St. Thomas Aquinas Out Patron Saint

St. Thomas Aquinas was born in 1225 at Rocca Sicca, the castle of his father Landulf, count of Aquino, in the territories of Naples in Italy. His family was a noble one.

During his education, Thomas entered a religious order against his family’s wishes with his family going so far as to imprison him in order dissuade him. With the intervention of Pope Innocent IV, Thomas was set free and he entered the order of St. Dominic.

Thomas had a great aptitude for theological study and he became a lecturer at the Dominican School in Cologne. It was during this time that he earned a he received a doctorate of theology and produced an enormous amount of literary work while still actively serving his order. His life was spent in prayer, study and writing his greatest work, the Summa Theologica. In his writings, he combined the principles of faith with the principles of reason. He spoke of the importance of such virtues as: Truth, Unity, Knowledge and Fortitude. His famous quote was, “love follows knowledge.”

After his death in 1274, Pope John XXII canonized him in 1323 and was deemed Patron Saint of Catholic schools and students. He also is known as the Angelic Doctor or the Universal Teacher.