Two Doctors of the Church

by friar Wayne Hellmann, OFM Conv.

In his earliest artistic images did you know that St. Anthony (d.1231) is presented as holding a book of the Gospels? (There was no sight of an infant Jesus.) Did you know that the earliest images of St. Bonaventure (d. 1274) picture him with a staff, a bishop’s miter, and a cardinal’s hat? Both of these holy friars emerge differently in Franciscan art, but they share much in common. Both have been acknowledged as Doctors of the Church, that is, exceptional and extraordinary teachers of our Catholic faith.

As teachers, these two friars were not only well-formed theologians but also the greatest of preachers, preachers of the Gospel. To assist their other brothers in preaching, both wrote commentaries on the Scriptures, and both provided possible sketches or outlines for preaching on all the Sundays of the year. For them, preaching (and witnessing) the Gospel is at the heart of a Christian life.

St. Anthony is known as the Evangelical Doctor. The notion of “evangelical” refers to “gospel.” His first love was the Gospel, which is why in his earliest images he is presented with the Book of the Gospels. However, very quickly artists began to present him with the Child Jesus standing upon the open Book of the Gospels. For St. Anthony, the Gospel message is about the humility of our God: He was humbled in the womb of the Virgin, needy in the manger of the sheep, and homeless on the wood of the cross.

Relentlessly bold, St. Anthony preached unresistingly in the public square against the pride of the powerful, the root cause of heresy and of injustice. He was convinced nothing so humbles the proud sinner as the humility of Christ’s humanity.

St. Bonaventure is known as the Seraphic Doctor. The notion of “seraphic” expresses his burning love for God as found among the Seraphim of the highest choir of angels. This manifests primarily his love for the three-fold Word of God: the Uncreated Word within the depth of the mystery of God’s own inner Trinitarian life, the Incarnate Word as born of Mary, and the Inspired Word breathed into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who, ever more deeply transforms us into God’s own image.

As Minister General of the Order, St. Bonaventure preached throughout Europe but most especially to the friars themselves. He called them to be “a mirror of holiness.” He preached not only from the Book of the Scriptures, but also from the Book of Creation “because the Divine Word is in every creature and therefore every creature speaks of God.”

Both of these friar-preachers and Doctors of the Church were united in the central Gospel message on the incarnate and crucified love of Christ: Our Mediator who first gave himself to humanity in his Birth and then offered himself totally to God on behalf of humanity.