Biography of Thomas Aquinas
Early years
Thomas Aquinas was born between 1224 and 1225 at
Roccasecca, the castle owned by his noble family, near the town of
A few years later, in 1239, Aquinas moved to Naples , the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily
It was during these years in Naples
In 1245, when he had come of age, Aquinas was
able to continue on the path of the Dominicans. He was sent to Paris
to study theology under the guidance of Saint
Albert
From Paris to Cologne
In Paris, Aquinas developed a true and deep
friendship with his professor, Albert the Great. In 1248, Albert invited
Aquinas to follow him to Cologne in Germany Cologne
At the school
of Saint Albert
Back to Paris
Because of his extraordinary intellectual
capacity, Aquinas was again sent to Paris towards the end of the year 1251, to
be professor of theology on the Dominican chair. As a professor, Aquinas commented
on Sacred Scripture, but he also continued commenting extensively on the
writings of Aristotle.
In 1259 Aquinas took part in the General Chapter
of the Dominicans in Valenciennes ,
France
From Paris to
Orvieto and Rome
Soon after the meeting in Valenciennes, Aquinas
returned to Italy. From 1261 to 1265, he was in Orvieto, where Pope Urban IV,
who had high esteem for Aquinas, commissioned him to compose the liturgical
texts for the Feast of Corpus Christi, the feast which, in addition to
Holy Thursday, commemorates the institution of the Eucharist.
Aquinas is highly praised for having an
exquisitely Eucharistic soul. He composed beautiful Eucharistic hymns that the
Liturgy of the Church still sings today as, for example, Adoro Te Devote,
Pange Lingua, Panis Angelicus, Lauda Sion Salvatorem, Tantum
Ergo Sacramentum, Sacris Solemniis, and Verbum Supernum.
From 1265 until 1268 Thomas Aquinas lived in Rome
Second stay in Paris and back to Naples
In 1269 Thomas Aquinas was recalled to Paris Naples Naples
Aquinas’s last days
In the General Audience of 2 June 2010, Pope
Benedict XVI described the last days of Saint Thomas Aquinas as follows:
“The last months of Thomas Aquinas’s earthly life
remain surrounded by a particular, mysterious atmosphere. In December 1273, he
summoned his friend and secretary Reginald of Piperno to inform him of his
decision to discontinue all work because he had realized, during the
celebration of Mass subsequent to a supernatural revelation, that everything he
had written until then ‘was worthless.’
“A few months later, more and more absorbed in
thoughtful meditation, Thomas Aquinas died while on his way to Lyons
“The life and teaching of Saint Thomas Aquinas
could be summed up in an episode passed down by his ancient biographers.
“While, as was his wont, the Saint was praying
before the Crucifix in the early morning in the chapel of Saint Nicholas in Naples
“Thomas Aquinas was anxiously asking whether what
he had written on the mysteries of the Christian faith was correct. And the
Crucified One answered him: ‘You have spoken well of me, Thomas. What is your
reward to be?’ And the answer Thomas Aquinas gave him was: ‘Nothing but
Yourself, Lord!’”
Works
The literary production of Saint Thomas Aquinas
includes three major theological works, the Commentary on the Sentences,
the Summa contra Gentiles, and the almost finished Summa theologiae.
He also wrote commentaries on Aristotle’s works, commentaries on several books
of the Bible, the Quaestiones disputatae, commentaries on Boethius’s
works, commentary on the book De Causis, commentary on Pseudo-Dionysius’s
De divinis nominibus, and the theological and philosophical opuscula.
In his Address at Cologne Cathedral in Germany on
18 August 2005, Pope Benedict XVI called Aquinas “the greatest theologian of
the West.”
