Catholic ‘giant’

Leading schools in the Diocese of Baton Rouge and the nation into Catholic Schools Week on Jan. 29 – Feb. 4 is St. Thomas Aquinas, the “intellectual and prayerful “giant” of the Catholic Church, whose feast day is Jan. 28.

Born into a Catholic family in 1225 in Aquino, Italy, St. Thomas, who St. Thomas Aquinas Regional High School is named after, was the youngest of four sons. He also had several sisters. The saint was always afraid of storms during his life because his youngest sister was killed by lighting one night while he was sleeping in the same room. He would often ride out storms by sitting in a church.

Since he was the youngest son, his family expected him to enter the monastery. At five years old he was educated at Monte Cassino Monastery, where the abbot was a family relative.

When St. Thomas was 15 years old, he went to the University of Naples and met the Order of Preachers and joined the community at 19 years old.

This upset the family plans of him one day becoming abbot of Monte Cassino, not joining a community of poverty. They kidnapped him and confined him at home for two years, trying to get him to change his mind.

His brothers even came up with a plan to bring in a prostitute to entice him to sin and forsake his vocation. Far from giving in, St. Thomas picked up a flaming piece of wood and chased her out. They never convinced him to leave the Dominicans and he learned the Bible by heart.

Seeing he would not be moved, St. Thomas’ family gave him permission to join the order and he completed his studies under St. Albert the Great and was ordained a priest at the University of Cologne.

St. Thomas was humble and so quiet that his peers, who preferred lively discussions, called him “dumb ox” because he was large.

His intelligence shining through, his teacher admonished the peers by saying “We call Brother Thomas ‘the dumb ox’ but I tell you that he will make his lowing heard to the ends of the earth.”

St. Thomas’ piety and devotion were even greater as he spent hours in prayer and would be moved to tears when celebrating Mass.

He had many large bodies of writings, including commentaries on Scriptures and was held in esteem by universities, theologians and nobilities.

One of his greatest intellectual legacies was the way in which he used the thinking of Aristotle to explain God’s revelation and church teaching. The church uses the theological system today.

However, there came a day when the St. Thomas’ pen ran dry and he was left with little more to say.

When he was recalled to the University of Naples for studies, St. Thomas had a vision of
Jesus one day during Mass on the feast of St. Nicolas so strong that he left his great work, the “Summa Theologiae,” unfinished. “The end of my labors have come,” he said. “All that I have written appears to be as so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me.” He died at the age of 50. He was canonized in 1323 and declared a doctor of the church in 1567. He is the patron saint of Catholic schools and universities and students.  Catholic Schools, especially those abbreviated STA, relish the upcoming celebration of Catholic Schools Week!