montilla that he gave shape to some of his works. He wrote a catechism on Christian doctrine in verses, which children could sing. Juan de Avila also wrote a
Treatise on the Love of God and a
Treatise of the Priesthood .
On the morning of May 10, 1569, Juan de Avila - in severe pain and holding a crucifix, surrounded by disciples and friends - entrusted his soul to god in his humble home in Montilla. Hearing about his death, Teresa of Avila said, "I mourn because the Church of God has lost an important pillar".
ST. HILDEGARDE VON BINGEN (1098-1179)
Hildegarde was born in 1098 in Bermesheim (in what is now the German state of Rheinpfalz [Rhineland-Palatinate]). She was educated by Jutta von Spontheim at the Benedictine Abbey of Disibodenberg in Rheinpfalz, where Hildegarde took over the community after Jutta's death. Ten years later, she moved her community to Rupertsberg in Bingen, where she would work for the next 30 years.
Despite health problems, she was an energetic promoter of the Christian faith, traveling to meet with politicians and high-ranking clergy. Abbess Hildegarde became much respected by popes and bishops, kings and princes. But she was just as popular with the faithful who trusted her and relied on her. She became one of the most respected personalities in the Church of the 12th century.
Even as a child, Hildegarde had visions which increased over the years. She wrote down her experiences with the help of a 'secretary' for she did not know Latin very well. Her writings are considered to be the first works of German mysticism. But she also wrote on health, natural science, the cosmos, ethical questions and theology, which came to be an important part of the cultural patrimony of the Middle Ages.
She died in Rupertsberg on September 17, 1179, where she was buried. There are relics of her in the convent of Eibingen in Rudesheim, which she had founded in 1148.
On May 10, 2012, Benedict XVI inscribed Hildegarde von Bingen into the General Calendar of the Church and extended her liturgical cult (until then limited to Germany) to the Universal Church, in what is called an equivalent cnaonization. Two weeks later, on May 27, he announced that he would proclaim Hildegarde a Dcotor of the Universal Church, along with Spain's San Juan de Avila.
Pope Benedict dedicated two catecheses to St. Hildegarde on Sept. 1 and Sept. 8, 2010:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20100901_en.html
www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20100908...
Also from the libretto:
THE RITE OF PROCLAIMING
A 'DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH'
Cardinal Angelo Amato, SDB, Prefect of the Congregation f r the Causes of Sainthood, accompanied by the Postulators, addressed the following words to the Holy Father:
Holy Father,
The Year of Faith is nearly upon us, providentially called by Your Holiness so that all may reflect upon the gift and the fundamental value of the Christian life. This 'favorable time', which officially begins next Thursday, Oct. 11, finds in today's liturgy, as it were, a helpful 'antiphon'.
Most Holy Father, it is no coincidence that the word 'antiphon' is used here. The two saints we are asking you to name Dcotors of the Universal Church are distinguished not only for the consistency between their teachings and their lives, but also for their quest for a harmonious convergence between the culture of their time and the mystery of Christ, Revelation of God and Savior of the world.
Despite their different contexts, in both St Juan de Avila and Saint Hildegarde von Bingen, humanism achieves its highest and noblest meaning as evangelical preparation, a true antiphon to him who is the Harmony of the Father and the New Song of a universe redeemed.
As Your Holiness stated in Paragraph i of your Apostolic Letter motu proprio Porta Fidei, "The people of today can still experience the need to go to the well, like the Samaritan woman, in order to hear Jesus, who invites us to believe in him and to draw upon the source of living water welling up within him "(cf Jn 4,14).
Above all, Juan de Avila and Hildegarde von Bingen wished to 'hear Jesus'. They admired the depth of the Son of God's presence in the history of the world and, with hearts aflame and great insight, they explored new horizons of the eternal beauty he revealed. Thus today they are still able to pour out the water of life, whcih wells up with the witness to the joy of the tireless, rich quest for the truth.
[The biographies of the two saints were read.]
The holiness and the eminent doctrine of these two saints shine even in our day, for which reason the Apostolic See has received many requests to confer upon them the title of Doctor of the Universal Church.
Your Holiness charged the Congregation for the Causes of Saints with the task of studying carefully every aspect of the question. Having gained the consent of the Cardinals and Bishops in two distinct plenary sessions, Your Holiness announced on May 27 this year, that Saint Juan de Avila and St. Hildegarde von Bingen would today be granted the title of Doctor, for the good of the Church and the joy of their devotees.
Everyone rose, and the Holy Father pronounced the following ritual formula:
We, having obtained the opinions of numerous Brothers in the Episcopate and of many of Christ's faithful throughout the world, having consulted the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, after mature deliberation and with certain knowledge, and by the fullness of the aposwtolic power, declare St. Juan de Avila, diocesan priest, and St. Hildegarde von Bingen, professed nun of the Order of St. Benedict, Doctors of the Universal Church.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Choir:
Let the peoples recount the wisdom of the Saints
and let the Church proclaim their praise.
Cardinal Amato:
Most Holy Father,
In the name of Holy Church, I thank Your Holiness for having today proclaimed St. Juan de Avila and St. Hildegarde von Bingen Dcotors of the Universal Church.
The proclamation ritual was followed by the Celebration of the Eucharist.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 07/10/2012 17:33]