A summary of the life and writings of the Dominican Saint and Doctor of the Church

1. SAINT
THOMAS
AQUINAS

2. Thomas Aquinas was
the greatest of the
Scholastic philosophers.
He produced
a comprehensive
synthesis of
Christian theology
and Aristotelian
philosophy that
influenced Roman
Catholic doctrine for
centuries and was
adopted as the official
philosophy of
the church in 1917.

3. Thomas Aquinas was
born in the castle of
Roccasecca, near
Aquino, controlled at
that time by the
Kingdom of Sicily
(in present-day Lazio,
Italy), c. 1225

4. Landulf of Aquino was a man of means.
As a knight in the service of Emperor Frederick II

5. Thomas's mother, Theodora, belonged to the
Rossi branch of the Neapolitan Caracciolo family

6. While the rest of the family's
sons pursued military careers

7. the family
intended for
Thomas to
follow his
uncle into the
Benedictine
abbacy of
Monte Cassino

8. At the age of five Thomas began his early education at
Monte Cassino but after the military conflict between the
Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX spilled into the
abbey in early 1239, Landulf and Theodora had Thomas
enrolled at the studium generale (university)
recently established by Frederick in Naples.

9. There his teacher in logic and arithmetic, geometry,
astronomy, and music was Petrus de Hibernia.

10. It was here that Thomas
was probably introduced
to Aristotle, Averroes
and Maimonides, all of
whom would influence
his theological
philosophy.
It was also during his
study at Naples that
Thomas came under the
influence of John of St.
Julian, a Dominican
preacher in Naples, who
was part of the active
effort by the Dominican
order to recruit devout
followers.

11. At the age of nineteen
Thomas resolved to join
the Dominican Order,
(instead of the Benedictines)
which had been founded
about 30 years earlier.
Thomas's change of heart
did not please his family.
In an attempt to prevent
Theodora's interference
in Thomas's choice, the
Dominicans arranged to
move Thomas to Rome,
and from Rome, to Paris.

12. However, while on his journey to Rome, per Theodora's instructions,
his brothers seized him as he was drinking from a spring and took him
back to his parents at the castle of Monte San Giovanni Campano

13. Thomas was held prisoner
for almost one year in the
family castles at Monte San
Giovanni and Roccasecca in
an attempt to prevent him
from assuming the
Dominican habit and to
push him into renouncing
his new aspiration.
Political concerns prevented
the Pope from ordering
Thomas's release, which
had the effect of extending
Thomas's detention.
Thomas passed this time
of trial tutoring his sisters
and communicating
with members of the
Dominican Order

14. two of his brothers resorted to the measure of hiring a harlot to seduce him.
As included in the official records for his canonization, Thomas drove her away
wielding a burning log - with which he inscribed a cross onto the wall -

15. In a mystical ecstasy;
two angels appeared
to him as he slept and
said, "Behold, we gird
thee by the command
of God with the girdle
of chastity, which
henceforth will
never be imperiled.
What human
strength can not
obtain, is now
bestowed upon thee
as a celestial gift."

16. From that
moment on,
Thomas was
given the
grace of
perfect
chastity by
Christ and he
wore the
girdle till the
end of his life.

17. and is now
at Chieri,
near Turin
The girdle was given to the ancient monastery
of Vercelli in Piedmont,

18. By 1244, seeing that all
her attempts to dissuade
Thomas had failed, Theodora
sought to save the family's
dignity, arranging for Thomas
to escape at night through his
window. In her mind, a secret
escape from detention was less
damaging than an open
surrender to the Dominicans.
Thomas was sent first to Naples
and then to Rome to meet
Johannes von Wildeshausen,
the Master General of
the Dominican Order
Johannes von Wildeshausen

19. Thomas takes the Dominican habit

20. In 1245 Thomas was sent to study at the Faculty of the Arts at the University
of Paris, where he most likely met Dominican scholar Albertus Magnus, then
the holder of the Chair of Theology at the College of St. James in Paris.

21. When Albertus was
sent by his superiors
to teach at the new
studium generale
at Cologne in 1248,
Thomas followed him,
declining Pope
Innocent IV's offer to
appoint him abbot
of Monte Cassino
as a Dominican.

22. Albertus
appointed
the reluctant
Thomas magister
studentium.
Because Thomas
was quiet and
didn't speak
much, some of his
fellow students
thought he was
slow,

23. But Albertus prophetically
exclaimed: "You call him the
dumb ox, but in his teaching
he will one day produce such a
bellowing that it will be heard
throughout the world."

24. Thomas taught in Cologne as an
apprentice professor taking time to
write some commentaries on the bible…

25. Then in 1252
he returned
to Paris to
study for the
master's
degree in
theology.
He lectured
on the Bible
as an
apprentice
professor,
.
.
.
.

26. upon becoming a baccalaureus
Sententiarum (bachelor of the Sentences)
he devoted his final three years of study to
commenting on Peter Lombard's Sentences.
In the first of his four theological syntheses,
Thomas composed a massive commentary
on the Sentences titled Scriptum super libros
Sententiarium (Commentary on the Sentences).

27. Aside from
his master's
writings,
he wrote
De ente et
essentia
(On Being
and Essence)
for his
fellow
Dominicans
in Paris

28. In the spring of 1256 Thomas was appointed regent master
in theology at Paris and one of his first works upon assuming
this office was Contra impugnantes Dei cultum et religionem -

29. - Against Those
Who Assail the
Worship of God
and Religion,
defending the
mendicant orders,
which had come
under attack
by William of
Saint-Amour

30. During his tenure from
1256 to 1259, Thomas
wrote numerous works,…

31. He returned to Naples where he was appointed as general
preacher by the provincial chapter of 29 September 1260.

32. In September 1261 he
was called to Orvieto;
as conventual lector
he was responsible
for the pastoral
formation of the friars
unable to attend a
studium generale.
In Orvieto Thomas
completed his Summa
contra Gentiles,
wrote the Catena
aurea (The Golden
Chain)

33. He produced works for Pope Urban
IV such as the liturgy for the newly
created feast of Corpus Christi and
the Contra errores graecorum

35. In February
1265 the
newly
elected Pope
Clement IV
summoned
Thomas to
Rome to
serve as
papal
theologian.

36. This same year he was
ordered by the Dominican
Chapter of Agnani to teach
at the studium conventuale
at the Roman convent of
Santa Sabina, founded some
years before, in 1222.

37. The studium at Santa
Sabina ..the Order's first
studium provinciale,
an intermediate school
between the studium
conventuale and the
studium generale. ……
The new studium
provinciale at Santa
Sabina was to be a
more advanced school
for the province.
…Thomas taught the full
range of philosophical
subjects, both moral
and natural

38. While at Agnani
he also wrote
a variety of
other works like
his unfinished
Compendium
Theologiae ….

39. Thomas
conducted
a series of
important
disputations
on the power
of God, which
he compiled
into his
De potentia

40. In 1267 the Franciscan
master William of Baglione
accused Thomas of
encouraging Averroists,
He was called back to
Paris in 1268 for a second
teaching regency. …
This sudden reassignment
appears to have arisen
from the rise of
"Averroism" or "radical
Aristotelianism" in
the universities.

41. Thomas was
angered when he
discovered Siger
of Brabant
teaching
Averroistic
interpretations
of Aristotle
to Parisian
students.

42. On 10 December
1270, the Bishop
of Paris, Étienne
Tempier, issued an
edict condemning
thirteen Aristotelian
and Averroistic
propositions as
heretical and
excommunicating
anyone who
continued to
support them

43. In response to these perceived errors, Thomas wrote two works,
one of them being De unitate intellectus, contra Averroistas

45. During his second regency, he finished the second
part of the Summa and wrote De virtutibus and
De aeternitate mundi, contra murmurantes.

48. He
established
a studium
generale
in Naples
and took
the post
as regent
master there.

49. He also preached to the people of Naples in Lent 1273.

50. Thomas has been
traditionally
ascribed with the
ability to levitate.
G. K. Chesterton
wrote that "His
experiences
included well-
attested cases of
levitation in
ecstasy

51. the Blessed Virgin appeared to him, comforting him
with the news that he would never be a Bishop.

52. It is traditionally held that on
one occasion, in 1273 at the
Dominican convent of Naples
in the chapel of Saint Nicholas,
after Matins, Thomas lingered
and was seen by the sacristan
Domenic of Caserta to be
levitating in prayer with tears
before an icon of the crucified
Christ. Christ said to Thomas,
"You have written well of me,
Thomas. What reward would
you have for your labor?"
Thomas responded,
"Nothing but you, Lord."

53. On 6 December 1273, another mystical experience took place. While he was
celebrating Mass, he experienced an unusually long ecstasy. Because of what he
saw, he abandoned his routine and refused to dictate to his socius Reginald of
Piperno. When Reginald begged him to get back to work, Thomas replied:
"Reginald, I cannot, because all that I have written seems like straw to me

54. Pope Gregory X convened
the Second Council of Lyon
to be held on 1 May 1274
and summoned Thomas to
attend… on his way he
became seriously ill.

55. He was quickly escorted to Monte Cassino to convalesce,
and later at the Cistercian Abbey in Fossanova.

56. He died on 7 March 1274 while giving
commentary on the Song of Songs

57. Fifty years after
Thomas's death,
on 18 July 1323,
Pope John XXII,
seated in
Avignon,
pronounced
Thomas a saint.

60. in 1567, Pope Pius V
proclaimed St. Thomas
Aquinas a Doctor of the
Church and ranked his feast
with those of the four great
Latin fathers: Ambrose,
Augustine of Hippo,
Jerome and Gregory

62. 4 August 1879,
Aeterni Patris,
Pope Leo XIII stated
that Thomas Aquinas’
theology was a
definitive exposition
of Catholic doctrine.
Thus, he directed the
clergy to take the
teachings of Thomas
as the basis of their
theological positions

63. The Prayer to St. Thomas
for Purity
Chosen lily of innocence, pure
St. Thomas, who kept chaste the
robe of baptism and became an
angel in the flesh after being
girded by two angels,
I implore you to commend me to
Jesus, the Spotless Lamb, and to
Mary, the Queen of Virgins.
Gentle protector of my purity, ask
them that I, who wear the holy
sign of your victory over the flesh,
may also share your purity,
and after imitating you on earth
may at last come to be crowned
with you among the angels. Amen.

64. The Prayer of St. Thomas
for Purity
Dear Jesus, I know that every
perfect gift, and especially that
of chastity, depends on the
power of Your providence.
Without You a mere creature can
do nothing. Therefore, I beg You
to defend by Your grace the
chastity and purity of my
body and soul.
And if I have ever sensed or
imagined anything that could stain
my chastity and purity, blot it out,
Supreme Lord of my powers, that I
may advance with a pure heart in
Your love and service, offering
myself on the most pure altar of
Your divinity all the days of my
life. Amen.

65. SOME SUBJECTS TREATED BY SAINT THOMAS
BIBLE AND THEOLOGY
Commentaries on Aristotle, books of the bible
God, creation, sin, revelation, Jesus Christ, grace,
eschatology,
Body and soul, Human identity and immortality
PHILOSOPHY -
Epistemology
Psychology – perception and thought
Metaphysics
Composition of physical objects
Matter and form
Substance, essence and existence
Act and potential, analogies
Ethics,
Virtues
Natural law
Political order and systems of government,
Just war,
Some 200 years later, the School of
Salamanca expanded Thomas's
understanding of natural law and just war.
Economics

66. Famous Thomists
G. E. M. Anscombe
J. Budziszewski
Frederick Copleston
Brian Davies
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
G. K. Chesterton
Étienne Gilson
Alasdair MacIntyre
Jacques Maritain
Ralph McInerny
Josef Pieper
James V. Schall
Etc.

67. Some Schools named after Thomas Aquinas
Aquinas Institute, New York
Aquinas School in San Juan City, Philippines
Aquinas University in Legazpi City, Philippines
International Council of Universities of Saint Thomas
Aquinas, Houston
Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, Vatican City
St. Thomas Aquinas College, New York
St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Florida)
St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Kansas)
Thomas Aquinas College, California and Massachusetts
University of Santo Tomas, Philippines
University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)
Aquinas College (Michigan)
Aquinas College, Stockport, England
Aquinas College (Tennessee), Nashville, Tennessee
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School (North
Vancouver), British Columbia, Canada
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School Lindsay,
Ontario, Canada
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School (London,
Ontario), Canada
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School Oakville,
Ontario, Canada
St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School (Brampton), Ontario,
Canada
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School
(Tottenham), Ontario, Canada

68. LIST OF PRESENTATIONS IN ENGLISH
Revised 30-9-2021
Advent and Christmas – time of hope and peace
All Souls Day
Amoris Laetitia – ch 1 – In the Light of the Word
Amoris Laetitia – ch 2 – The Experiences and Challenges of Families
Amoris Laetitia – ch 3 - Looking to Jesus, the Vocation of the Family
Amoris Laetitia – ch 4 - Love in Marriage
Amoris Laetitia – ch 5 – Love made Fruitfuol
Amoris Laetitia – ch 6 – Some Pastoral Perspectives
Amoris Laetitia – ch 7 – Towards a better education of children
Amoris Laetitia – ch 8 – Accompanying, discerning and integrating weaknwss
Amoris Laetitia – ch 9 – The Spirituality of Marriage and the Family
Beloved Amazon 1ª – A Social Dream
Beloved Amazon 2 - A Cultural Dream
Beloved Amazon 3 – An Ecological Dream
Beloved Amazon 4 - An Ecclesiastical Dream
Carnival
Christ is Alive
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 1 – Church and Family today
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 2 - God’s plan for the family
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 1 – family as a Community
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 2 – serving life and education
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 3 – mission of the family in society
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 4 - Family in the Church
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 4 Pastoral familiar
Football in Spain
Haurietis aquas – devotion to the Sacred Heart by Pius XII
Holidays and Holy Days
Holy Spirit
Holy Week – drawings for children
Holy Week – glmjpses of the last hours of JC
Inauguration of President Donald Trump
Juno explores Jupiter
Laudato si 1 – care for the common home
Laudato si 2 – Gospel of creation
Laudato si 3 – Human roots of the ecological crisis
Laudato si 4 – integral ecology
Laudato si 5 – lines of approach and action
Laudato si 6 – Education y Ecological Spirituality
Love and Marriage 12,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
Lumen Fidei – ch 1,2,3,4
Martyrs of North America and Canada
Medjugore Pilgrimage
Misericordiae Vultus in English
Mother Teresa of Calcuta – Saint
Pope Franciss in Thailand
Pope Francis in Japan
Pope Francis in Sweden
Pope Francis in Hungary, Slovaquia
Pope Francis in America
Pope Francis in the WYD in Poland 2016
Querida Amazonia
Resurrection of Jesus Christ –according to the Gospels
Russian Revolution and Communismo 3 civil war 1918.1921
Russian Revolution and Communism 1
Russian Revolution and Communismo 2
Saint Agatha, virgin and martyr
Saint Albert the Great
Saint Anthony of Padua
Saint Francis de Sales
Saint Francis of Assisi
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Saint James, apostle
Saint John N. Neumann, bishop of Philadelphia
Saint Joseph
Saint Maria Goretti
Saint Martin of Tours
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta
Saint Jean Baptiste MarieaVianney, Curé of Ars
Saint John N. Neumann, bishop of Philadelphia
Saint John of the Cross
Saint Patrick and Ireland
Saints Zachary and Elizabeth, parents of John Baptis
Signs of hope
Sunday – day of the Lord
Thanksgiving – History and Customs
The Body, the cult – (Eucharist)
Valentine
Vocation – mconnor@legionaries.org
Way of the Cross – drawings for children
For commentaries – email – mflynn@legionaries.org
Fb – Martin M Flynn
Donations to - BANCO - 03069 INTESA SANPAOLO SPA
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69. LISTA DE PRESENTACIONES EN ESPAÑOL
Revisado 30-9-2021
Abuelos
Adviento y Navidad, tiempo de esperanza
Amor y Matrimonio 1 - 9
Amoris Laetitia – ch 1 – A la luz de la Palabre
Amoris Laetitia – ch 2 – Realidad y Desafíos de las Familias
Amoris Laetitia – ch 3 La mirada puesta en Jesús: Vocación de la Familia
Amoris Laetitia – ch 4 - El Amor en el Matrimonio
Amoris Laetitia – ch 5 – Amor que se vuelve fecundo
Amoris Laetitia – ch 6 – Algunas Perspectivas Pastorales
Amoris Laetitia – ch 7 – Fortalecer la educacion de los hijos
Amoris Laetitia – ch 8 – Acompañar, discernir e integrar la fragilidad
Amoris Laetitia – ch 9 – Espiritualidad Matrimonial y Familiar
Carnaval
Cristo Vive
Dia de todos los difuntos
Domingo – día del Señor
El camino de la cruz de JC en dibujos para niños
El Cuerpo, el culto – (eucarisía)
Espíritu Santo
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 1 – iglesia y familia hoy
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 2 - el plan de Dios para la familia
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 1 – familia como comunidad
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 2 – servicio a la vida y educación
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 3 – misión de la familia en la sociedad
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 4 - participación de la familia en la iglesia
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 4 Pastoral familiar
Fátima – Historia de las Apariciones de la Virgen
Feria de Sevilla
Haurietis aquas – el culto al Sagrado Corazón
Hermandades y cofradías
Hispanidad
Laudato si 1 – cuidado del hogar común
Laudato si 2 – evangelio de creación
Laudato si 3 – La raíz de la crisis ecológica
Laudato si 4 – ecología integral
Laudato si 5 – líneas de acción
Laudato si 6 – Educación y Espiritualidad Ecológica
Lumen Fidei – cap 1,2,3,4
Madre Teresa de Calcuta – Santa
María y la Biblia
Martires de Nor America y Canada
Medjugore peregrinación
Misericordiae Vultus en Español
Papa Francisco en Bulgaria
Papa Francisco en Rumania
Papa Francisco en Marruecos
Papa Francisco en México
Papa Francisco – mensaje para la Jornada Mundial Juventud 2016
Papa Francisco – visita a Chile
Papa Francisco – visita a Perú
Papa Francisco en Colombia 1 + 2
Papa Francisco en Cuba
Papa Francisco en Fátima
Papa Francisco en la JMJ 2016 – Polonia
Papa Francisco en Hugaría e Eslovaquia
Queridas Amazoznia 1,2,3,4
Resurrección de Jesucristo – según los Evangelios
Revolución Rusa y Comunismo 1, 2, 3
Santa Agata, virgen y martir
San Alberto Magno
San Antonio de Padua
San Francisco de Asis 1,2,3,4
San Francisco de Sales
Santa Maria Goretti
San Ignacio de Loyola
San José, obrero, marido, padre
San Juan Ma Vianney, Curé de’Ars
San Juan de la Cruz
San Juan N. Neumann, obispo de Philadelphia
San Martin de Tours
San Maximiliano Kolbe
Santa Teresa de Calcuta
San Padre Pio de Pietralcina
San Patricio e Irlanda
Santiago Apóstol
Santos Zacarias e Isabel, padres de Juan Bautista
Semana santa – Vistas de las últimas horas de JC
Vacaciones Cristianas
Valentín
Virgen de Guadalupe
Vocación – www.vocación.org
Vocación a evangelizar
Para comentarios – email – mflynn@lcegionaries.org
fb – martin m. flynn
Donations to - BANCO - 03069 INTESA SANPAOLO SPA
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