Although St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae and Summa Contra Gentiles are considered even today to be among the most important works of theology of all time, it was St. Thomas Aquinas who said of them only one month before his own death that he had undergone an experience of God wherein he realized that everything he had written was as straw in comparison to the true majesty of God. He became the angelic doctor because of his unique understanding of literally hundreds of areas of theology but also because at that moment he gave up writing altogether until the day he died.
St. Thomas Aquinas, Relative of the Emperor and King of France
Born in a castle, the son of a count, St. Thomas Aquinas was born in power, prestige and privilege. When he was five years old, he was sent to receive his education at Monte Cassino Monastery as an oblate. It as at the University of Naples where he completed his education and joined the Dominicans in 1244. His family was very unhappy with his decision to become a religious.
The Family’s Attempt to Get St. Thomas Aquinas Back
In one of a series of efforts to get St. Thomas Aquinas out of the monastery, they sent a very beautiful young woman to him bringing food hoping to distract him from his vow of chastity. As the tale is told, St. Thomas would not even look at her and could not be distracted from the scriptures which held his eyes, but he did accept the food. It was known in his time that one of St. Thomas Aquinas’s weaknesses was actually a gluttonous desire for food.
St. Thomas Aquinas’s Relevance Today
St. Thomas Aquinas taught theology, but what is remembered most about his life is the great work of the Summa Theologica and the Summa Contra Gentiles which are still considered the basis of most modern Catholic Theology. They are brilliant works written in a manner which poses questions to the reader about the reality of the world around them and then gives both the opposing view and the reasons something must be believed. Then he takes all these things into consideration and derives a theological conclusion.
St. Thomas Aquinas the Mystic
Experiencing visions, ecstasies and revelations, he often experienced profound phenomena like this during the celebration of the Holy Mass. He was known for humility and holiness.
St. Thomas of Aquinas’s Written Works
Summa Theologiae, Summa Contra Gentiles, Commentary on the Canticle of Canticles, Against the Errors of the Greeks, Compendium of Theology,He wrote many hymns including O Salutaris, Tantum Ergo, Verbum Supernum, Pange Lingua, Sacris Solemniis, Lauda Sion, Adoro Te
Epistola de modo studendi, On Lots, Exposition of the Hail Mary, Aeterni Patris, De coelo et mundo –
The Twenty Third Doctor of the Catholic Church
The Twenty Fifth Doctor of the Catholic Church
Sources: The 33 Doctors of the Church – By Fr. Christopher Rengers, A Catholic Dictionary – By William Addis, The Writings of the Early Church Fathers (Thirty Eight Volumes): Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post Nicene – Hendrickson Publishers, Dictionary of Saints – By John J. Delaney, Encyclopedia of Heresies and Heretics – By Chas S. Clifton, A Scholastic Miscellany: Anselm to Ockham – Edited by Eugene R. Fairweather, A Short History of Christian Doctrine: From the First Century to the Present – By Bernhard Lohse
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