Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas was born around 1225 in the family castle of Roccasecca near Aquino in southern Italy. Raised among nobility, he was first educated at Monte Cassino and later studied in Naples, where he encountered the riches of philosophy and the newly recovered thought of Aristotle. At nineteen he felt called to the Dominican Order, a choice his family fiercely opposed. He endured nearly a year of confinement in family castles, yet remained steadfast, devoting himself to prayer and study until he was finally able to follow his vocation. Sent to Paris and later Cologne, Thomas became a devoted student of Albert the Great, whose confidence in the quiet friar proved prophetic. Thomas’s luminous teaching and writing would shape the Church for centuries, especially through works like the Summa Theologiae and Summa contra Gentiles, and through Eucharistic hymns cherished in the liturgy. Honored as the Angelic Doctor and a Doctor of the Church, he is venerated as a master of faith seeking understanding and a patron of apologists. His feast day is January 28.