Saint Thomas Aquinas
Feast day: January 28
Saint Thomas Aquinas, Dominican priest, Doctor of the Church, great theologian of the Eucharist (28/01).
Who is he?
Saint Thomas Aquinas was an Italian Dominican priest who lived in the 13th century. He is one of the greatest theologians of the Church, has been declared a Doctor of the Church, and is the patron saint of Catholic schools and of students.
Life story
Thomas was born around 1225 at the castle of Roccasecca, near Aquino, Italy, into a noble family. His family wanted him to become the abbot of a large, important monastery. But around 1243–1244, he asked to join the Dominicans, a new order whose members lived poor and went about preaching. His family was furious; his brothers captured him and kept him at home for more than a year. He held firm, used that time to pray and read, and in the end was able to return to the order.
He studied under Albert the Great in Cologne, Germany. Thomas was big and quiet, so the other students nicknamed him “the dumb ox.” Master Albert told them that one day the bellowing of this “ox” would be heard all over the world.
And so it was: he became a famous professor in Paris and many other places. He wrote a great many books explaining the faith clearly, the most famous being the “Summa Theologiae.” Even though he was so intelligent, he always prayed before studying, and when he came to something difficult, he went before the Eucharist to ask God for light. He also wrote the hymns for the feast of Corpus Christi, which many churches still sing during Eucharistic adoration.
Near the end of his life, after a Mass in 1273, he stopped writing. He said that compared with what God had shown him, everything he had written was like straw. He was not rejecting study, but humbly recognizing that God is greater than any words people can write. He died on 7 March 1274 at the abbey of Fossanova, Italy, while on his way to the Council of Lyon. He was canonized in 1323.
Why is he a saint?
Saint Thomas used the intelligence God gave him to serve God and to help everyone understand the faith. He was brilliant yet humble and gentle, and he loved the Eucharist with all his heart. For him, study and prayer always went together.
A lesson for you
- Before you study or take a test, say a short prayer asking God for light.
- Don’t laugh at a classmate who is quiet or slow to understand: God may have given them precious gifts you haven’t seen yet.
- During Eucharistic adoration, sing the hymns to the Eucharist with real devotion.
Identifying marks
- A bright sun on his chest: the light of the wisdom God gave him, which he used to light up the faith for everyone.
- A big book: he wrote a great many books about God, the most famous being the “Summa Theologiae.”
- A quill pen: the sign of a Doctor of the Church, who taught the faith through his writing.
- A white habit and a black cloak: the habit of the Dominicans (the Order of Preachers).
- A monstrance or a chalice (*): he wrote hymns in honor of the Eucharist.
(*) Only in some pictures and statues.
The text on this page is the saint card in the Catholic Information app, word for word.
Collect this card and read more about the saints in the app