Tea at Trianon: St. Teresa of Avila as 'Doctrix Ecclesia'

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, October 15, 2023

St. Teresa of Avila as 'Doctrix Ecclesia'

Long before 1970 and being proclaimed a doctor of the Church, the Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Jesus was shown wearing a doctor's cap in Spain and in the Carmelite Order. From The Liturgical Arts Journal:

It was Pope Paul VI who in 1970 finally granted the Title of Doctor of the Church to St Teresa, finally answering a request that was first elevated in 1597 by all the cathedral chapters of Spain to Pope Clement VIII. The petition had been repeatedly denied by Rome dryly arguing Obstat sexus (her sex prevents it).
The devotion of the Spanish people was too great to be contained, and while the title of doctor of the church could not be used, this did not stop her receiving other titles such as doctrix seraphica or doctrix mystica.
St. Teresa was particularly popular among the scholars of the University of Salamanca, who were tasked with the efforts for her canonization and are likely responsible for the apparition of the biretta in her iconography. This intrusion by a member of the opposite sex into academic circles must not have been too shocking, since it is known that at least 4 women attained degrees and taught in Spanish universities at the turn of the 15th century, and while very rare, the precedent was set. While the academic bonete with white tuft can be found in depictions of the saint as early as 1647, it usually placed on the side, with the first images of her actually wearing it dating from the mid 18^th century. As the depiction of Saint Teresa donning the 4-horned “bonete” with white tuft gained popularity, we see examples of sculptures getting the hat added later on or as an accessory to be used on particular occasions.
An atypical example of these removable birettas is the one crafted by Fr Félix Granda in 1922. Rather than being shaped like the traditional 4-horned “bonete”, it was modeled after the 8 sided academic caps used by the doctors of the university of Salamanca at the time. Also, instead of being made out of wood or fabric, it was crafted in gold plated silver and profusely decorated with filigree, enamels, ivory and gemstones. (Read more.)