St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas
Feastday: January 28

St. Thomas Aquinas, was a priest and doctor of the Church, patron of all universities and of students. His feast day is January 28. He was born toward the end of the year 1226. He was the son of Landulph, Count of Aquino, who, when St. Thomas was five years old, placed him under the care of the Benedictines of Monte Casino. His teachers were surprised at the progress he made, for he surpassed all his fellow pupils in learning as well as in practice of virtue.

When he became of age to choose his state of life, St. Thomas renounced the things of this world and resolved to enter the Order of St. Dominic in spite of the opposition of his family. In 1243, at the age of seventeen, he joined the Dominicans of Naples. Some members of his family resorted to all manner of means over a two year period to break his constancy. They even went so far as to send an impure woman to tempt him. But all their efforts were in vain and St. Thomas persevered in his vocation. As a reward for his fidelity, God conferred upon him the gift of perfect chastity, which has merited for him the title of the “Angelic Doctor:.
After making his profession at Naples, he studied at Cologne under the celebrated St. Albert the Great. Here he was nicknamed the “dumb ox” because of his silent ways and huge size, but he was really a brilliant student. At the age of twenty-two, he was appointed to teach in the same city. At the same time, he also began to publish his first works. After four years he was sent to Paris. The saint was then a priest. At the age of thir-one, he received his doctorate.

At Paris he was honored with the friendship of the King, St. Louise, with whom he frequently dined. In 1261, Urban IV called him to Rome where he was appointed to teach, but he positively declined to accept any ecclesiastical dignity. St. Thomas not only wrote his writings (filled twenty hefty times characterized by brilliance of thought and lucidity f language), but he preached often and with greatest fruit Clement IV offered him the Archbishopric of Naples which he also refused. He left the great monument of his learning, the “Summa Theologica”, unfinished, for on his way to the second Council of Lyons, ordered there by Gregory X, he fell sick and died at the Cistercian monastery of Fossa Nuova in 1274.
St. Thomas was one of the greatest and most influential theologians of all time. He was canonized in 1323 and declared Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius V.

Reflection:
I was struck by the way St. Thomas of Aquinas lived his life. He renounced the things of this world. In our part it is hard to renounce the sweet and sugar-coated attractiveness of life on earth. Most especially if we are in the midst of a flourishing success, wealth and happy life. But sometimes we wonder, are we really happy in its true sense of the word “happy” enjoying our wealth (honestly acquired or…)? Don’t we feel so empty at times? I came across an article, “The Poor Rich Girl” story of the daughter of Aristotle Onassis, the famous billionaire and husband of Jackie Kennedy. Isn’t it contradicting? She was rich yet poor, in what sense? If we think being wealthy is true happiness, then it may not be true in some circumstances. This girl experienced it in her life. She did not feel happy. Her father was away from her. She felt unloved because people around her were busy. She has nobody to turn to in times of her ups and downs. She felt so lonely and alone. We can say then that what she lacked in life was love. Love makes us happy. St. Thomas renounced all earthy things because he found true happiness by following Jesus. Thus as this song goes: “True, true happiness will follow, if you only follow me.” He found true happiness in serving the Lord and being with Him always. He was so strong in preserving his vocation despite the strong temptations before him. He was very faithful to God, and because of his fidelity, God conferred upon him the gift of perfect chastity, which has merited for him the title of the "Angelic Doctor".

Dear St. Thomas, I owe you the five ways to prove God’s existence. I owe from you this strong foundation in my belief of the existence of God. I owe you my faith. By studying deeply your five ways to prove God’s existence in our course Creed and Apologetics, I was given the gift of faith through your teaching. Thank you. In believe that in any approach to impart knowledge it is best to communicate something abstract in concrete. This was how you presented God’s existence. There is something moving. Everything that moves is put into motion by something else. But this series of antecedent movers cannot reach back infinitely. Therefore, there must be a first mover (which is God). The order and arrangement of the natural world (not merely its existence) bespeaks the deliberate design of an intelligent creator. All these facts can be felt, seen, observed around us. It is therefore a must for us to protect these gifts of an Intelligent Creator, the First Mover.

by Fe Marina Siacon