The Four Last Great Fathers of the Catholic Church: Prologue

The decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire at the late 5th century signaled the beginning of the end of Classical Antiquity and the long transition of the European societies into the Early Middle Ages, a period of European history plagued with decline of the culture and population. Later, the death of Pope Saint Gregory I marked the beginning of the end of the High Patristic Age, the age that began with Clement of Alexandria and his pupil Origen and produced fourteen Doctors of the Church, from Saint Hilary of Poiters (300-367) to Pope Saint Gregory I himself (540-604), nearly five Doctors in every one hundred years. In comparison, there were only eight Doctors from 1000 to 1300, and five Doctors from 1500 to 1800, equivalent to less than three and less than two Doctors per century, respectively. The starkest contrast, however, is the low number of Doctors of the Church in a period I call Late Patristic Age, from the 7th century to the 9th century, during which there were only three Doctors: Isidore of Spain, Bede of England, and John of Syria.

If we take into account the fact that only confessors are qualified for the office of Doctor of the Church, disqualifying ante-Nicene Fathers such as Saint Ignatius of Antioch and Saint Cyprian of Carthage, who were martyrs of the Faith, and the fact the Church adopted a far more rigorous process of investigation for Beatification and Canonization after the Great Schism, disqualifying the greatest defenders of the Church such as Duns Scotus (Doctor Subtilis Et Marianus), Franciscus Suarezius (Doctor Eximius Ac Pius), Petrus Lombardus (Magister Sententiarum), Thomas Waldensis (Doctor Authenticus), Gabriel Vasquez (Doctor Acutus), and Thomas Stapleton (Bellarminus Angliae), as well as numerous eclectic and original authors, including Henricus Gandavensis (Doctor Solemnis), Aegidius Colonna (Doctor Fundatissimus), Ioannes Gersonus (Doctor Christianissimus), and Dionysius Carthusianus (Doctor Ecstaticus), we should expect that every age before and after the Late Patristic Age would have more Doctors of the Church.

The low number of Doctors of the Church during the Late Patristic Age is not an isolated phenomenon. On the contrary, it reflects a shifting intellectual landscape of Catholic Philosophy and Catholic Theology. During the High Patristic Age, the Church first met with persecutors, and after the legalization and state recognization of Christianity, the Church met unprecedented attacks through Heresy and Schism. Both bloody and unbloody persecutions of the Church necessitated the emergence of various Doctors, and this is proved by the convocation of a series of councils centered on dogmas and morals, including the Ecumenical Councils. After the 6th century, Heretics, Schismatics, Apostates, and Pagans began their conversion and reconciliation with the Church, and European societies began to rebuild after decades of wars. The new era was decidedly more peaceful and humanistic than the previous ones, thus allowing Catholic Philosophers and Catholic Theologians to focus more on the less polemical and non-polemical issues. Such distinct features were faithfully recorded and detailed in the nomenclatures of Trithemius, Bellarmine, Bossuet, Dupin, Wiest, Gillow, Antonio, Migne, and Hurter.

The rebuilding and stablization of European societies were signaled by the Coronation of Charlemagne on the Christmas Day of 800 by Pope Leo III, and the revival of arts and sciences was represented by the Carolingian Renaissance, the first of three Medieval Renaissances. Although the Carolingian Renaissance was centered in Germany and mainly occurred during the 9th century, the entire three hundred years of the High Patristic Age could be characterized Carolingian Renaissance, namely transition from chaos and war to peace and stability in European societies, decline of influence of Heretics, Schismatics, Apostates, and Pagans, flourishment of arts and sciences, production of Christian literatures more focused on the

less polemical and non-polemical aspects of Christian beliefs, revival of pre-Christian Classical literatures and thoughts as a countertrend of Barbarism and cultural decline, establishment of a proto-Scholastic structure, and development of education systems for both clerics and laities, especially for monks and children. Some examples are the emphasis of the several classical liberal arts and sciences, Trivium plus Quadrivium, the increased acceptance of classical Roman and Greek thinkers, especially of Plato and Aristotle, and the emergence of Carolingian styles, which marked a gradual transition from beauty more centered on Divine Majesty, such as the Christ Pantocrator mosaic of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and <<Te Deum>> by Saint Hilary, to beauty more centered on aesthetical harmony, such as the Octagon Dome of the Aachen Cathedral and <<Gloria Laus>> by Saint Theodulf.

The Late Patristic Age was truly a golden age of Christian Humanism and served as the bridge between the High Patristic Age and the Early Scholastic Age, due to the study of pre-Christian classics as well as the attempts to systematize and synthesize the thoughts of earlier holy Fathers. Four late Fathers would be best representing this great golden age:

(1) Isidore of Seville, Spain (Isidorus Hispalensis / Ισίδωρος Σεβίλλης) (560-636);
(2) John of Damascus, Syria (Ioannes Damascenus / Ιωάννης Δαμασκηνός) (676-749);
(3) Bede of Northumbria, England (Bedas Northanthyboriae / Βέδας Νορθουμβρίας) / (672-735); (4) Hraban of Mainz, Germany (Rabanus Magnentius / Ράμπανους Μαγκεντίος) (780-856).

Although there are countless other great minds in that era, such as Alcuin of York, England, Walafrid of Swabia, Germany, and Loup of Ferrieres, France, because of the restraint of space, it is quite reasonable to pick the four mentioned above to represent the Catholic intellectuals of the Late Patristic Age.