SCL9

CASTRO, Pauline Kisha A. August 16, 2017

4A3 Mr. Jose Carlos
Life of St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas was born in a hilltop castle in

Roccasecca in central Italy in 1225. Thomas parents probably
had great political plans for him, envisioning that one day he
would become abbot of Monte Cassino. Thomas attended the
University of Naples where he read in translation the newly
discovered writings of Aristotle. He then decided to join the Friars
Preachers, or Dominicans, which his family strongly opposed to
which led to his mother sending his brothers to bring him and was
placed under house arrest. Eventually, Thomas mother relented
and he returned to the Dominicans in the fall of 1245 and in the
autumn of 1245 went to Paris to the convent of Saint-Jacques
where he studied under St. Albertus Magnus, whose interest in
Aristotle strengthened Thomas's own interest. He returned to
Paris, completed his studies, became a Master and for three years and occupied one of the
Dominican chairs in the Faculty of Theology. The next ten years were spent in various places in
Italy, with the mobile papal court, at various Dominican houses, and eventually in Rome. In 1274,
on his way to the Council of Lyon, he fell ill and died in the Cistercian abbey at Fossanova, which
is near Roccasecca.

The writings of Saint Thomas cover almost every conceivable topic in more than fifty
works. He is best known for his Summa Theologiae that explores all aspects of creation including
the role of God, angels, and human beings. His writings continued until he had a mystical
experience at the end of his life that made him think that all he had done as "mere straw." At the
time of his death in 1274, he was under suspicion by some Church authorities and in 1277 a
commission appointed by the Bishop of Paris condemned some of his views. The condemnation
was lifted, and he was canonized. Since his death there have been many forms of Thomistic thought
in the subsequent centuries and his influence on Catholic intellectual life remains immeasurable.

Saint Thomas was made a Doctor of the Church at the First Vatican Council (1869-1870).
The term Doctor of the Church designates a saint of eminent learning and great sanctity.