I am quite pleased that Pope Benedict XVI announced today that St. John of Avila and St. Hildegard of Bingen will be declared doctors of the Church on October 7, 2012!
I visited the present day Abbey of St. Hildegard in Germany several years ago and really enjoyed Bingen, Eibingen and the whole area around Mainz. I have written about St. Hildegard a few times in this blog, including a short biography and a post about snow in her writings (something I associate with her partly because it snowed unexpectedly on the day I visited the Abbey of St. Hildegard).
I also once mentioned St. John of Avila, in connection with his role in the Church's approval of St. Teresa of Avila's book of her life in 1568. When I wrote that post, the book I was quoting from did not yet exist in English translation. That book, by French author Jean-Jacques Antier, has been available in English translation for several years now under the title St. Teresa of Avila: God Alone Suffices.
There are articles about the Holy Father's message and announcement at today's Regina Caeli at Asia News and Catholic News Agency.
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