St. Thomas Aquinas

Choosing a life of poverty over a noble living is a risky thing to do, especially when one is raised in a noble family and decided to live up a humble life of indigence, yet with a purpose. In this process of choosing a different path, there are problems that may occur, and it will test one’s mind and heart of how strong their devotion can be in terms of resisting temptation and discouragement.

Influenced by a Dominican preacher named John of St. Julian, St. Thomas Aquinas at the early age of nineteen, joined the Dominican Order, a new religious order founded 30 years earlier, which departed from the traditional paternalistic form of government for monks to the more democratic form of the mendicant friars.

His noble family was unpleased of his decision and decided to retrieve him from the hands of the Dominicans. Upon hearing this, the friars sent St. Thomas to Rome, but on his way, he was abducted by his own family, was taken to a family castle and spent nearly two years of his life in the cell. St. Thomas’ family discouraged him from carrying through his aspirations of continuing a life as a Dominican. St. Thomas spent his life behind cold bars continuing his study of the theological principles of faith and the philosophical principles of reason. He believed that both faith and reason discover the truth; a conflict between them is impossible since they both originate in God. When he was finally released, he professed his vows in the Order of Friars Preachers and was placed under the instruction of St. Albert the Great, first in Paris and later in Cologne. Because of his large stature and quiet nature, Thomas’ fellows called him dumb ox, but St. Albert declared that Thomas’ bellows would resound throughout the world.

Before joining the Dominican Order, at the age of five, he was placed in the Monastery of Monte Cassino to be educated for a career in the Church, because of the promise he showed in his studies. At the age of fourteen, he was sent to the University of Naples to continue his education and excelled under his new masters. There, it is believed that he was introduced to his philosophical influences – Aristotle, Averroes, and Maimonides. Hence, it is where he started a path of journeying through becoming a theologian and a philosopher, and in the latter of his lifetime, his expertise in theological and philosophical topics made him one of the influential theologians and philosophers of his time.

St. Thomas’ success of pursuing the life he wanted live on purpose and the studies he successfully evinced in his time is a proof that nothing can hinder a strong committed heart to continue what his heart is saying despite the struggles he has in to. Let St. Thomas of Aquinas be an inspiration to be the wisdom in this world full of follies. Let not the world step in our standpoints in life. The road may be rough, problems may be there to inveigle the mind, and challenges may dispirit a strong heart and a strong mind, but let not these things hinder us from pursuing and affirming our stands in life. With great faith and a devoted heart, even if there is a raging storm, all will never be impossible, with God, as the center of it all.

(St. Thomas Aquinas is the patron saint of Catholic schools, colleges and universities.)