Feast day · January 28
St. Thomas Aquinas
Priest and Doctor of the Church
Born c. 1225, Roccasecca, ItalyDied 1274, Fossanova Abbey
“Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory, of His Flesh the mystery sing.”
The Angelic Doctor, whose Summa Theologiae remains the Church's model of faith seeking understanding.
The story
His noble family imprisoned him for a year to stop him becoming a Dominican; he used the time to memorize Scripture. Nicknamed "the dumb ox" by classmates, he became the greatest mind of the Middle Ages, composing the Summa and the Eucharistic hymns of Corpus Christi. After a mystical experience in December 1273 he stopped writing, calling all he had written "straw" compared to what he had seen.
What Thomas teaches
Faith and reason are two wings. Thomas shows that loving God with the whole mind is worship, and that the greatest intellect kneels before the Eucharist.
Patronage
students, universities, theologians.
Prayer
St. Thomas Aquinas, teach us to seek the truth with humility and to love what we learn. Pray for all students and teachers. Amen.
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