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Saint Thomas Aquinas
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January 28
God granted him extraordinary wisdom and intelligence,
which he explored prodigiously and then communicated
with generosity.
Saint Thomas Aquinas
The Angelic Doctor
Priest and Doctor of the Church
(+1274)
HIS LIFE
He was born in the Castle of Rocaseca, near Naples, Italy, in 1225.
He was the last son of a large family of twelve children. His father was named Landulf Aquinas.
He was tall, robust, well-proportioned, with a clear forehead, a distinguished bearing, great kindness in his manner, and great delicacy of feelings.
Near the Castle where he was born was the famous convent of the Benedictine monks called Monte Cassino. He was taken there for his first years of studies.
The monks taught him to meditate in silence. He is the most pious, thoughtful, and silent of all the convent students. He memorizes everything he reads or studies with prodigious ease.
He continued his studies for five years at the University of Naples. There, he surpassed all his classmates in memory and intelligence. He met the Dominican Fathers and became enthusiastic about the community. He wanted to become a religious, but his family opposed him. The religious fled to Germany, but along the way, his brothers, traveling with a squad of soldiers, surprised him and imprisoned him. They failed to remove his Dominican habit, but they imprisoned him in a prison in the Rocaseca castle.
Thomas took advantage of his two-year confinement in prison to memorize many phrases from the Holy Bible and to thoroughly study the best theological treatise available at the time, which he later expounded very well at the university. His brothers, seeing that no matter how much they begged and threatened him, they could not dissuade him from continuing as a religious, sent him a woman of ill repute to make him sin. Thomas took a burning brand and attacked the wicked woman, threatening to burn her face if she dared to approach him. She fled, and thus, by overcoming the passions of the flesh, the Catholic Church was able to acquire a great saint. If this young man had not known how to overcome the temptation of impurity, we would not have this great Doctor of the Church today.
That night, he saw in a dream a heavenly vision coming to congratulate him and bringing him a white stole or sash, a sign of virtue, of the purity granted to him by Our Lord.
Once released from prison, he was sent to Cologne, Germany, to study with the wisest Dominican Father of that time: Saint Albert the Great. At first, his classmates had no idea how intelligent Thomas was, and seeing him so robust and always so silent in discussions, they nicknamed him «The Dumb Ox.» But one day, one of his classmates read this young student’s notes and presented them to the wise professor. Upon reading them, Saint Albert said to the other students: «You call him the Dumb Ox. But this ox will one day fill the whole world with his lowing.» And so it truly happened. His companions from that time left this comment: «Thomas’s learning is very great, but his piety is even greater. He spends hours and hours praying, and at Mass, after the Elevation, he seems to be in Paradise. And his face even glows from time to time while he celebrates the Eucharist.»
At the age of 27, in 1252, he was already a professor at the famous University of Paris. His theology and philosophy classes were the most attended at the University. King Saint Louis esteemed him so highly that he consulted him on all important matters. And at the University, his prestige and influence over the others were so great that when a huge argument about the Eucharist arose and they couldn’t reach an agreement, the factions finally agreed that Thomas Aquinas would act as arbiter and have the final say, and what he said was accepted by all without exception.
In 1259, the Supreme Pontiff called him to Italy, and he toured the country for seven years. He preached and taught, and was entrusted with the leadership of the Pontifical College in Rome for young men preparing for positions of special importance.
In four years, he wrote his most famous work: «The Summa Theologica,» a prodigious work in 14 volumes, where, based on Sacred Scripture, philosophy, theology, and the doctrine of the saints, he explains all Catholic teachings. It is the most profound work ever written in the Catholic Church.
In Italy, people flocked to listen to him with great respect, as if he were a messenger of God. They wept with emotion when they heard him preach about the Passion of Christ, and were moved with joy when he spoke to them about the Resurrection of Jesus and the Eternal Life that awaits us.
The Roman Pontiff commissioned him to write hymns for the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, and he then composed the Pangelingua and the Tantumergo and several other beautiful hymns of the Eucharist (it is said that the Holy Father commissioned Saint Thomas and Saint Bonaventure to write them). that
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