Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange

Réginald Marie Garrigou-Lagrange (1877–1964) was a French Dominican friar, philosopher, and theologian. He was a prominent neo-Thomist theologian, recognized as a distinguished theologian of the 20th century. As a professor at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome from 1909 to 1959, he taught dogmatic and spiritual theology. His major work, *The Three Ages of the Interior Life* (1938), posited infused contemplation and the mystical life as the normal path to Christian perfection, influencing the Second Vatican Council's document *Lumen gentium*. Garrigou-Lagrange synthesized the abstract writings of St. Thomas Aquinas with the experiential works of St. John of the Cross, demonstrating their harmony. He was a leading proponent of "strict observance Thomism" and critically opposed the *Nouvelle théologie* movement, viewing some aspects as modernist. He is also believed to have been involved in drafting Pope Pius XII's 1950 encyclical *Humani generis*. In politics, Garrigou-Lagrange supported the far-right *Action Française* and was sympathetic to Vichy France, though his political views were later nuanced. He significantly influenced Catholic theology and spirituality through his extensive writings and teaching.