St. Thomas Aquinas spent most of his childhood in the Benedictine monastery, where his parents placed him as a prospective monk when he was about five years old. His people were distinguished in the service of Emperor Frederick II during the civil strife in southern Italy between the papal and imperial forces. Thomas had eight siblings, and was the youngest kid. His mom, Theodora, was countess. In Wisdom 8:19, St. Thomas Aquinas is described as “a witty kid” who “had received a great soul.” the quizzical youthful lad repeatedly presented the question, “What’s God?” to his benefactors. St. Thomas Aquinas stayed at the monastery until he was 13 years old, when the political climate induced him to return to Naples.
Nine years later he entered the University of Naples, becoming acquainted there with the Dominican order, which he joined when he was about 20. When his family found out, they felt so betrayed that he’d turned his back on the principles to which they subscribed which they chose to kidnap him. His parents had him abducted on the road to Paris, where his shrewd superiors had immediately assigned him so that he would be out of the reach of his family but also so that he could pursue his studies in the most prestigious and turbulent university of the time. Thomas’s family held him prisoner for a whole year, imprisoned in the fort of San Giovanni. In this period, they tried to deprogram Thomas of his new beliefs. Thomas held fast to the thoughts he’d learned at university, nevertheless, and went back to the Dominican order following his release in 1245.
St. Thomas Aquinas was the greatest of the Scholastic philosophers. A prolific writer, St. Thomas Aquinas written close to 60 known works ranging in length from short to tome-like. His best-known works, all written in Latin, included the theological treatises Summa contra gentiles (c. 1258–64) and Summa theologiae (1265/66–73, left incomplete at his death); commentaries on Aristotle’s De anima (On the Soul) and Nichomachean Ethics; and philosophical works such as De ente et essentia (before 1256; Being and Essence), these influenced Roman Catholic doctrine for centuries and was adopted as the official philosophy of the church in 1917. Thomism later became an important school of thought even within secular philosophy.
‘We do not pry to change divine decrees but only to obtain what god has decided will be obtained through prayer’- summa theologiae
He was ordained in Cologne, Germany, in 1250, and went to teach theology in the University of Paris. Beneath the tutelage of St. Albert, the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas later earned his doctorate in theology. After finishing his schooling, St. Thomas Aquinas committed himself to a life of traveling, writing, teaching, public speaking and preaching. Spiritual associations and universities equally yearned to reap the benefits of the wisdom of “The Christian Apostle.”
On the way, he fell ill in the Cistercian monastery of Fossanova, Italy. The monks needed St. Thomas Aquinas to stay at the citadel, but, feeling that his departure was close, Thomas preferred to remain at the monastery, saying, “If the Lord wants to take me away, it’s better that I be discovered in a spiritual house than in the home of a layperson.” On his deathbed, St. Thomas Aquinas voiced his last words to the Cistercian monks who’d so graciously attended him: “This is my rest forever and ever: Here will I live for I have selected it.” (Psalm 131:14) Frequently called “The Universal Teacher,” St. Thomas Aquinas expired at the monastery of on March 7, 1274. He was canonized by Pope John XXII in 1323, officially named doctor of the church in 1567, and proclaimed the protagonist of orthodoxy during the modernist crisis at the end of the 19th century.
REFLECTION
We can look to St. Thomas Aquinas as a towering example of Catholicism in the sense of broadness, universality and inclusiveness. We should be determined a new to exercise the divine gift of reason in us, our power to know, learn and understand. At the same time, we should thank God for the gifts of his revelation, especially in Jesus Christ
St Thomas Aquinas is the patron saint of catholic schools, colleges, schools, students
St Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.