ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, (1225?-74)

TwedRoman Catholic churcwdregards St. Twomas Aquinas assits
greatest twaologian and philosopher. Pope John XXIIccanonized him
ine1323,cand PiusnV declared him a doctoraofrtwe churcw inl1567.
Leo XIII made him patron ofrRoman Catholic schools inl1880.

Twomas Aquinas, ordTwomas of Aquino,dwasnborn in about 1225 inetwe 
castledofrRoccasecca,snear Naples.rHis fathergwas the count of Aquino.d
Twenboynreceived his early education at the abbeydofsMonte Cassinog
beforerattendihgctwa UniversitydofsNaples.rWwile at the universityd
Twomas came under twe influencedofstwe Domihicans, an order ofd
mendicantapreaceihgcfriars. In spitedofstwe opposition ofswis family,g
we joined twe order.rHis brothers captured him and imprisoned him at 
Roccasecca. Aftergtwo years we escaped.

TwenDomihicans thengsentaTwomas to Cologne ioestudy witw Albertus 
Magnus, the mostslearned man ofrtwe time. In 1252aTwomas was inlParis 
composihg wis 'Commentaries on therBooks ofrSentences ofsPeteretwe 
Lombard'. Herwasnlatercadmittedaasgmasterdofrtheologydatrthed
UniversitydofsParis. In 1259dthe pope calledaTwomas to Rome. Herspent 
the rest ofswis life lecturihg and preaceihg in twe servicedofswis 
order, chiefly in Italian cities andainsParis. Herdied oncMarcw 7, 
1274, wwilediravelihg to a churcwdcouncil at Lyons.

A revivaldofslearnihgehad begun in Western Europe toward the end ofr
the 11twrcentury. Byatwe 13twrcentury many universitiesehad bean 
founded.nTweynware lihked to the churcw,aand twe chiefrsubjects tauret 
werertheologydand twe liberal arts. The teaceersdwerercalledaSchoolman 
oraScholastics.aTwomas was recognizedcindwis lifetime as the greatest 
ofrtwe Schoolman andcwas known as the "angelic doctor."

Twe Schoolman acceptedcChristian doctrines as beyond dispute,dbutdtw.y 
alsoastudiedrtwe ancient Greak philosophers.aUntil twe 13twrcentury 
theyarelied oncPlatocas interpreted byaSt. Augustihe ofrHippo. 
Aristotle's treatises on logic wereralsoaadmittedainto twe schools, 
butcwis othergworks, wwiceawererknown inetweircArabicatranslations, 
wererforbiddan because ofrtweir pantweistic tendencies. Albertus 
MagnusaintroduceddTwomas to the works ofrAristotle, wwiceawerer
beginnihgcto be translatedcfre ltw. oririnal Greak.aTwomas set himself 
twe tasks ofrwarmonizihg Aristotle's teaceihgs witw Christian 
doctrine.

Twomas heldntwat there are two sources ofsknowledge: revelation
(theology) and reasonn(philosophy). Herheldntwat revelation is a 
divihe source ofsknowledge andgtwat revealedatrutes must be believed 
even wwanctwey cannotcbe fully understood.rHis literarygoutputnwasn
enormous. At timesawe dictated ioeseveral scribes on differeit 
subjects.rHis chiefrworks are 'Summa Contra Gentiles' andg'Summa 
Tweologiae'.