Feast day: 28 January
Saint Thomas Aquinas
Sanctus Thomas de Aquino
The greatest theologian of the Middle Ages, author of the Summa Theologiae, who showed that faith and reason cannot contradict each other.
28 January marks the translation of his relics to Toulouse in 1369; the older calendar keeps 7 March, the day of his death.
- Born
- c. 1225, Roccasecca, Kingdom of Sicily (Italy)
- Died
- 7 March 1274, Fossanova Abbey
- Canonization
- Canonized 18 July 1323 by Pope John XXII; declared Doctor of the Church by Saint Pius V in 1567.
- Religious order
- Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
- Country
- Italy
Biography
Noble birth and a family conflict
Thomas was born at Roccasecca, son of the count of Aquino. Sent as a boy to be educated at the Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino, he later studied at Naples, where he met the new Dominican friars. When he joined them around 1244 his family imprisoned him for about a year in an attempt to change his mind. He did not change it.
Studies and teaching
He studied under Saint Albert the Great at Paris and Cologne. Quiet and heavy-set, his classmates called him 'the dumb ox'; Albert answered that the bellowing of this ox would be heard throughout the world. Thomas taught at Paris, Orvieto, Rome and Naples, engaging the newly available works of Aristotle rather than fearing them.
The Summa and the silence
From 1265 he worked on the Summa Theologiae, a complete ordered exposition of Catholic doctrine. On 6 December 1273, after Mass, he stopped writing. Asked why, he said that compared with what he had seen, all he had written seemed 'like straw'. The Summa was left unfinished. He died on 7 March 1274 at Fossanova while travelling to the Second Council of Lyon.
Timeline
- ~c. 1225 — Born at Roccasecca
- c. 1244 — Joins the Dominicans; detained by his family
- 1245–1252 — Studies under Albert the Great
- 1256 — Master of theology at Paris
- 1264 — Composes the office and hymns of Corpus Christi
- 1265–1273 — Writes the Summa Theologiae
- 1274 — Dies at Fossanova, 7 March
- 1323 — Canonized by John XXII
Dates marked ~ are traditional or debated among historians.
Symbols
Sun or star on the breast — The light of truth and doctrine.
Ox — From the nickname 'dumb ox' given by fellow students.
Chalice and host — His Eucharistic theology and the hymns of Corpus Christi.
Virtues & spiritual lessons
Intellectual honesty, humility, patience with opponents, and prayer as the source of study. He teaches that truth is one, that grace perfects nature, and that the mind is a gift to be offered to God.
Importance in the Church
Thomas' synthesis of faith and reason shaped Catholic theology permanently. Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Aeterni Patris (1879) placed his thought at the heart of Catholic education, and the Second Vatican Council recommended him as a teacher of theology.
Quotes
“Grace does not destroy nature but perfects it.”
Summa Theologiae I, q.1, a.8, ad 2
“All that I have written seems like straw to me.”
Reported by his companion Reginald of Piperno, December 1273
Writings
Summa Theologiae (1265–1273) — His unfinished masterwork on God, creation, the moral life and Christ; still a standard reference in Catholic theology.
Summa contra Gentiles — A reasoned presentation of the faith for those who do not accept Scripture as authority.
Eucharistic hymns (Pange lingua, Adoro te devote, Lauda Sion) — Written for the feast of Corpus Christi at the request of Pope Urban IV in 1264 and still sung today.
Prayers
Adoro te devote (opening stanza)
Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore, masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more. See, Lord, at your service low lies here a heart, lost, all lost in wonder at the God you are.
Latin: Adoro te devote, latens Deitas, quae sub his figuris vere latitas: tibi se cor meum totum subicit, quia te contemplans totum deficit.
Eucharistic hymn traditionally attributed to Saint Thomas Aquinas; English version by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
Prayer of Saint Thomas before study
Ineffable Creator, true source of light and wisdom, pour forth a ray of your brightness into the darkness of my mind; take from me the double darkness in which I have been born, an obscurity of sin and ignorance. Grant me keenness of understanding, capacity to remember, and skill in learning. Amen.
Latin: Creator ineffabilis, qui de thesauris sapientiae tuae tres Angelorum hierarchias designasti...
Traditional prayer attributed to Saint Thomas; widely used in Catholic schools.
Places
Roccasecca, Italy — Birthplace in the Lazio region.
Fossanova Abbey — The Cistercian abbey where he died in 1274.
Church of the Jacobins, Toulouse — His relics were translated here in 1369 and remain there.
Scripture
John 1:1–14 — Central to his theology of the Word made flesh.
1 Corinthians 11:23–26 — Saint Paul on the Eucharist, foundation of his Corpus Christi office.
Entries are drawn from the Roman Martyrology, the General Roman Calendar, canonization records of the Holy See, and the saints' own writings. Where a date, quotation or attribution is uncertain, it is marked as such. (63 saints)