173 pages – Suggested weeks to complete 8-12 weeks minimum
Table of Contents
Chapter One – Meeting the Doctors
Chapter Two – Doctors in the Early Church
Chapter Three – Doctors in the Middle Ages & Beyond
Chapter Four – An Oblation
Chapter Five – Prioress
Chapter Six – Founder
Chapter Seven – Defender of the Faith
Chapter Eight – The Last Battles
A sample two-hour session
7:00 p.m. – Hellos
7:15–7:20 p.m. – Opening Prayer
7:20–8:50 p.m. – Read & Discuss
8:50 p.m. – Closing Prayers/Announcements
9:00 p.m. – Goodbyes
Supplemental resources
- Audio Chapter 1 of St. Hildegard of Bingen
- Endow Author Teresa Hodgins’ article on St. Hildegard
- Endow Author Emily Stimpson Chapman on Fountains of Carrots podcast The Quirky and Wonderful Hildegard
- Simone interviews Emily Stimpson Chapman about Hildegard in this interview (to skip to the part on her experience writing this study, jump to time stamp 22 minutes)
- To get an overview of all the female doctors of the Church, watch this interview with Abiding Together Host Michelle Benzinger
Paying it forward
Share interviews from the Endow YouTube Channel and episodes from The Endow Podcast with the women in your life!
Make a one-time gift to Endow to help women all over the world discover their God-given dignity!
Become a monthly supporter and join the Feminine Genius Circle!
Please accept my gratitude for all the Endow team is contributing to our communities and lives. I long for the day we hear women say, ” I have a place in the Church and I know exactly what it is!”
Anonymous
This study explores all 37 Doctors of the Church but explores in depth the newest female Doctor, Saint Hildegard of Bingen. She was a prophet, composer, playwright, preacher, gifted healer, and a Benedictine nun. She founded two convents, wrote multiple books, provided spiritual counsel to popes, bishops, kings, and queens, and even invented her own language, with its own alphabet. Join us for this unique look at this fascinating saint and doctor of the Church. This study will challenge you to consider how God is working in your own life and remind you of the inheritance, community, and friendship we have in the doctors of the Faith and especially in St. Hildegard.
Navigating the study
Each chapter is divided into three sections. For a more leisurely 12 week study, groups can work through two of the three sections. For an 8 week study, groups can either move through the sections more rapidly or are selective about which sections to complete. It is not expected that all the questions should be answered in one session.
The commentary for this study was written by Emily Stimpson Chapman, who also wrote our studies on Letter to Women, Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life), Salvifici Doloris (On the Christian Meaning of Suffering), Rosarium Virginis Mariae (On the Rosary of the Virgin Mary), and Setting the World Ablaze: St. Catherine of Siena.
We are here to support you
Throughout your study, as spiritual, theological, or pastoral questions arise, please contact us for support. Please also consider emailing us testimonies from your group! We love to hear what the Lord is doing through Endow!
The Endow team is here to support you in studying this important document! For an initial 20-minute Zoom meeting with us, please contact [email protected] with the subject line “Mentoring meeting.”
Discovering the Doctors promotional kit