St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church
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| St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church |
Thomas Aquinas,
O.P. also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the
Roman Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian
in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus ([the] Angelic
Doctor), Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis.[1] "Aquinas" is not
a surname, but is a Latin demonym for a resident of Aquino, his place of birth.
He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of
Thomism. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern
philosophy was conceived in development or refutation of his ideas,
particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political
theory.
Thomas
is held in the Catholic Church to be the model teacher for those studying for
the priesthood.[2] The works for which he is best-known are the Summa
Theologica and the Summa Contra Gentiles. As one of the 33 Doctors of the Church,
he is considered the Church's greatest theologian and philosopher. Pope
Benedict XV declared: "This (Dominican) Order ... acquired new luster when
the Church declared the teaching of Thomas to be her own and that Doctor,
honored with the special praises of the Pontiffs, the master and patron of
Catholic schools."
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 the
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 thirty-one, he received his
doctorate.
At Paris he was
honored with the friendship of the King, St. Louis, 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 tomes characterized by brilliance
of thought and lucidity of 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.
Priest and doctor of the Church,
patron of all universities and of students. His feast day is January 28th.
Excerpts from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas
And
Catholic Onine - http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2530
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