Pope Benedict XVI

Julian of Norwich I still remember with great joy the apostolic journey I made in the United Kingdom in 2009. England is a land that has given birth to a great many distinguished figures who enhanced Church history with their testimony and their teaching. One of them, venerated b…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 69 St. Catherine of Siena

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

St. Catherine of Siena We now reflect on a woman who played an eminent role in the history of the Church: St. Catherine of Siena. The century in which she lived - the fourteenth - was a troubled period in the life of the Church and throughout the social context of Italy and Europ…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 68 St. Bridget of Sweden

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

St. Bridget of Sweden On the eve of the Great Jubilee in anticipation of the Year 2000, the Venerable John Paul II proclaimed St. Bridget of Sweden co-patroness of the whole of Europe. I now present her, her message, and the reasons why - still today - this holy woman has much to…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 67 John Duns Scotus

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

John Duns Scotus Another important figure in the history of theology is Blessed John Duns Scotus, who lived at the end of the thirteenth century. An ancient epitaph on his tombstone sums up the geographical coordinates of his biography: “Scotland bore me, England received me, Fra…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 66 Marguerite D'Oingt

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

Marguerite D'Oingt With Marguerite d’Oingt, we are introduced to Carthusian spirituality, which draws its inspiration from the evangelical synthesis lived and proposed by St. Bruno. We do not know the date of her birth, although some place it around 1240. Marguerite came from a p…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 65 St. Thomas Aquinas

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

St. Thomas Aquinas His Life and Context We continue our meditation on some of the great thinkers of the Middle Ages. We recently looked at the great figure of St. Bonaventure, a Franciscan, and here I discuss the one whom the Church calls the Doctor Communis, namely, St. Thomas A…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 64 St. Albert the Great

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

St. Albert the Great One of the great masters of medieval theology is St. Albert the Great. The title “Great” (Magnus), with which he has passed into history indicates the vastness and depth of his teaching, which he combined with holiness of life. However, his contemporaries did…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 63 St. Elizabeth of Hungary

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Another great woman of the Middle Ages who inspired the greatest admiration is St. Elizabeth of Hungary, also called St. Elizabeth of Thuringia… Taken from Great Christian Thinkers by Pope Benedict XVI

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Great Christian Thinkers - 62 St. Gertrude the Great

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

St. Gertrude the Great St. Gertrude the Great brings us once again to the monastery of Helfta, where several of the Latin-German masterpieces of religious literature were written by women. Gertrude belonged to this world. She is one of the most famous mystics, the only German wom…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 61 St. Matilda of Hackeborn

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

St. Matilda of Hackeborn Saint Matilda of Hackeborn, one of the great figures of the convent of Helfta, lived in the thirteenth century. Her sister, St. Gertrude the Great, tells of the special graces that God granted to St. Matilda in the sixth book of Liber specialis gratiae (B…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 60 St. Bonaventure

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

St. Bonaventure Interpreter of Francis I talk now about St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio. I confide to you that in broaching this subject I feel a certain nostalgia, for I am thinking back to my research as a young scholar on this author, who was particularly dear to me. My knowledg…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 59 St. Anthony of Padua

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

St. Anthony of Padua We discussed St. Francis of Assisi; here I present another saint who belonged to the first generation of the Friars Minor: Anthony of Padua, or of Lisbon, as he is also called with reference to his native town. He is one of the most popular saints in the whol…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 58 St. Dominic De Guzman

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

St. Dominic De Guzman Having presented the luminous figure of Francis of Assisi and also Clare of Assisi, I talk now about another saint of the same period who made a fundamental contribution to the renewal of the Church of his time: St. Dominic, the Founder of the Order of Preac…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 57 St. Clare of Assisi

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

St. Clare of Assisi One of the best-loved saints is without a doubt St. Clare of Assisi, who lived in the thirteenth century and was a contemporary of St. Francis. Her testimony shows us how indebted the Church is to courageous women, full of faith like her, who can give a crucia…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 56 St. Francis of Assisi

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

St. Francis of Assisi Here I present the figure of Francis, an authentic “giant” of holiness, who continues to fascinate a great many people of all age groups and every religion… Taken from Great Christian Thinkers by Pope Benedict XVI

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Great Christian Thinkers - 55 Peter Lombard

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

Peter Lombard Peter Lombard, a theologian who lived in the twelfth century, enjoyed great fame because one of his works, titled the Sentences, was used as a theological manual for many centuries… Taken from Great Christian Thinkers by Pope Benedict XVI

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Great Christian Thinkers - 54 John of Salisbury

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

John of Salisbury We shall become acquainted here with John of Salisbury, who belonged to one of the most important schools of philosophy and theology of the Middle Ages, that of the Cathedral of Chartres in France. Like the theologians of whom I have spoken in the past few chapt…

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Great Christian Thinkers - 53 St. Hildegard of Bingen

by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI

St. Hildegard of Bingen In 1988, on the occasion of the Marian Year, Venerable John Paul II wrote an apostolic letter titled Mulieris Dignitatem on the precious role that women have played and play in the life of the Church… Taken from Great Christian Thinkers by Pope Benedict XV…

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