Dileep Anup Veigas
Thomas Aquinas an Italian Dominican friar and Catholic priest was an immensely influential Philosopher and Theologian in the tradition of scholastics, on whom was conferred the title “Angelic Doctor, Prince of scholastics”. He was born in 1225 to a noble family of Roccasecca near Naples, Italy. At the age of five, he was sent to the Benedictine Monastery of Monte Casino for schooling, where he stayed until 1239. His parents hoped that he would choose that way of life and eventually become the Abbot of Benedictine Monastery, whereby bring fame and glory to the family.
In 1239, he was sent to the University of Naples to complete his further studies and there he was attracted to Dominican Order, a relatively new Order that fully dedicated to evangelical poverty, study, and preaching and teaching of the Gospel.
In 1244, Thomas abandoned his family’s plan for him and joined the Dominican Order. On his mother’s order, Thomas was captured and kept at home over a year. Having convinced his family with his high-minded determination to be a Dominican friar, he was permitted to return to the Dominican Order. Soon he was sent to the Dominican Studiorum (Study House) at Paris, where he encountered St. Albert the Great, a well-known Dominican Professor, who eventually became Thomas’s teacher and support in the pursuit of truth.
He pursued his Theological Studies in the University of Paris. There he came across Aristotelian Philosophy taught by the Arab scholars, Avicenna and Averroes, who exercised great impact on both staff and young university students. After obtaining the Master’s degree, he lectured in the Dominican Studiorum, university of Paris, Cologne and Santa Sabina (Dominican House of Study in Rome). He was appointed as the Theological adviser and lecturer to the Papal Curia. Post ordination and a Doctorate in Theology, he started to teaching with such lucidity, accuracy and inspiration that students were attracted by the thousands.
Thomas was uniquely gifted with intellectual understanding. He was the principal exponent of scholastic philosophy who interpreted Aristotle’s system in the light of Christian faith. Thus as a Philosopher he synthesized Greek Philosophy (Aristotle and Plato) with Christian principles and developed his own conclusions.
In his relatively short period of life, 49, he is known to have written about 60 books. They are enormously voluminous. As a Theologian he was responsible for his two masterpieces: Summa Theologiae (Synopsis of Theology) and Summa Contra Gentiles (against the errors of the Infidels). He composed Eucharistic hymns in the Church’s liturgy and wrote commentaries on the Holy Bible.
The feast of St. Thomas Aquinas is celebrated all over the world on 28th of January. The Dominicans in Goa celebrate the feast of Thomas Aquinas in the Philosophy Institute, Gyanadhara, at Orlim, Salcete with gratitude and grandiosity and seeking God’s abundant blessings upon all students and learners to grow love for wisdom.
