St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church

St. Thomas of Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church

St. Thomas of Aquinas, 1225-1274 A.D.: considered the preeminent spokesperson for the Catholic tradition of reason and divine revelation, and the only doctor of the Church whose theology was recognized as the Church's official theology in 1880 A.D.

Biographical sketch

St. Thomas was born at Rocca Secca near Aquino. He was the son of Count Landulph of Aquino, a relative of the Emperor Barbarossa of the Roman Empire, and a relative of the king of France. At five years old, his parents sent him for education to Monte Cassino (a monastery founded by St. Benedict) with the hopes he will be an abbot of that Benedictine monastery. In 1239 A.D., the Benedictines sent Thomas to the University of Naples to complete his education. However, he decided to join the Dominicans at Naples in 1244 A.D. at 19 years of age. The family of St. Thomas was in opposition to this, and they forced him to live in the family castle to dissuade him from joining the Dominicans. However, St. Thomas persisted in his decision. After further studies in Paris and Cologne with St. Albert the Great [a Dominican], he was ordained a Dominican in ca. 1250 A.D. Thomas continued his studies with the Dominicans and became a very good theologian - teaching and writing in Paris, Naples, Rome, Orvieto, Anagni, and Viterbo. It was during these years of his life, from 1259-1268 A.D., that St. Thomas wrote his well-known Summa Theologiae, ca. 1266 A.D., a work which explains the whole of all Catholic theology.

St. Thomas died in March 7, 1274 A.D. at the Cistercian monastery of Fossa Nuova. He was then canonized as a saint in 1323 A.D., and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius V in 1567 A.D. He is the patron saint of students, schools, colleges, and universities. In 1879 A.D., Pope Leo XIII commanded all clergy to study the works and writings of St. Thomas. Then, in 1923 A.D., Pope Piux XI reemphasized the preeminence of St. Thomas among all scholars.

Teaching and spirituality

Though St. Thomas of Aquinas may have been noted for his highly scholastic theology, and considered an intellectual giant of the Church, there is still a place where affectivity and the heart dwell in his spirituality and writing. We see this in his language, and in some of his most fundamental theological insights. For St. Thomas, knowledge is imperfect without love. And the Holy Spirit, who is Love, is the strongest source of affective human love in spiritual growth. It is the Spirit that perfects the image of God in humanity, and unites all existentially to the infinite Good.

St. Thomas also welcomes the affective life of emotions and passions as part of human spiritual growth. Faith in God would indeed be impossible without that affective guidance in the human will. For St. Thomas, this faith, and the growth in the love of God begets wisdom - a gift of the Spirit that produces an experiential knowledge of God surpassing all studied knowledge. And it is wisdom and the other gifts of the Holy Spirit, that guide all to live according to the law of the gospel. This gift of the Spirit helps all to recognize the Spirit as the source of life and unity of the Church.

St. Thomas of Aquinas further writes and teach that affectivity and the heart in spiritual life should be guided by the knowledge and wisdom associated with the Word. He is known for the quote: "the Word breathing forth Love" , translated in Latin as, Verbum spirans Amorem. And for St. Thomas, the Holy Spirit is the Love that is breathed forth by the Word. Therefore, the life and spirit of St. Thomas is a spirituality of the Word as well as a spirituality of the Holy Spirit of Love.

Excerpts from writings

St. Thomas of Aquinas wrote well-known tracts of teaching based on his theology and spirituality. Listed below are excerpts from his writings. You can learn about the teaching of St. Thomas of Aquinas through what he wrote about wisdom.

Uncreated Wisdom...unites herself to us first of all through the gift of charity, and as a result of this reveals mysteries to us, the knowledge of which is infused wisdom. Therefore, infused wisdom, which is a gift, is the effect rather than the cause of charity (Summa theologiae, 2-2.45.6 ad 2)

The study of wisdom is very sublime because through it we especially reach a likeness to God, who made all things in wisdom [Ps 103(104):24]. So, because love is caused by likeness, the study of wisdom especially joins us with God in friendship, which is why Wis 7:14 says that wisdom is an infinite treasure for human beings; those who use it become sharers in friendship with God (Summa contra Gentiles 1.2).

Edited from the following sources:

• Saints for Our Time, by Ed Ransom
• Doctors of the Church, by John F. Fink