Born in Scotland in the mid-13th century, his father was a wealthy farmer and his birth name was John Duns, with Scotus being added in later years to make it clear he was from Scotland. 

Devout from a young age, John entered the Friars Minor at Dumfries, where his uncle was the Superior. He later went on to study at Oxford and then in Paris. 

He was ordained in 1291. He spent time as a teacher at Oxford and Cambridge and then went back to Paris to get his Doctorate, in Philosophy. 

He wrote extensively about formal distinction, arguing for the metaphysical existence of God, and, also, against the notion that free will is an illusion. 

But he also had a great love for The Blessed Mother, and his defense of The Immaculate Conception of Mary was used in 1854 by Pope Pius IX, in writing the Divine Dogma of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception. 

Along with St. Thomas Aquinas and William of Ockham, he is considered one of the great Theological Philosophers of the Middle Ages. 

But John also had a deep appreciation for the Augistinian-Franciscan tradition and wrote about the richness of this particular journey in walking with Our Lord. 

He died on this day in 1308. 

Blessed John Duns Scotus, please pray for us.