I am continuing this series introducing to you the Doctors of the Church. Today I want to talk about Saint Ambrose (339-397). In 374 Auxentius, the bishop of Milan, had died. This left the local church bitterly divided between quarreling parties of Orthodox and Arian Christians. Each faction wanted their candidate to be chosen as the next bishop of Milan. Ambrose who was serving as the provincial governor went to the basilica to exhort those gathered there to come to a peaceful solution.

I am continuing the series on the Doctors of the Church. This week I am writing about Saint Gregory Nazianzus (ca. 330-ca.390), who was one of three children. His father was a bishop of the same name. Later it would become the practice that bishops in the Eastern Church would be chosen from men who were widowers or monks. I don’t know if Gregory Nazianzus the Elder was a widower at the time he became a bishop. At any rate Gregory Nazianzus the Younger (about whom I am writing today) studied in Caesaria in Cappadocia (modern day Kayseri, Turkey), Alexandria, and finally in Athens.

I want to devote the rest of this column to the next Doctor of the Church in chronological order, Saint Basil the Great (329-379). On Thursday, September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Shortly after the Queen’s death, Pope Francis sent a telegram to King Charles III to express his condolences for the death of Queen Elizabeth.

I am continuing this series on Doctors of the Church. Today I want to talk about Saint Cyril of Jerusalem. He was born at or near Jerusalem either in 313 or 315. He received an excellent literary education which helped him in his study of the Scriptures. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Maximus and ordained bishop of Jerusalem in 348. In the thirty-eight years he served as a bishop, he was deposed and exiled three times.

I am continuing my series on the Doctors of the Church. This week I am writing about Saint Hilary of Poitiers (312-67). Hilary was born into a distinguished pagan family in the Roman province of Gaul. After his conversion and baptism, he was elected Bishop of Poitiers around the year 350. He organized the bishops in Gaul to resist those who were sympathetic to the teachings of Arius. These individuals would have held that the Son of God is not co-eternal and consubstantial (homoouios) with the Father. Others, called Semi-Arians, would have admitted that the Son was “like” (homoios) the Father, but refused to speak of consubstantiality. Because he organized this resistance by the Bishops in Gaul, Hilary was exiled to the East by the emperor Constantius in 356.

I am continuing our series on the Doctors of the Church. The next Doctor of the Church chronologically is Saint Ephrem the Syrian who was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XV in 1920. Ephrem (ca. 306-373) was born in Nisibis (modern day Nesbin--a city in the Mardin Province, Turkey), probably into a Christian family. . Ephrem left Nisibis in 363. The pagan emperor Julian the Apostate had invaded Persian territory in the hope of reconquering lands that the Persians had seized after defeating the army of the Roman Empire. Instead Julian was killed in battle. After the pagan takeover of the city, the Christian population was forced to flee, and Ephrem made his way to the great center of Syriac Christianity at Edessa (a city in modern day northern Greece). He spent the last ten years of his life there. Edessa was a very cosmopolitan city both of learning and religious diversity. Ephrem thrived in this environment. Most of his surviving works, both in prose and poetry, seem to come from this period in his life.

I am continuing this series on the Doctors of the Church. I am going to treat them chronologically. Last week I wrote about St. Irenaeus of Lyons who is the earliest chronologically but the most recently proclaimed Doctor of the Church. Today I am writing about St. Athanasius of Alexandria who was born around the year A. D. 300 and who died in A.D. 373. He was named a Doctor of the Church in 1568 by Pope Saint Pius V.

On January 21, 2022, Pope Francis issued a decree declaring St. Irenaeus of Lyons as a Doctor of the Church. The Vatican Congregation for the Causes of the Saints have previously made this proposal to the Holy Father. Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, former chairman of the United States Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine made the comment to Our Sunday Visitor that naming Irenaeus a Doctor of the Church seemed to be correcting “an oversight that this ‘first great Christian theologian’ has never been officially declared a Doctor of the Church.” Bishop Rhoades went on to say that “St. Irenaeus’ defense of the true doctrine, his clear teaching of the Faith and his total devotion to his pastoral ministry make him a great model for bishops today.”

The Doctors of the Church are those men and women who have been recognized for their holiness of life and the profound nature of what they taught in their writings—whether they wrote many volumes or only a few works. They are both saints and teachers, reconciling both callings in a way that has enriched the Church for nearly two millennia. Their life with God informs their life of learning, and their study and teaching enrich their response to God in his Church.

We have recently held our Primary Elections. It may be a few weeks until all the ballots are counted and we learn how all the candidates will be in the General Election to be held in November. But in this column I want to talk about the Catholic Impact in District 19 where St. Francis of Assisi and five other Catholic parishes are located. First of all you may wonder what the six parishes in District 19 are. They are Our Lady of Grace in Silver Spring, Shrine of St. Jude in Rockville, St. Andrew the Apostle in Silver Spring, St. Patrick in Rockville, San Andrés Mission in Silver Spring, and, of course, St. Francis of Assisi in Derwood. The oldest parish in District 19 is the Shrine of St. Jude in Rockville (founded in 1956). The most recent parish is probably Our Lady of Grace in Silver Spring (founded in 1983). There are four Catholic Schools in District 19: St. Andrew the Apostle Early Learning Center, St. Andrew the Apostle School, St. Jude Regional School, and St. Patrick’s Catholic School. We are a supporting parish for St. Jude Regional School which was founded in 1956 (the same year as the parish).

The deacons here usually preach once a month. On Sunday, July 17, 2022, I had the opportunity to hear all three deacons preach at different Masses. All three homilies were excellent! Deacon Jim Datovech made three points about prayer in the course of his homily on July 17th. I want to talk about his second point about prayer: God may or may not give us what we ask for, but he will always give us what we need.

Father Grzegorz Okulewicz, our recently ordained and newly appointed Parochial Vicar, arrived here on Wednesday, July 7, 2022. He left on Saturday, July 9, 2022 for the Holy Land where he is serving as one of many priest chaplains for a youth discernment pilgrimage sponsored by the Neocatechumenal Way, of which he is a member. I think that it might be good to give you some background on the Neocatechumenal Way and the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Hyattsville, Maryland. You can read a bit about his vocation story in an article written by Mark Zimmerman in the June 18, 2022 issue of the Catholic Standard. I am confident he will tell us more about himself and his vocational journey in the weeks and months to come.