Saint Thomas Aquinas!

Thomas was the son of the Count of Aquino and was born in the family castle in Lombardy near Naples, Italy.    Thomas was one of nine children and was very intelligent, but he never boasted about it. He knew that his mind was a gift from God. His parents hoped that he would become a Benedictine abbot some day. Thomas was sent to the abbey for schooling when he was five and he was educated by the Benedictine monks there. When he was eighteen, he went to the University of Naples to finish his studies. There he met a new group of religious men called the Order of Preachers. Their founder, St. Dominic, was still living. Thomas knew he wanted to become a priest and felt that he was called to join these men. So he secretly joined the Dominican order in 1244. His parents were angry with him. When he was on his way to Paris to study, his brothers kidnapped him and kept him a prisoner in one of their castles for over a year. During that time, they did all they could to make him change his mind.

One of his sisters, too, came to convince him to give up his vocation. But Thomas spoke so beautifully about the joy of serving God that she changed her mind. She decided to give her life to God as a nun. After fifteen months, when Thomas’ mother realized she could not sway her son, she tried to preserve the family name by arranging for his escape through a window. She believed a secret escape was better than appearing to accept his decision. Thomas was finally allowed to openly follow his call to the priesthood.

St. Thomas wrote so well about God that people all over the world have used his books for hundreds of years. His explanations about God and the faith came from Thomas’ great love for God. He writings touched the hearts of people because he was not trying to impress anyone. He just wanted with all his heart to offer the gift of his life to Jesus and the Church. One day, Thomas was praying before the Crucifix in the early morning in the chapel of St Nicholas in Naples, Domenico da Caserta, the church sacristan, overheard a conversation. Thomas was anxiously asking whether what he had written on the mysteries of the Christian faith was correct. And the Crucified One answered him: “You have spoken well of me, Thomas. What is your reward to be?”. And the answer Thomas gave him was what we too, friends and disciples of Jesus, always want to tell him: “Nothing but Yourself, Lord!”

St. Thomas is one of the greatest Doctors of the Church and is considered the universal patron of universities, colleges, and schools. Around the end of 1273, Pope Gregory X asked Thomas to be part of an important Church meeting called the Council of Lyons. While traveling to the meeting, Thomas became ill. He had to stop at a monastery at Fossanova, Italy, where he died after receiving Last Rites. It was March 7, 1274. He was only forty-nine. His original feast day was March 7, the day of his death, but because the date often falls within Lent, in 1969, a revision of the Roman Calendar changed his feast day to January 28, the date his relics were moved to Toulouse.  St Thomas…pray for us!

Learn more about this holy Saint by watching this short story…