Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)

Biography

Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor and patron of students, was born into a noble family and became a Dominican friar. He studied under Albert the Great in Cologne and Paris. Quiet and absorbed in study, he was nicknamed “the dumb ox,” but his teacher predicted that his teaching would be heard throughout the world. Thomas taught, preached, and wrote works such as the Summa contra Gentiles and his masterpiece, the Summa Theologiae. His scholarship grew from a deep life of prayer: he did not begin serious study without first praying, and his writings on the Eucharist reveal both theologian and mystic. He died at Fossanova while traveling to the Council of Lyon.