St Thomas Aquinas

Dominican priest, theologian, Doctor of the Church · Feast: 28 January

St Thomas Aquinas
Benozzo Gozzoli, The Triumph of St Thomas Aquinas, tempera on panel, 1471, Musée du Louvre, Paris. The saint sits enthroned between Aristotle and Plato, with the defeated Averroes at his feet. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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Word for the day

“Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.” Wisdom 7:7

Life

Thomas was born around 1225 in the castle of Roccasecca, between Rome and Naples, into a noble family of the Aquino line. At about five years of age he was sent to the great Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino, and later studied at the university of Naples, where he came to know the new Order of Preachers founded by St Dominic.

In 1244 he entered the Dominicans. His family, who hoped he would become abbot of Monte Cassino, had him seized on the road and kept at home for about a year, but he did not change his mind. He then studied under St Albert the Great in Paris and Cologne.

Thomas became a master of theology at Paris and taught there and in Italy. With great clarity he showed that faith and reason do not contradict each other, since both come from God, and he used the philosophy of Aristotle in the service of the faith. His greatest work, the Summa Theologiae, explains the whole of Catholic doctrine. According to a tradition accepted by most scholars, at the request of Pope Urban IV he composed the texts for the new feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, whose hymns are still sung today.

On 6 December 1273, after an experience during the celebration of the Eucharist, he stopped writing. Summoned to the Council of Lyons, he fell ill on the way and died at the Cistercian abbey of Fossanova on 7 March 1274. He was canonised in 1323 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1567. His memorial is kept on 28 January, the day his relics were brought to Toulouse in 1369. He is the patron of Catholic schools and students.

Lessons

Faith and reason

Truth is one, because God is its source.

Study as prayer

Thomas prayed before he studied and wrote.

Humility of the learned

The greatest theologian of his age called his work straw before the mystery of God.

Love for the Eucharist

His hymns teach us to adore.

Stories

The dumb ox (tradition)

His fellow students, it is said, called the large, silent Thomas the dumb ox. St Albert the Great replied that one day the bellowing of this ox would be heard throughout the world.

Nothing but you, Lord (tradition)

His early biographers tell that while he was praying before a crucifix in Naples, Christ said to him: you have written well of me, Thomas; what reward would you have? He answered: nothing but yourself, Lord.

All seems like straw (tradition)

After the experience of 6 December 1273, according to testimony given at his canonisation, Thomas told his companion Reginald that all he had written seemed to him like straw compared with what he had seen.

Words of the saint

Grace does not destroy nature, but perfects it.
St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I, q. 1, a. 8, in substance

Homily

1. Pray, then study

Wisdom is God's gift (Wisdom 7:7).

2. Faith seeks understanding

Our faith is reasonable and beautiful.

3. Nothing but you, Lord

All learning ends in love and adoration.

Dear friends, St Thomas Aquinas was one of the greatest minds the Church has ever known. Yet as a student he was so quiet that his companions called him the dumb ox. His teacher, St Albert the Great, saw more deeply.

Thomas always prayed before he studied. Like Solomon he could say: Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me (Wisdom 7:7). He showed that faith and reason are friends, because both come from the one God who is Truth.

His great Summa explains the whole faith with clarity and order. But he also wrote hymns to Christ in the Eucharist, which the Church still sings. His learning led him to adoration. Near the end of his life he said that all he had written seemed like straw compared with what God had shown him.

Today let us pray for students and teachers, and ask St Thomas to help us love the truth, study with humility, and say with him: nothing but you, Lord. Amen.

Prayer

Lord God, source of all truth, you gave St Thomas Aquinas a mind that sought you and a heart that adored you; through his prayers help us to study with humility, to love the truth, and to find our reward in you alone. Amen.