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January 17, 2024Ever Ancient, Ever New: A series on Saints with a special devotion to the Eucharist
Saint Thomas Aquinas is a patron of students and universities. He is considered one of the greatest theologians and philosophers of the Catholic Church.
Thomas Aquinas O.P. (1225-1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest. He was born to an influential and powerful Italian family, in the castle of Roccasecca, near Aquino, which was controlled by the Kingdom of Sicily at that time.
His father was a knight in the service of Emperor Frederick II, while his uncle was an abbot of Monte Cassino - the oldest Benedictine monastery in Europe, founded in 529 by Saint Benedict (also the founder of the Benedictine order).
Aquinas’ older brothers were sent to pursue military careers, while according to the customs of the times, Thomas as the youngest son was preserved to follow his uncle into the abbacy.
Aquinas began his education at Monte Cassino at the age of 5 and was later transferred to the University of Naples. At the age of 19, he decided to join the Dominican Order. The opposition of his family (desiring for him to follow the family customary rules) was so strong that he was seized by his brothers and held prisoner for almost one year in the family castles to prevent him from entering the order.
Despite these tribulations and challenges, Aquinas persevered in his holy desire and was able to escape from his family captivity. He studied at the University of Paris, held a position of a chair of theology at the College of Saint James in Paris, and taught at various universities, including in Cologne, Naples and Rome.
In 1265, he was chosen by the newly elected Pope Clement IV to serve as the papal theologian.
He also wrote many liturgical texts for Pope Urban IV, including the liturgy for the newly created feast of Corpus Christi, and numerous hymns such as the famous Pange Lingua (i.e., Tantum Ergo Sacramentum) which are still sung to this day.
Many of his Eucharistic hymns became an integral part of the Church’s liturgy, while his poems in honor of Christ hidden in the Blessed Sacrament are often cited and used as prayers:
“Godhead here in hiding, whom I adore
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.” /Adoro te devote/
Saint Thomas Aquinas is also the author of many famous theological and philosophical works, e.g., Summa Theologica (1265-1274), the Disputed Questions on Truth (1256-1259) and Summa contra Gentiles (1259-1265).
His deep devotion to the Eucharist and the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament were kept aflame by his extensive theological and scriptural understanding.
He concisely explained the great merits of the Eucharist, “The Sacrament of the Body of the Lord puts the demons to flight, defends us against the incentives to vice and to concupiscence, cleanses the soul from sin, quiets the anger of God, enlightens the understanding to know God, inflames the will and the affections with the love of God, fills the memory with spiritual sweetness, confirms the entire man in good, frees us from eternal death, multiplies the merits of a good life, leads us to our everlasting home, and re-animates the body to eternal life.”
Aquinas understood the Holy Eucharist as the heavenly banquet offered by God to each human: “O most admirable banquet, to which it is an unspeakable favor to be invited! O banquet that saves and gives delight! Nothing can be conceived which is of greater value. What is served is not the flesh of calves and kids, as in the Old Law, but Christ himself the true God. What is more wonderful than this sacrament!”
He used to preach about the Eucharist as the consummation of the whole spiritual life, saying “The Eucharist is the Sacrament of love; it signifies love, it produces love.”
By his zealous teachings, he ignited others to the love of the Blessed Sacrament: “There is no language adequate to describe the joy one experiences through this sacrament which draws sweetness from its very source and keeps alive in us the memory of the love, of which Christ gave proof during his passion.”
Canonized by Pope John XXII in 1323 Thomas Aquinas was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1567 by Pope Pius V and granted three titles: Doctor Angelicus (‘Angelic Doctor’), Doctor Communis (‘Universal Doctor’) and Doctor Humanitatis (‘Doctor of Humanity’).
His feast day is celebrated on Jan. 28.
The following prayer of Saint Thomas Aquinas to the Eucharistic Jesus expresses his great humility that was nurtured by his learnedness and theological literacy.
“Almighty and Eternal God, behold I come to the Sacrament of your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. As one sick, I come to the Physician of life; unclean, to the Fountain of mercy; blind, to the Light of eternal splendor; poor and needy, to the Lord of heaven and earth. Therefore, I beg of You, through Your infinite mercy and generosity, heal my weakness, wash my uncleanness, give light to my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness. May I thus receive the Bread of Angels, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, with such reverence and humility, contrition and devotion, purity and faith, purpose and intention, as shall aid my soul’s salvation ...”
Information compiled from the Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association, and Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Jad Ziolkowska is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
