St. Thomas Aquinas

"What does it take to become a saint? Will it.

The things we love tell us what we are."
- St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274)

Today is the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas. Thomas was born in Aquino, Italy, in 1225. At the age of 5, he was brought to the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino where his parents hoped he would later become abbott. In 1239, he was sent to the University of Naples. In 1243, despite his family's plans, he joined the Dominicans. His mother ordered that his brothers capture him and bring him back home, so as to convince him not to continue on in the order. When he would not change his mind, he was allowed to continue on in the Dominican Order and was sent to Cologne and Paris where he finished his studies with St. Albert the Great. He later became a professor at Paris, and directed the Dominican schools at Rome and Viterbo. He also helped defend the mendicant (beggar) orders. His most popular, yet unfinished writing is Summa Theologiae, which explains all of Catholic Theology. Thomas died on March 7, 1274, at the Fossa Nuova Cistercian abbey, and was canonized in 1323. He was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius V. 

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!

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Picture Of And Information About St. Thomas Taken From:

http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2530

http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saintofday/

http://corinquietam.blogspot.com/2012/08/st-thomas-of-aquinas-on-gods.html