St. Thomas Aquinas is the Patron Saint of Students.  It’s always good to know that we students have a Saint devoted to our academic pursuits!

St. Thomas was born in Naples, Italy in 1225.  He attended a school run by Benedictine Monks in Monte Cassino until 1239.  St. Thomas continued his education by studying Aristotle’s natural science and metaphysics until he joined the Order of Preachers in 1244.  He then went to study in Paris, then to Cologne to study with Albert Magnus, and was also ordained a priest around this time.

To increase his Theological education, Thomas Aquinas came back to Paris in 1252.  One can tell that St. Thomas Aquinas was dedicated to learning about God and the world around him, which is something we can all learn from St. Thomas.

In St. Thomas Aquinas’s lifetime, he wrote many articles and papers that are still relevant today.  These include Summa Contra Gentiles, Summa Theologiae, Office for the Feast of Corpus Christi, and the Golden Chain, of which the last two were written for Pope Urban IV.

St. Thomas’s feast is January 28.  Pope John XXII canonized Thomas Aquinas in 1323, and he was made a Doctor of the Church in 1567 by Pope Pius V.  St. Thomas Aquinas is a wonderful Saint for all students, parents, and teachers to recall as we begin the school year.  Here is a prayer to St. Thomas Aquinas:

Father of wisdom, You inspired St. Thomas Aquinas with an ardent desire for holiness and study of sacred doctrine.  Help us, we pray, to understand what he taught and to imitate what he lived.

 Prayer is from Picture Book of Saints, by Reverend Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D.

All information from Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Richard P. McBrien, General Editor