750th Anniversary of the Death of St. Thomas Aquinas

I almost let this day pass by without commemorating the 750^th anniversary of the death of St. Thomas Aquinas. I have a special love for St. Thomas, not only because I love all things Dominican and St. Thomas is probably the most famous of the Dominican friars.  But he comes from a town roughly an hour and half north of my family’s home town in Italy.  And he taught at the University of Naples for a time which is the main city of my region.  I won’t say I feel related but he feels like a paisan. 

One could write for hours on the achievements of St. Thomas Aquinas, so I’ll just refer you to his Wikipedia entry.  He is the preeminent theologian of the Catholic Church and a Doctor of the Church.  He is commonly referred to as the “Angelic Doctor.”  A procession of his relic was held in his honor at the Italian town of Priverno, less than 50 miles from his birthplace.  From the Catholic News Agency: 

 

On the eve of the 750th anniversary of St. Thomas Aquinas’ death, a skull revered as a relic of St. Thomas Aquinas was carried in a solemn procession through the cobblestone streets of the southern Italian town of Priverno.

 

Bishop Mariano Crociata led the procession to honor the medieval philosopher and theologian widely considered one of the greatest thinkers in Western civilization who died in the nearby Fossanova Abbey on March 7, 1274.

I find that somewhat remarkable, that a man who had travel all over Europe and had made many a college town his home would die so close to his home town.  He also died at the age of only 48, which was not unusual but his written output for a man of that age is stunning.

The article also recites the famous anecdote of how Thomas stopped writing.

 

Three months before he died, Aquinas experienced an intense revelation while offering Mass when he was nearly finished with his most significant work, the “Summa Theologiae” or “Summary of Theology.” After experiencing this revelation, Aquinas told his friend and secretary Brother Reginald of Priverno: “The end of my labors has come. All that I have written appears to be as so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me,” and he never wrote again.

Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of the Thomistic Institute provides a succinct biographical video.

 

 

Vatican News also put out an article of the anniversary where Pope Francis points out what I think is St. Thomas’s most important insight.

 

Pope Francis sent a message to the academics participating in the conference to mark the 750th anniversary.

 

“The Angelic Doctor was profoundly convinced that since God is the truth and the light that illumines all understanding, there can be no ultimate contradiction between revealed truth and the truths discovered by reason,” the pope wrote.

 

“Central to his understanding of the relationship of faith and reason was his conviction of the power of God’s gift of grace to heal human nature weakened by sin and to elevate the mind through participation in God’s own knowledge and love, and thereby to enable us to understand and correctly order our lives as individuals and in society.”

 

“Here, Thomas points out, we see the heart of the Christian life as an act of priestly worship aimed at the glorification of God and the sanctification of our world,” he added.

To sum up, Aquinas points out that there cannot be a difference between scientific (or natural) truth and Biblical and Spiritual truths.  There cannot be a distinction between physical truth and truths of faith, and it is up to the theologian to harmonize what might appear to a contradiction.

EWTN News Nightly had a segment on the anniversary.

 

Bishop Robert Barron is a long admirer of St. Thomas.  Here he is from quite a few years ago, before he was made a bishop I think, speaking on his love of Thomas and why Thomas was so important.

 

In this Jubilee year of Thomas’ death (750^th anniversary) and of his canonization (700^th anniversary) Pope Frances has granted a plenary indulgence by visiting “any church, shrine, or chapel currently entrusted to the Dominican Order.”  The detailed requirements can be found here.    

Finally, I want to conclude with St. Thomas Aquinas’s final words from his deathbed after having taken last rights.

 

“I receive you, price of my soul’s redemption. I receive you, viaticum of my pilgrimage, for love of whom I have studied, watched and labored. I have preached you. I have taught you. Never have I said anything against you, and if I have done so, it is through ignorance, and I am not stubborn in my error. If I have taught wrongly concerning this sacrament or the others, I submit it to the judgment of the Holy Roman Church, in obedience to which I now leave this life.”

His humble submission to God and the Church is something we all need to model and uphold. 

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.