St. Thomas Aquinas
Died: 1274
St. Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor of the Church, patron of all universities and of students. His feast day is January 28th. He was born toward the end of the year 1226. He was the son of Landulph, Count of Aquino, who, when St. Thomas was five years old, placed him under the care of the Benedictines of Monte Casino. His teachers were surprised at the progress he made, for he surpassed all his fellow pupils in learning as well as in the practice of virtue.
When he became of age to choose his state of life, St. Thomas renounced the things of this world and resolved to enter the Order of St. Dominic in spite of the opposition of his family. In 1243, at the age of seventeen, he joined the Dominicans of Naples. Some members of his family resorted to all manner of means over a two year period to break his constancy. They even went so far as to send an impure woman to tempt him. But all their efforts were in vain and St. Thomas persevered in his vocation. As a reward for his fidelity, God conferred upon him the gift of perfect chastity, which has merited for him the title of the "Angelic Doctor".
After making his profession at Naples, he studied at Cologne under the celebrated St. Albert the Great. Here he was nicknamed the "dumb ox" because of his silent ways and huge size, but he was really a brilliant student. At the age of twenty-two, he was appointed to teach in the same city. At the same time, he also began to publish his first works. After four years he was sent to Paris. The saint was then a priest. At the age of thirty-one, he received his doctorate.
At Paris he was honored with the friendship of the King, St. Louis, with whom he frequently dined. In 1261, Urban IV called him to Rome where he was appointed to teach, but he positively declined to accept any ecclesiastical dignity. St. Thomas not only wrote (his writings filled twenty hefty tomes characterized by brilliance of thought and lucidity of language), but he preached often and with greatest fruit. Clement IV offered him the archbishopric of Naples which he also refused. He left the great monument of his learning, the "Summa Theologica", unfinished, for on his way to the second Council of Lyons, ordered there by Gregory X, he fell sick and died at the Cistercian monastery of Fossa Nuova in 1274.
St. Thomas was one of the greatest and most influential theologians of all time. He was canonized in 1323 and declared Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius V.
Previous Saint
< St. Thomas Becket
Next Saint
Bl. Thomas Alfield >
Rate This Saint
1 - 20 of 98 Comments
Leave a Comment
Previous Saint
< St. Thomas Becket
Next Saint
Bl. Thomas Alfield >
Find Saints
Catholic Online offers the largest searchable database of Catholic Saints on the internet.
| Browse Saints by Alphabet |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| Patron Saints by Alphabet |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Videos
St. Francis of Assisi 78,771 views View Video
Padre Pio 47,229 views View Video
Black Saints Vol I 30,488 views View Video
Black Saints Vol II 27,055 views View Video
Most Popular
There's the problem! Americans are out of touch with scientific consensus on climate change Read More
Editorial: Is the Scandal Ridden Obama Administration Becoming a House of Cards? Read More
Sex In Uniform: Why the Increase in Sexual Assaults in the Military? Read More
Bill Donohue, Catholic League, Disclose Fight with the IRS, Demonstrate Courage Read More
Culture of Corruption: Why Obama's misuse of Marines is wrong Read More
Daily Readings
Reading 1, Sirach 4:11-19
Wisdom brings up her own children and cares for those who seek ... Read More
Psalm, Psalms 119:165, 168, 171, 172, 174, 175
Great peace for those who love your Law; no stumbling-blocks ... Read More
Gospel, Mark 9:38-40
John said to him, 'Master, we saw someone who is not one of us ... Read More
Saint of the Day
St. Rita
May 22: St. Rita was born at Spoleto, Italy in 1381. At an early age, ... Read More
Latest Videos
Human Respect - 2 Pillars #33 View Video
Catholic Mass from the Church of Ste. Genevieve (5/19/13) View Video
'Salve Virginale'- Gregorian Chant;'Fontgombault Abbey' HD View Video
'Salve Virginale'- Gregorian Chant;'Fontgombault Abbey' HD View Video
'Beata viscera Mariae'- Byrd-polyphony (HD) View Video
Marketplace
The Fulfillment of All Desire
Honorable Mention from the Catholic Press Association
Ralph Martin, ... Read More
St. Thomas Aquinas, please increase my strongest faith in God - just like you did to God...I want to know deeper in understanding of your strong union only to Church/God/Eurchirst
for I myself is fully Deaf ....I need to know fully why we are here for? but me being as Deaf
and its more harder because Hearing no pay attention toward Deaf and I still mulling myself
why i am here for? I have few books about him and i fell in love with his writings and is try my
best to study with understanding of what he meant in his writings...so please Dear God and
Thomas Aquinas to help me to grow deeper in love toward you with my continue patience of
my frustrates inside me between this worldly and church....so pray for me and my strength to
stand up with great understanding what is going on here and church...despite of my deafness
no one able to able to explain me much...No wonder no one interesting to help any Deaf
person to stay carry on toward church or anything that union to that church........
St. Thomas Aquinas pray for me and my family inorder to receive God's blessings in the year 2013 and protect us from all evils.
st. thomas aquinas,
please pray for my son, who is working so hard tonight and has so much more work ahead of him. please pray him and his brother too that they study well and see good results.
St Thomas Aquinas, please pary for me as I am sitting exams and need your prays.
St. Thomas Acquinas, Your love of purity and chastity embellished your great learning. Please do pray for me to lead a virtuous life.
Dear saint,
Pray for me to practise chastity at any cost. Teach me to have the strong faith that you had on Christ. Enable me to reach God through faith complemented by reason. Amen.
St. Thomas Aquinas, pray fo rme as I finish my studies
St.Thomas Aquinas great saint i belive in you and in all the great saint
please pray for me and my family i have great faith in you
God Bless us all
Amen
28th jan 2013:st thomas aquinas pray for us!
happy feast day St. Thomas Aquinas. please help me and my mom to have discipline in eating. please intercede to the Most Holy Trinity to heal our hearts as well. And help me to correlate science and religion in the practice of medicine. please help me pass my medicine exams. thank you
St. Thomas Aquinas,
I humbly ask you to pray for me. I just took my NCLEX-PN exam this Monday, December 17,2012 at 8am. I don't know my results yet but I ask you to intercede for me so I can pass. I know that You, St. Joseph of Cupertino, my God, Jesus, and the blessed Virgin Mary were all there with me. Thank you for allowing me to keep calm and free from anxiety and fear. When I pass I promise to make you known and cause you to be invoked. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
St. Thomas, please pray for my son who is having some struggles in Vet School. Please give him the strength and perseverance to do well on the remainder of his exams and to finish this semester strong!
I am translating part of his Summa Theologica from Latin to English this year in school! St. Thomas, pray for me!
Please pray for my son Raymond who is taking up nursing bachelor degree and being a cadet simultaneously at university. Please give him strength, confidence and assertiveness. Please help him to get along with his professors, administrators, fellow cadets and his cadet superiors. Please help him to stay focused on his studies. Please help him find the strength to remain positive in light of the difficult time he is having with his nursing classes and being a cadet. Please pray for my son to pass all of this exams/quizzes and writing research paper with flying colors. He has to maintain his 3.7 gpa to maintaing his scholarship. My dad just passed away and my dad is paying a visit to see him. My dad has not seen since he was five years old. Please pray for my son not to be scared and my dad is showing that how proud he is toward my son. Please tell him that his grandfather loves him so much.
st.thomas is the a great seat
St. Thomas Aquinas, Thank you for being there for me.Please help me pass my examination. Thank you
Saint please pray for myself and family to loose weight and get healthy. My husband does not need to loose weight please pray for his diabetes and heart problems.
I love you.
St. Thomas of Aquinas, we ask, we seek and we knock for your intercession for our son's, Bill Anthony P. Gonzales, who will take his Nursing Board Examination this coming June 30 and July 1, 2012 Nursing Board Examination... We humbly ask you to pray for his success in his examination. All this we ask through our Lord Jesus Christ Most Holy name, amen!
Thank you St. Thomas.
Please St. Thomas pray for Anthony. Pray in the name of Jesus, that he's delivered from any strongholds that are keeping him from accepting and coming to Christ. I pray that he's delivered from adultery, sexual sin, idolatry. May God bless him and fill him with the holy spirit Amen.
St. Thomas Aquinas, please pray for my children's education and that they will not be diverted away from the one, true, Cathoilic and apostolic church as they mingle with more friends, with a lot of diversity in their beliefs. Let them evangelize their friends instead of being influenced by their friends. Thank you.