Life and Literary Labours of St. Thomas Aquinas
Why should a medieval Catholic priest, St. Thomas Aquinas, merit a place among the most important figures of this millennium? In part because more than seven centuries after his death his writings and teachings still seem fresh and, more importantly, true. St. Thomas sometimes was called the Angelic Doctor and the Prince of Scholastics. The works of this Italian philosopher and theologian have made him the most important figure in Scholastic philosophy and one of the leading Roman Catholic theologians. His genius as a thinker and teacher has led thousands of scholars to carry out intellectual projects and hand on the teachings in philosophy and theology of this thirteenth-century. Neapolitan Ddminican friar, whose physical size and taciturn spirit prompted some of youthful companians to label him the "Dumb Ox". Albertus Magus, a German Scholastic and his teacher, turned in rebuke to the companions and predicted,"You call him dumb ox. One day, mark my words,his bellowing words will startle the world." We see this prophecy taking flesh with the passage of time.
No other writer has ever been accalimed with such enthusiasm by the church. Hailed even in his own day as the light of the world, he has ever since occupied in Christian thought an unrivaled place. His books were placed side by side with the Holy Scriptures themselves before the Fathers of the Council of Trent- the highest ever paid tribute any human writings. This doctor communis has something to offer to everyone who is seriously thirsting after the truth. He is a Doctor for the ages. In Divine Comedy, Dante sees the glorified spirit of Aquinas in Heaven of the Sun, with other great exemplars of religious wisdom- another golden feather on his crown of glory. It will be interesting as well as worthy to take a glimpse of the life and teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Early Years
Thomas was born in a family of the south Italian nobility in 1225 at Roccasecca, a hilltop near the great Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino, a mid-way between Naples and Rome. In his fifth year he was sent for his early education to the Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino. Later, after studying at the University of Naples, Thomas joined the Dominican Order, which along with the Franciscan order represented a revolutionary challenge to the well established clerical systems of early medieval Europe. This change of heart did not please the family; on the way to Rome, Thomas was seized by his brothers and brought back to his parents at the the castle of San Giovanni, where he was held a captive for a year and two months to make him relinquish his purpose. According to his earliest biographers, the family even brought a prostitute to tempt him, but he drove her away. Finally the family yielded to his desire.
Education
Little is known of Thomas' studies at Monte Cassino, but much is known of the shape that the monastic schools had taken. They were one of the principal conduits of the liberal arts tradition, which strectches back to Cassiodorus Senator in the 6th century. The arts of the trivium (grammar, rhetoric and logic) and those of the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy) constituted the secular education that complemented sacred doctrine as learned from the Bible. When Thomas was trasferred to Naples, his education in the arts continued. The Dominicans sent him to Cologne to study under Albertus Magnus, a famous Scholastic, probably in late 1244. The several year long association of Thomas with this great philosoper and theologian wa the most important influence in his development; it made him a comprehensive scholar.
Career
In 1252 Thomas Aquinas went to Paris for the master's degree, but met with some difficulty owing to the attacks on the mendicant orders by the professoriate of the University. Ultimately, however, he received the degree and entered upon his office of teaching 1257; he taught in Paris for several years and there began the flowing of that blessed output of great works in Philosophy and Theology. In 1259 he was present at an importan chapter of his order at Valencciennes. At the solicitation of Pope Urban IV he took up his residence in Rome. Between 1269-71 he was again active in Paris. In 1272, the provincial chapter conducted at Florence empowered him to erect a new studium generale at such a place he choosed, and he selected Naples and continued his professorial activity there until 1274. Once he took pen, until 21 years, when after a mystical experience he laid down his pen finally, he was completely given to studying, wirting or lecturing; or spending those long hours in prayer which he looked upon as an essential preliminary to good academic work. After the mystical experience while celebrating Mass on December 6, 1273 he stopped writing, leaving his great work, Summa Theologiae, unfinished. When asked why had stopped writing, he replied, "I can't go on ...all that i have written seems to me like so much straw compared to what I have seen and what has been revealed to me."
Personality of St. Thomas
Thomas' immediate prsence was so remarkably impressive that all who knew him sensed qualities of saintliness in him. He was such a man of purity and radiance of character that every one coming into his presence seemed to feel something like a cool breeze. Contemporaries described him as a big man, corpulent and dark-complexioned, with, a mighty and commanding forehead and receding hairline and his face was shining with a radiance that was never extinguished. His manners showed his breeding. Witnesses at his canonization described him as a "soft person, affable, cheerful and agreeable of countenance, good in soul, generous in his acts; very patient, very prudent, all radient with charity and tender piety; marvelously compassionate towards the poor." In argument he maintained self control ans won over opponents by his personality and great learning. His tastes were simple. His associates were specially impressed by his power of memory. When absorbed in thought, he often forgot his surroundings and expressed the fruits of his meditation systematically. Still, the consciousness of the insufficiency of his works in view of the revelation he had received was a cause of dissatisfaction for him. His life was devoted ot the pursuit and defence of truth. Even if his devotion and love are not allowed to manifest themselves in the pages of his academic works, the ecstacies and mystical union with God of his later years bear witness to the fact that the truths of which he wrote were the realities by which he lived.
Death and Canonization
Early in 1274 Pope Gregory X directed him to attend the Second Council of Lyons. Though far from being well, he undertook the journey. On the way he stopped at the castle of a niece and there he became seriously ill. He wished to end his days in a monastery and not being able to reach a house of the Dominicans, he was taken to the Cistercians. He died at the monastery of Fossanova, one mile from Sonnino. On March 7, 1274, the soul of the Angelic Doctor went to enjoy that Beatific Vision whose mysteries, even on earth , he almost seemed to sound. In 1319, the Roman Catholic Church began investigations preliminary to Aquinas' canonization. At the canonization process, the abbot of Fossanova testified under oath that the community had not celebrated the Mass of the Dead, at the funeral of Thomas, but, instead the Mass Os Justi, in honour of a holy confessor. On July 18, 1323, he was pronounced a saint by Pope John XXII at Avignon and in 1567 he was declared Doctor of the Universal Church by Pope Pious V.
Philosophical position of St.Thomas
St. Thomas' philosophy is a rethinking of Aristotelianism, with significant influences fromStoicism, Neoplatonism, Augustinianism and Boethianism, but he actually reworked the speculative and practical philosophies of his predecessors into coherent views which shows the eminence of his own intelligence and the influence of his religious commitment. One of the broad pecularities of his work in Philosophy is a temperamental tendency to seek a middle way on question that have been given a wide range of answers. This position of Aquinas is now called Moderate Realism. Thomas' spirit of compromise as a philosopher was balanced by another tendency toward innovation. Thomas introduced new ways of reasoning about problems and new sources of information. The aspects of faith and reason are also fundamental in his writings.
According to Thomas, Philosophy was natural type of knowledge for those who wish to understand the meaning of their ordinary experience. Thomas did not ground his Philosophy on principles of religious belief. He has used obviously a good deal of pagan and non christan Philosophies in all his writings. His own understanding of these philophies was influenced by his personal faith, as almost any man's judment is influenced by his stand for or against the claim of religious faith- in this sense Thomism is a Christian Philosophy.
No other writer has ever been accalimed with such enthusiasm by the church. Hailed even in his own day as the light of the world, he has ever since occupied in Christian thought an unrivaled place. His books were placed side by side with the Holy Scriptures themselves before the Fathers of the Council of Trent- the highest ever paid tribute any human writings. This doctor communis has something to offer to everyone who is seriously thirsting after the truth. He is a Doctor for the ages. In Divine Comedy, Dante sees the glorified spirit of Aquinas in Heaven of the Sun, with other great exemplars of religious wisdom- another golden feather on his crown of glory. It will be interesting as well as worthy to take a glimpse of the life and teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Early Years
Thomas was born in a family of the south Italian nobility in 1225 at Roccasecca, a hilltop near the great Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino, a mid-way between Naples and Rome. In his fifth year he was sent for his early education to the Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino. Later, after studying at the University of Naples, Thomas joined the Dominican Order, which along with the Franciscan order represented a revolutionary challenge to the well established clerical systems of early medieval Europe. This change of heart did not please the family; on the way to Rome, Thomas was seized by his brothers and brought back to his parents at the the castle of San Giovanni, where he was held a captive for a year and two months to make him relinquish his purpose. According to his earliest biographers, the family even brought a prostitute to tempt him, but he drove her away. Finally the family yielded to his desire.
Education
Little is known of Thomas' studies at Monte Cassino, but much is known of the shape that the monastic schools had taken. They were one of the principal conduits of the liberal arts tradition, which strectches back to Cassiodorus Senator in the 6th century. The arts of the trivium (grammar, rhetoric and logic) and those of the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy) constituted the secular education that complemented sacred doctrine as learned from the Bible. When Thomas was trasferred to Naples, his education in the arts continued. The Dominicans sent him to Cologne to study under Albertus Magnus, a famous Scholastic, probably in late 1244. The several year long association of Thomas with this great philosoper and theologian wa the most important influence in his development; it made him a comprehensive scholar.
Career
In 1252 Thomas Aquinas went to Paris for the master's degree, but met with some difficulty owing to the attacks on the mendicant orders by the professoriate of the University. Ultimately, however, he received the degree and entered upon his office of teaching 1257; he taught in Paris for several years and there began the flowing of that blessed output of great works in Philosophy and Theology. In 1259 he was present at an importan chapter of his order at Valencciennes. At the solicitation of Pope Urban IV he took up his residence in Rome. Between 1269-71 he was again active in Paris. In 1272, the provincial chapter conducted at Florence empowered him to erect a new studium generale at such a place he choosed, and he selected Naples and continued his professorial activity there until 1274. Once he took pen, until 21 years, when after a mystical experience he laid down his pen finally, he was completely given to studying, wirting or lecturing; or spending those long hours in prayer which he looked upon as an essential preliminary to good academic work. After the mystical experience while celebrating Mass on December 6, 1273 he stopped writing, leaving his great work, Summa Theologiae, unfinished. When asked why had stopped writing, he replied, "I can't go on ...all that i have written seems to me like so much straw compared to what I have seen and what has been revealed to me."
Personality of St. Thomas
Thomas' immediate prsence was so remarkably impressive that all who knew him sensed qualities of saintliness in him. He was such a man of purity and radiance of character that every one coming into his presence seemed to feel something like a cool breeze. Contemporaries described him as a big man, corpulent and dark-complexioned, with, a mighty and commanding forehead and receding hairline and his face was shining with a radiance that was never extinguished. His manners showed his breeding. Witnesses at his canonization described him as a "soft person, affable, cheerful and agreeable of countenance, good in soul, generous in his acts; very patient, very prudent, all radient with charity and tender piety; marvelously compassionate towards the poor." In argument he maintained self control ans won over opponents by his personality and great learning. His tastes were simple. His associates were specially impressed by his power of memory. When absorbed in thought, he often forgot his surroundings and expressed the fruits of his meditation systematically. Still, the consciousness of the insufficiency of his works in view of the revelation he had received was a cause of dissatisfaction for him. His life was devoted ot the pursuit and defence of truth. Even if his devotion and love are not allowed to manifest themselves in the pages of his academic works, the ecstacies and mystical union with God of his later years bear witness to the fact that the truths of which he wrote were the realities by which he lived.
Death and Canonization
Early in 1274 Pope Gregory X directed him to attend the Second Council of Lyons. Though far from being well, he undertook the journey. On the way he stopped at the castle of a niece and there he became seriously ill. He wished to end his days in a monastery and not being able to reach a house of the Dominicans, he was taken to the Cistercians. He died at the monastery of Fossanova, one mile from Sonnino. On March 7, 1274, the soul of the Angelic Doctor went to enjoy that Beatific Vision whose mysteries, even on earth , he almost seemed to sound. In 1319, the Roman Catholic Church began investigations preliminary to Aquinas' canonization. At the canonization process, the abbot of Fossanova testified under oath that the community had not celebrated the Mass of the Dead, at the funeral of Thomas, but, instead the Mass Os Justi, in honour of a holy confessor. On July 18, 1323, he was pronounced a saint by Pope John XXII at Avignon and in 1567 he was declared Doctor of the Universal Church by Pope Pious V.
Philosophical position of St.Thomas
St. Thomas' philosophy is a rethinking of Aristotelianism, with significant influences fromStoicism, Neoplatonism, Augustinianism and Boethianism, but he actually reworked the speculative and practical philosophies of his predecessors into coherent views which shows the eminence of his own intelligence and the influence of his religious commitment. One of the broad pecularities of his work in Philosophy is a temperamental tendency to seek a middle way on question that have been given a wide range of answers. This position of Aquinas is now called Moderate Realism. Thomas' spirit of compromise as a philosopher was balanced by another tendency toward innovation. Thomas introduced new ways of reasoning about problems and new sources of information. The aspects of faith and reason are also fundamental in his writings.
According to Thomas, Philosophy was natural type of knowledge for those who wish to understand the meaning of their ordinary experience. Thomas did not ground his Philosophy on principles of religious belief. He has used obviously a good deal of pagan and non christan Philosophies in all his writings. His own understanding of these philophies was influenced by his personal faith, as almost any man's judment is influenced by his stand for or against the claim of religious faith- in this sense Thomism is a Christian Philosophy.
