 |
|
|
Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Chuch
 Thomas Aquinas (Ca.1225-74), a Dominican friar and a Doctor of the Church, also known as the "Angelic Doctor", is one of the greatest and most influential theologians in the entire history of the church. Born at castle of Rocca Secca near the small town of Aquino, Thomas was educated at the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino and at the university of Naples, where he first became acquainted with the writings of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (D322 B.C) and the Islamic philosopher Averroës of Cordoba (d 1198). He entered the Order of Preachers in 124 over the strong opposition of his family. His brothers were sent to kidnap him; they held him in a castle for a year, and then tried to seduce him away from his vocation by sending in a courtesan to tempt him. Upon remaining his freedom, he went to Paris the following year for further studies, and then to Cologne, where he studied under Albertus Magnus (also Albert the Great) (November 15) from 1248 until 1252, during which period he was ordained a priest. Albert is said to have predicted that one day "the lowing of his dumb ox" (so called because of Thomas's large size and taciturn manner) "would be heard all over the world".
Thomas returned to Paris for further studies and some teaching and writing. From 1259 to 1268 he was in Naples and then at Orvieto, Viterbo, and Rome, teaching his fellow Dominicans. It was in Rome that he began writing his most famous work, the Summa Theologiae (Synthesis of Theology). He was back in Paris 1268-72, where he continued his scripture commentaries and completed a large part of the Summa. From 1272 to 1274 he was back in Italy, teaching Scripture and theology at the New University of Naples, where he completed the third part of the Summa. On the feast of St. Nicholas, December 6, 1273, he suddenly stopped all of his work. Whether this was due to a recognition of the limitations of his work (captured in the famous statement attributed to Aquinas: "All I have written seems to me like straw compared with what I have seen and what has been revealed to me") or whether it was related to a medical condition from which he died a few months later cannot be known. Invited to the second council of Lyons in 1274, he decided to visit his sisters and relatives en route, between Naples and Rome. He became acutely debilitated when he reached them, perhaps as the result of a major stroke, and asked to be taken to the Cistercian monastery at Fossanova, where he died on March 7, 1274.
Thomas's deep immersion in Sacred Scripture fostered his desire as a Dominican to lead a life in complete fidelity to the gospel and to cherish the guidance of the great Fathers of the Church, especially Augustine (August 28) and Gregory the Great (September 3), but also those of the East. His entire ministry as a teacher and preacher was a matter of giving to others what he had himself contemplated, which was for him the highest of all activities when done out of charity (Summa Theologiae 2-2.188.6). It was this same openness and generosity of mind and heart that inspired him, against the works of any authors - whether Christian, Jewish, or pagan - who might lead him to the truth. Like his mentor Albertus Magnus, Thomas saw no opposition between nature and grace or between reason and revelation. In spite of Thomas's great intellectual acumen, he was universally admired for his modesty and humility and for his prayer life and spiritual insights. He once wrote: "the Ultimate human knowledge of God is to know we do not know God, and that insofar as we know, what God is transcends all that we understand of God".
In spite of Thomas's apparent sanctity and extraordinary breadth and depth of learning, his writings did not escape of critical gaze of ecclesiastical authority. Stephen Tempier, the Bishop of Paris, who was also chancellor of the University of Paris, established a commission to examine his works. On the third anniversary of Thomas's death, the bishop condemned twenty-one theses attributed to Thomas's thought. Even the Dominicans archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Kilwardby, followed suit. These condemnation assured the dominance of the neo-Augustinianism of Bonaventure (July 15) during the next fifty years, although a Thomist school developed among the Dominicans.
Thomas was canonized in 1323, less than fifty year after his death, by John XXII, a pope who evidently understood and appreciated Thomas's theological writings. These were many marginal notes, in the pope's own hand, in his various copies of Thomas's works. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1567. Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical Aeterni Patris (1879), commended Thomas's thought to all students Doctor's works. The following year Thomas was named patron saint of Catholic Universities. He is also patron saint of students and booksellers, among others. His feast day was originally March7, the day of his death, but was moved to January 28 in the 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar. It is also celebrated by the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in the USA.
|
|
