Science of the Spirit

St Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897) was one of three women to be named “Doctor of the Church” during the 20th Century. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“I feel in me the vocation of the Priest. I have the vocation of the Apostle. Martyrdom was the dream of my youth and this dream has grown with me. Considering the mystical body of the Church, I desired to see myself in them all. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that the Church had a Heart and that this Heart was burning with love. I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that Love was everything, that it embraced all times and places…in a word, that it was eternal! Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my Love…my vocation, at last, I have found it…My vocation is Love!”

When she began coughing up blood, it took a year for others to realize how sick she had become. Despite tremendous internal suffering, she maintained a smiling and cheerful disposition toward others, so much that some questioned if she was really sick, or just faking it. Her one dream was to help us here on earth after her death. “I will return,” she said. “My heaven will be spent on earth.” She died at age 24. She saw this as a great blessing, as she always felt called to be a priest, and so she completed this life at the age that she could have been ordained had she been born a man…

Therese, “Little Flower” was canonized a Saint in 1925, and named a Doctor (teacher) of the Church in 1997.

Robert Bellarmine

Bellarmine took a position based on principles now regarded as fundamentally democratic, that authority originates with God and is vested in the people, who entrust it to fit rulers.

Bellarmine also opposed severe action in the case of Galileo. In 1616, on the orders of Paul V, Bellarmine summoned Galileo, notified him of a forthcoming decree of the Congregation of the Index condemning the Copernican doctrine of the mobility of the Earth and the immobility of the Sun, and ordered him to abandon it. Galileo agreed.

When Galileo later complained of rumors that he had been forced to abjure and do penance, Bellarmine wrote out a certificate denying the rumors, stating that Galileo had merely been notified of the decree and informed that, as a consequence of it, the Copernican doctrine could not be “defended or held”. Cardinal Bellarmine was ambiguous about heliocentrism, personally noting that further research was needed to confirm or condemn it.

From his research grew his Disputationes, published in 1581–1593, the earliest attempt to systematize the various religious controversies of the time. It treats of the Word of God, of Christ, and of the Pope; the authority of ecumenical councils, and of the Church, whether militant, expectant, or triumphant; of the sacraments; and of Divine grace, free will, justification, and good works. Bellarmine also wrote for spiritual seekers The Mind’s Ascent to God (which was later translated into English as Jacob’s Ladder without acknowledgment of the source), The Art of Dying Well, and The Seven Words on the Cross.

Doctor Universalis

Against the wishes of his noble family, Albert became a friar while a student. He excelled in the natural sciences, gaining encyclopedic knowledge. He related the findings of science with philosophy and laid the foundation for the proper use of reason in matters of faith, which his pupil, Thomas Aquinas perfected. He taught at Ratisbon, Freiburg, Cologne, and Paris. He was dubbed “The Great” and “Universal Doctor” by his contemporaries because of his holiness and knowledge, and he is the patron of natural scientists.

When he died, his body was placed in a temporary vault. After three years when the permanent tomb was complete, the body was in a state of perfect preservation with a delightful fragrance. Two centuries later a mausoleum was constructed. During the transfer, the body was reduced to a skeleton but still emitted its sweet perfume. After being placed in a glass case, miracles of healing and many visions were recorded.

Saint John of the Cross

Juan de Yepes, the son of a weaver, credited the Blessed Mother with saving his life from drowning twice as a child. After he was ordained, he met Teresa of Avila, who persuaded him to help her restore the original rule of the Carmelites. During this challenging endeavor, he was kidnapped and imprisoned for nine months.

In Teresa’s words, “He was one of the purest souls in the Church of God.” It was here at Avila that the sisters witnessed many of his levitations during ecstatic prayer.

His mystical writings include The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night of the Soul, and The Spiritual Canticle. John’s works “possess the same authority in mystical theology as the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas possess in dogmatic theology.”

Following his burial, the friars observed a great light that burned for several minutes. His body was found intact when the tomb was first opened nine months later. Eighteen months after burial, upon opening the tomb, they perceived a fragrant perfume and found the body perfectly fresh and supple. One of the fingers “was then cut off… as proof of the preservation of the body, and when this was amputated, blood flowed profusely as would be normal in a living person.

After another nine months, the body was still perfectly preserved under a layer of lime. The perfume of the body filled the entire area. The body was exhumed and carefully examined in 1859, 1909, and 1955 and found perfectly moist and flexible.

Teresa of Avila

Born to a noble family, she was a very pious child, attempting at age seven to convert the Moors and suffer martyrdom. During her adolescence, she was fascinated with romantic literature, and then a serious illness kindled her interest in religious life.

At the time she enjoyed many privileges that were allowed contrary to the original rule of the order. Then at age 38, she experienced a further conversion reading the Confessions of St. Augustine.  Restoring rigorous interpretation of the rule, she attained heights of mysticism, with countless visions, and the phenomenon of levitation.

She was a reluctant writer but left three spiritual masterpieces authored under obedience: her Autobiography, The Way of Perfection, and of course The Interior Castle, the title of which was given her by Christ.

The sweet fragrance which frequently enveloped her during her life, and which was so strong at the time of her death that the door and windows of her cell had to be opened, continued to emanate from her grave, and so many wonders were occurring there that curiosity concerning the condition of the body was great. The coffin was open nine months later. The clothes had fallen to pieces. The body was as fresh and whole as if it had been buried the day before. There spread through the whole house a wonderful penetrating fragrance that lasted for days. The body exuded oil.

Doctors examined the body and decided it was impossible that its condition could have a natural explanation, and that it was truly miraculous, as after three years without being embalmed, it was perfectly preserved, and a wonderful odor issued from it.

Theresa wrote in her Autobiography of her vision of her transverberation:

“I saw an angel close by me, on my left side, in bodily form. He was not large, but small of stature and most beautiful – his face burning as if he were one of the highest angels who seemed to be all of fire. I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron’s point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also; and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God.”

Her heart was meticulously examined in 1872 by three physicians of the University of Salamanca who noted the perforation made by the dart. They unanimously agreed that the preservation of the heart could not be credited to any natural or chemical means.

The last exhumation of the body of the Saint occurred in 1914. The body was in the same condition as before including the flowery fragrance, while a tube of lead, containing official documents, was reduced to powder.

Teresa of Avila bore the title Doctor of the Church for many centuries by public acclamation. In 1970, she became the first woman to be officially added to the list.

Francis De Sales

Francis was born of a distinguished family but became a priest rather than following his father’s ambitions. Francis had saintly friends in Vincent de Paul and Philip Neri. His success in speaking, the direction of souls, and conversions brought him to be appointed Bishop of Geneva. Out of humility, he declined the same position in Paris when offered.

His entrance into Heaven was announced supernaturally to many friends and relatives. At his autopsy, the body was embalmed and the heart extracted. A clear oil exudes from the heart periodically. Ten years after death, his body was found to be still perfectly preserved.

His most popular writings are Introduction To A Devoted Life and Treatise On The Love of God and he is the patron of writers.

Catherine of Siena