St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Feast
He was born at the castle of Roccasecca in Italy in 1225. From his youth he chose the Order of Preachers at Naples in 1244, against the wishes of his family.
He went to the principal centers of study of that time — Cologne, Paris, Rome and Naples — and shone greatly by the innocence of his life and by his remarkable fidelity to regular observance.
The work proper to the Order, that is, the ministry of the Word of God in voluntary poverty, took in him the form of long theological labor: carefully seeking the truth, lovingly contemplating it and handing it on to others. He therefore devoted all his strength to the service of truth, eager to attain it, welcoming it from whatever source it came and burning with the desire to share it with others.
Distinguished by humility and a deeply humane manner of life, he was an outstanding master of sacred doctrine and a gracious preacher of evangelical truth. He handed on many writings filled with divine and human wisdom, which beautifully show the close harmony between divine revelation and the discoveries of human reason.
Most devoted to Christ the Savior, especially in the Passion of the Cross and in the mystery of the Eucharist — which he exalted in his liturgical compositions — he also burned with filial devotion toward Mary, the Virgin Mother of God.
He died at Fossanova on March 7, 1274, while traveling to the Council of Lyon. John XXII numbered him among the saints on July 18, 1323. St. Pius V declared him the fifth Doctor of the Latin Church on April 11, 1567. Leo XIII proclaimed him patron of all Catholic universities and schools on Aug. 4, 1880.
Taking into account the reasons of the restored liturgy, his feast is celebrated today, the day on which the translation of his body to Toulouse is commemorated.
Proprium Officiorum Ordinis Praedicatorum ad Normam Decretorum Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II Instauratum Vincentii Couesnongle iussu editum, Editio typica, Sanctae Sabinae, Romae 1982.
