Thomas, Landulpho comite Aquinate, et Theodora Neapolitana, nobilibus parentibus natus, quintum annum agens, Monachis sancti Benedicti Casinatibus custodiendus traditur. Inde Neapolim studiorum causa missus, jam adolescens Fratrum Prædicatorum Ordinem suscepit. Sed matre ac fratribus id indigne ferentibus, Lutetiam Parisiorum mittitur. Quem fratres in itinere per vim raptum in arcem castri Sancti Joannis perducunt, ubi varie exagitatus, ut sanctum propositum mutaret, mulierem etiam, quæ ad labefactandam ejus constantiam introducta fuerat, titione fugavit. Mox beatus juvenis flexis genibus ante signum crucis orans, ibique somno correptus, per quietem sentire visus est, sibi ab Angelis constringi lumbus; quo ex tempore omni postea libidinis sensu caruit. Sororibus, quæ ut eum a pio consilio removerent, in castrum venerant, persuasit, ut contemptis curis sæcularibus, ad exercitationem cœlestis vitæ se conferrent.

Thomas was born of noble parents, his father being Landulph, Count of Aquino, and his mother a rich Neapolitan lady, by name Theodora. When he was five years old, he was sent to Monte Cassino, that me might receive from the Benedictine Monks his first training. Thence he was sent to Naples, where he went through a course of studies, and, young as he was, joined the Order of Friars Preachers. This step caused great displeasure to his mother and brothers, and it was therefore deemed advisable to send him to Paris. He was waylaid by his brothers, who seized him, and imprisoned him in the castle of Saint John. After having made several unsuccessful attempts to induce him to abandon the holy life he had chosen, they assailed his purity, by sending to him a wicked woman: but he drove her from his chamber with a fire-brand. The young saint then threw himself on his knees before a crucifix. Having prayed some time, he fell asleep, and it seemed to him that two Angels approached to him, and tightly girded his loins. From that time forward, he never suffered the slightest feeling against purity. His sisters, also, had come to the castle, and tried to make him change his mind; but he, on the contrary, persuaded them to despise the world, and devote themselves to the exercise of a holy life.

Emissus e castro per fenestram, Neapolim reducitur. Unde Romam, postea Parisium a fratre Joanne Teutonico, Ordinis Præcvatorum generali Magistro, ductus, Alberto Magno doctore philosophiæ ac theologiæ operam dedit: viginti quinque annos natus, Magister est appellatus, publiceque philosophos ac theologos summa cum laude est interpetatus. Nunquem se lectioni aut scriptioni dedit, nisi post orationem. In difficultatibus locorum sacræ Scriptur&aelig, ad orationem jejunium adhibebat. Quin etiam sodali suo fratri Reginaldo dicere solebat, quidquid sciret, non tam studio aut labore suo peperisse, quam divinitus traditum accepisse. Neapoli, cum ad imaginem crucifixi vehementius oraret, hanc vocem audivit: Bene scripsisti de me, Thoma; quam ergo mercedem accipies? Cui ille: Non aliam, Domine nisi teipsum.

It was contrived that he should escape through a window of the castle, and return to Naples. He was thence taken by John the Teutonic, the general of the Dominican Order, first to Rome, and then to Paris, in which latter city he was taught philosophy and theology by Albert the Great. At the age of twenty-five, he received the title of Doctor, and explained in the public schools, and in a manner that made him the object of universal admiration, the writings of philosophers and theologians. He always applied himself to prayer, before reading or writing anything. When he met with any difficult passage in the Sacred Scriptures, he both fasted and prayed. He used often to say to his companion, Brother Reginald, that if he knew anything, it was more a gift from God, than the fruit of his own study and labor. One day, when at Naples, as he was praying, with more than his usual fervor, before a crucifix, he heard these words: “Well has thou written of me, Thomas! What reward wouldst thou have me give thee?” He answered: “None other, Lord, but thyself.”

Nullum fuit scriptorum genus in quibus non esset diligentissime versatus. Collationes Patrum assidue pervolutabat, nec tamen a prædicatione divini verbi desistebat. Quod cum faceret per Octavam Paschæ in Basilica Sancti Petri, mulierem quæ ejus fimbriam tetigerat, a fluxu sanguinis liberavit. Scripta ejus et multitudine, et varietate, et facilitate explicandi res difficiles, adeo excellunt, ut ob eam causam etiam nomen Doctoris Angelici jure sit adeptus. Ab Urbano Quarto Romam vocatus, adduci non potuit ut honores acciperet. Archiepiscopatum Neapolitanum, etiam deferente Clemente Quarto Pontifice, recusavit. Missus a Gregorio Decimo ad Concilium Lugdunense, in monasterio Fossæ Novæ in morbum incidit, ubi, ægrotus, Cantica canticorum explanavit. Ibidem obiit quinquagenarius, anno salutis millesimo ducentesimo septuagesimo quarto, Nonis Martii. Miraculis et vivus et mortuus floruit. A Joanne Vigesimo secundo in Sanctorum numerum relatus est, anno millesimo trecentesimo vigesimo tertio: cujus corpus postea, Urbano Quinto summo Pontifice, Tolosam translatum est.

There was not a book which he had not most carefully read. His favorite spiritual book was the Conferences of the Fathers. He was most zealous in preaching the Word of God. On one occasion, during Easter Week, as he was preaching in the Church of St. Peter, a woman touched the hem of his habit, and was cured of an issue of blood. His writings are so extraordinary, not only for their number and their variety, but also for their clearness in the explaining difficult points of doctrine, that he has received the title of Angelical Doctor. He was invited to Rome by Pope Urban the Fourth, but nothing could induce him to accept the honors which were offered him. He refused the Archbishopric of Naples, which Pope Clement the Fourth begged him to accept. He was sent by Gregory the Tenth to the Council of Lyons; but having got as far as Fossa Nova, he fell sick, and was received as a guest in the Monastery of that place, and wrote a commentary on the Canticle of Canticles. There he died, in the fiftieth year of his age, in the year of our Lord 1274, on the Nones of March (March 7^th). His sanctity was made manifest by miracles, both before and after his death. He was canonized by John the Twenty-second, in the year 1323. His body was translated to Toulouse, during the Pontificate of Urban the Fifth.

Exsultet mentis jubilo
Laudans turba fidelium,
Errorum pulso nubilo
Per novi solis radium.

Let the assembly of the Faithful exult in spiritual joy, and give praise to God, who has made a new sun to shine in our world, and disperse the clouds of error.

Thomas in mundi vespere,
Fudit thesauros gratiæ:
Donis plenus ex æthere
Morum, et sapientiæ.

It was in the evening of the world that Thomas shed his treasures of heavenly light. Heaven had enriched him with gifts of virtue and wisdom:

De cujus fonte luminis,
Verbi coruscant faculæ,
Scripturæ sacræ Numinis,
Et veritatis Regulæ.

From this fountain of light we have derived a brighter knowledge of the Word, the understanding of the Divine Scriptures, and the rules of truth.

Fulgens doctrinæ radiis,
Clarus vitæ munditia,
Splendens miris prodigiis.
Dat toto mundo gaudia.

The effulgent rays of his wisdom, the light of his spotless life, and the splendor of his miracles, have filled the universe with joy.

Laus Patri sit, ac Genito,
Simulque Sancto Flamini,
Qui sancti Thomæ merito
Nos cœli jungat agmini. Amen.

Praise, then, be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, and may our God, by the intercession and merits of his Saint, admit us into the choir of the blessed in heaven. Amen.

Thomas insignis genere,
Claram Ducens originem,
Subit ætatis teneræ
Prædicatorum Ordinem.

Noble by birth and parentage, Thomas, while in the bloom of youth, embraced the Order of Preachers.

Typum gessit Luciferi,
Splendens in cœtu nubium,
Plusquam doctores cæteri
Purgans dogma Gentilium.

Like to the star of the morn, brightly does he shine amidst the luminaries of earth, and, more than any Doctor of the Church, refutes the doctrines of the Gentiles.

Profunda scrutans fluminum,
In lucem pandit abdita,
Dum supra sensus hominum
Obscura facit cognita.

He explores the depth of mysteries, and brings to light the hidden gems of truth, for he teaches us what the mind of man had else never understood.

Fit paradisi fluvius,
Quadripartite pervius:
Fit Gedeonis gladius,
Tuba, lagena, radius.

God gives him to the Church as a Fountain of wisdom, like to that four-branched river of Paradise. He made him to be her Gedeon’s sword, her Trumpet, her Vase, her Torch.

Laus Patri sit, ac Genito
Simulque Sancto Flamini,
Qui sancti Thomæ merito,
Nos cœli jungat agmini. Amen.

Praise, then, be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. And may our God, by the intercession and merits of his Saint, admit us into the choir of the blessed in heaven. Amen.

Lauda, Mater Ecclesia,
Tomæ felicem exitum,
Qui pervenit ad gaudia,
Per Verbi vitæ meritum.

Dear Church, our Mother! the happy death of thy Thomas deserves a hymn of praise. By the merits of Him that is the Word of Life, he is now in endless joy.

Fossa Nova tunc suscipit
Thecam thesauri gratiæ,
Gum Christo Thomam efficit,
Hæredem regni gloriæ.

It was at Fossa Nova that the rich treasury and grace was welcomed as a guest. It was there that he received from Christ the inheritance of eternal glory.

Manens doctrinæ veritas,
Et funeris integritas,
Mira fragrans suavitas,
Ægris collata sanitas.

He has left us the fruits of truth; he has left us his glorious relics, which breathe forth a heavenly fragrance, and work cures for the suffering sick.

Monstrat hunc dignum laudibus
Terræ, ponto, et superis;
Nos juvet suis precibus,
Deo commendet meritis.

Right well, then, is honor his due; earth, and sea, and heaven, all may give him praise. May his prayers and merits intercede for us with God.

Laus Patri sit, ac Genito,
Simulque Sancto Flamini,
Qui sancti Thomæ merito
Nos cœli jungat agmini. Amen.

Praise, then, be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. And may our God, by the intercession and merits of his Saint, admit us into the choir of the blessed in heaven. Amen.