Originally published at The Catholic Thing
When we think of the doctors of the Church – those great saints especially recognized for their contributions to Catholic theology or doctrine – we think of figures such as St. Augustine and his prolific theological output; St. Thomas and his foundational Summa Theologiae; or the sophisticated mysticism of St. Teresa of Avila. Most Catholics have at least some passing knowledge of them, and perhaps even one of their texts on the bookshelf. Far fewer, I’d speculate, possess something written by St. Anthony of Padua.
To my shame, I didn’t even realize St. Anthony was a doctor of the Church until reading Valentin Strappazzon’s biography, Anthony of Padua: Franciscan, Preacher, Teacher, Saint. He’s known as an intercessor for those who have lost something important, an unexpected preaching prodigy whose gifts were revealed at a meeting of Franciscans and Dominicans, and – of course – a favorite namesake for generations of Italian-Americans. But why Doctor Evangelicus, as Pope Pius XII declared almost eighty years ago?
In his 1946 Apostolic Letter Exulta, Lusitania felix, Pius XII praised not only the “sanctity of his [St. Anthony’s] life and the glorious fame of his miracles but also for the splendor that his heavenly doctrine spreads
