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St Basil, 330-379, bishop of Caesarea, was a brilliant preacher, lived an ascetic life, established norms for monastic life, implemented the decrees of the Council of Nicaea. Patron of Russia.

Sts Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, and Pope Gregory I were the original Doctors of the Church and were named in 1298. They are known collectively as the Great Doctors of the Western Church.

The four Great Doctors of the Eastern Church, Sts John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory of Naziansus and Athanasius were recognized in 1568 by Pope St. Pius V.

A Doctor of the Church, (from the Latin docere, to teach), is a saint from whose writings the whole Church is held to have derived great advantage and to whom "eminent learning" and "great sanctity" have been attributed. The honour is always bestowed posthumously.