Before Thomas Aquinas was born, a holy hermit prophesied to his mother: "He will enter the order of Friars Preachers and so great will be his learning and sanctity that none will be found to equal him."
Thomas Aquinas was born of a noble family in Roccasecca, near Aquino, Italy in 1225.
Thomas Aquinas was born of a noble family in Roccasecca, near Aquino, Italy in 1225.
 |
| A 15th century altarpiece in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, by Carlo Crivell |
Thomas was educated at the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino and at the University of Naples. Diligent in study, he was often heard to ask such profound questions as "what is God?"
As a teenager Thomas had decided to enter the Dominican order. His mother and father determined that it was an improper way for an upper class member of an Italian family to behave, and opposed their son
He joined the Dominican order while still an undergraduate in 1243, the year of his father’s death. His mother, still opposed to Thomas’s affiliation with a mendicant order confined her son to the San Giovanni Castle at Rio Secca for a year in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade him to abandon his chosen cause. Eventually Thomas was released and was lowered in a basket into the arms of the Dominicans. Other attempts to dissuade him included the temptations of a prostitute and an offer of the post of the Archbishop of Naples.
In 1245 Thomas was sent to study at the Faculty of the Arts at the University of Paris, where he met Dominican scholar Albertus Magnus
The ponderous Thomas made a poor impression among his fellow students who nicknamed him, "The Dumb Ox", due to his lofty bulk and slowness. However, Albertus Magnus is said to have predicted that "this ox will one day fill the world with his bellowing."
Aquinas was ordained a priest about 1250, and he began to teach at the University of Paris in 1252.
As a teenager Thomas had decided to enter the Dominican order. His mother and father determined that it was an improper way for an upper class member of an Italian family to behave, and opposed their son
He joined the Dominican order while still an undergraduate in 1243, the year of his father’s death. His mother, still opposed to Thomas’s affiliation with a mendicant order confined her son to the San Giovanni Castle at Rio Secca for a year in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade him to abandon his chosen cause. Eventually Thomas was released and was lowered in a basket into the arms of the Dominicans. Other attempts to dissuade him included the temptations of a prostitute and an offer of the post of the Archbishop of Naples.
In 1245 Thomas was sent to study at the Faculty of the Arts at the University of Paris, where he met Dominican scholar Albertus Magnus
The ponderous Thomas made a poor impression among his fellow students who nicknamed him, "The Dumb Ox", due to his lofty bulk and slowness. However, Albertus Magnus is said to have predicted that "this ox will one day fill the world with his bellowing."
Aquinas was ordained a priest about 1250, and he began to teach at the University of Paris in 1252.
While he was teaching in Paris, he was given a barrel of fish a week by King Louis IX.
His first writings, primarily summaries and amplifications of his lectures, appeared two years later. Aquinas' first major work was Scriptum super libros Sententiarum (Writings on the Books of the Sentences, 1256), which consisted of commentaries on an influential work concerning the sacraments of the church by the Italian theologian Peter Lombard.
In 1256 Aquinas was awarded a doctorate in theology and appointed professor of philosophy at the University of Paris. He became one of the great teachers of his age and attracted many students.
Pope Alexander IV summoned Aquinas to Rome in 1259, where he acted as adviser and lecturer to the papal court. He returned to Paris in 1268,
In 1272 Aquinas was appointed Professor of Theology in Naples. After a year he was forced to retire due to ill-health.
Thomas was heavy but well proportioned with a slightly large head, bearded, receding hairline. His complexion was was apparently "like the color of new wheat."
He was a man of humility and a gentle disposition, with a phenomenal retentive memory, powers of concentration and intellect.
His first writings, primarily summaries and amplifications of his lectures, appeared two years later. Aquinas' first major work was Scriptum super libros Sententiarum (Writings on the Books of the Sentences, 1256), which consisted of commentaries on an influential work concerning the sacraments of the church by the Italian theologian Peter Lombard.
In 1256 Aquinas was awarded a doctorate in theology and appointed professor of philosophy at the University of Paris. He became one of the great teachers of his age and attracted many students.
Pope Alexander IV summoned Aquinas to Rome in 1259, where he acted as adviser and lecturer to the papal court. He returned to Paris in 1268,
In 1272 Aquinas was appointed Professor of Theology in Naples. After a year he was forced to retire due to ill-health.
Thomas was heavy but well proportioned with a slightly large head, bearded, receding hairline. His complexion was was apparently "like the color of new wheat."
He was a man of humility and a gentle disposition, with a phenomenal retentive memory, powers of concentration and intellect.
Aquinas taught that interest charged on loans for business purposes were allowable as the money would be used to produce new wealth. However it would be sinful to charge interest on loans for the purchase of consumer goods.
Furthermore. he was the first person to teach that an individual's wage should be enough to enable the recipient to live in a manner subject to his social position.
Furthermore. he was the first person to teach that an individual's wage should be enough to enable the recipient to live in a manner subject to his social position.
An early chemist, Aquinas made several discoveries using chemical techniques. After many centuries of declining interest in scientific knowledge, Thomas helped restore confidence in experience. He argued that a good Christian should be allowed to reason and experiment
About 80 literary works are ascribed to him. At first, Aquinas wrote his works with his own hand. His writing suggests someone left-handed, writing in great haste in the Latin shorthand of the time.
Thomas's hand has been dubbed the 'litera inintelligibilis,' unreadable writing. With time he was assigned secretaries to take dictation. In his later years, he was dictating to several different scribes on several different subjects at the same time.
Thomas's hand has been dubbed the 'litera inintelligibilis,' unreadable writing. With time he was assigned secretaries to take dictation. In his later years, he was dictating to several different scribes on several different subjects at the same time.
 |
| Detail from "Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas over Averroes" by Benozzo Gozzoli (1420–97) |
Aquinas' epic, unfinished work Summa Theological (1265-1273), strove to account for all phenomena logically. Basically a compendium of all human knowledge in relation to religion, written for novices, it is still accepted as the final authoritative exposition of the Catholic doctrine.
Thomas Aquinas experienced a heavenly vision while saying Mass at the Dominican priory in Naples on December 6, 1273, During the consecration of the bread and wine, Aquinas reportedly became overwhelmed by a transcendent experience and fell silent, unable to continue the Mass.
Thomas Aquinas experienced a heavenly vision while saying Mass at the Dominican priory in Naples on December 6, 1273, During the consecration of the bread and wine, Aquinas reportedly became overwhelmed by a transcendent experience and fell silent, unable to continue the Mass.
Aquinas was so moved by the experience that he abandoned his work on the Summa Theological, which he had been composing for several years. Urged to take up his pen again, he replied, "Such things have been revealed to me that all that I have written seems to me as so much straw. Now I await the end of my life."
Looking to find a way to reunite the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Gregory X convened the Second Council of Lyon and summoned Thomas to attend. On his way to the Council, riding on a donkey along the Appian Way, he struck his head on the branch of a fallen tree and became seriously ill. The monks at the Cistercian Fossanova Abbey nursed Thomas for several days, but he died on March 7, 1274 while giving commentary on the Song of Songs.
His remains were placed in the Church of the Jacobins in Toulouse, the mother church of the Dominican order. on January 28, 1369.
 |
| The reliquary of Thomas Aquinas By Didier Descouens |
No comments:
Post a Comment