Garrigou-Lagrange, Reginal

Before entering the Dominican Order in 1897 , he studied medicine at the University of Bordeaux . When he completed his theological education under the guidance of A. Gardeil, he was appointed professor of philosophy and theology at Le Solschuyer in Belgium ( 1905 ).

From 1909 to 1960 he taught basic, dogmatic and mystical theology in the institution, which today is called the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

In the last years of his life, he was a consultant to the Holy Office and other Roman congregations. Garrigou-Lagrange began publishing in 1904 and has written over 500 books and articles published in scientific periodicals, many of which have been translated into foreign languages.

He was an ardent defender of the teachings of Thomas Aquinas in the form in which it was presented by the classical commentators of the Dominican school - Cardinal Tommaso de Vio Caetan , Banez, St. John Thomas and Charles Billoire.

Garrig-Lagrange managed to combine the deepest respect for the past with an understanding of the intellectual and spiritual needs of his time. His fundamental work was the book Reality: A Synthesis of Thomist Thought (La Synthese thomiste, Paris 1946). In the field of philosophy, his first outstanding work was the monograph “Common Sense, the Philosophy of Being and the Formulas of Dogmatics” (Le Sens commun, la philosophie de l'etre et les formules dogmatiques, Paris 1909). It was written against modernism and its concept of dogma evolution. Reaffirming the value of the philosophy of being, moderate realism and Aristotelian-Thomist metaphysics, which is simply the development of elementary inborn ideas of the natural mind, Garrigou-Lagrange showed how the human mind reaches an understanding of the first and self-evident principles of intelligible being, which is the first object covered by the intelligence in the data feelings. Turning then to dogmatic formulas, which he did not want to endow with any philosophical system, he showed their rational meaning and immutability. Knowledge of dogma and dogmatic expressions and formulas can progress, but dogma itself always remains unchanged. Among his other philosophical works are the following: “Realism of the principle of finality” (Le Realisme du principe de finalite, Paris 1932) and “Sense of mystery and clear, dark, intellectual (natural and supernatural)” (Le Sens du mystere et le clair obscur intellectuel (Nature et Surnaturel), Paris 1934).

His most important philosophical work was the book God, His Existence and His Nature (Dieu, son existence et sa nature, Paris 1915). In this study, through which he hoped to obtain a solution to the antinomies of agnosticism, he explained the first principles, defending their ontological and transcendental validity. Then, based on his arguments, he developed the Thomist proofs of the existence of God and certain truths related to the divine nature, paying great attention to the Thomist doctrine of the identity of essence and existence in God and the real difference between essence and existence in creation.

The main works of Garrigou-Lagrange, however, were theological. His classic work “The Disclosure of the Tasks of the Church” (De revelatione ab ecclesia proposita, Rom. 1918; reprint. Rome. 1932) examined the main directions of Catholic apologetics. For him, apologetics was more of a theological than a philosophical science, since he thought of it as a rational defense of the Divine Revelation, which the mind performs under the positive direction of faith. So he tried, on the one hand, to defend the concept of faith as a gift of God, grace, and, on the other hand, to avoid the trap of fideism, which ignores the human mind and knowledge. Faith is an essentially supernatural gift that surpasses the study of human thought, and it cannot be the fruit of rational syllogism, which can lead the mind to no more than judgments about reliability.

Garrigue-Lagrange has an authoritative commentary on The Summa of Theology by Thomas Aquinas (in 7 vols. Paris-Turin, 1938-1951), which provides a comprehensive review of the theology of Thomas Aquinas. Among other theological works, the Predestination of the Saints and Grace is worth noting (La Predestination des saints et la grace, Paris 1935); “Eternal life and depth of soul” (L'Eternelle vie et la profondeur de l'ame, Paris 1950), his article in the dictionary of Catholic theology “Predestination”, “Providence according to theology”, “Tomism”.

In the field of mystical theology, Garrigou-Lagrange also proceeded from the Thomist doctrine. Accepting the position of Juan González Arintero, he insisted on the universality of the call for holiness, and the need for contemplation and mystical life as the usual path to holiness and Christian perfection. Of his fundamental works in this area, one can point out the following: “Christian perfection and contemplation” (Perfection chretienne et contemplation, Paris 1923), “Three appeals and three paths” (Les trois conversions et les trois voies, Paris 1933), “Three ages inner life ”(Les trois ages de la vie interieure, Lyons 1941).

• Essai de bibliographie du RP Garrigou-Lagrange, Angelicum 14 (1937) 5-37.
• C. MAZZANTINI, '' Nota a proposito del principio d'identita. . . nella filosofia del G.-L., '' ibid. 318-322.
• HD GARDEIL, Catholicisme 4: 1764.
• B. LAVAUD in Sacra Doctrina 2 (1957) 14-20. Dictionnaire de theologie catholique, Tables generales 1: 1776-77.
• '' Reginaldi Garrigou-Lagrange: In memoriam, '' Angelicum 42.1-2 (1965).

• Biography on the theological portal of the Theologian. RU
• Bibliography of works about the author on the theological portal of the Theologian. RU