Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas

Today is the Feast of the Angelic Doctor, the "Dumb Ox", in the Ordinary Form. In the usus antiquior, we do not celebrate the feast until March 7th, which is more proper since that is the day of his death and entrance into Heaven.

However, today is still an important day because it commemorates the translation of his remains to Toulouse, which is the home of the Order of Preachers, and so we should not allow the day to go unobserved.

St. Thomas should hold a special place in our hearts as Catholics, not only for his immense intellect, but  also for his profound holiness and witness to the Faith. Lest we forget, the great Eucharistic hymns, the Tantum Ergo, the Adoro Te Devote, the Pange Lingua , and the Sacris Solemniis, were composed by St. Thomas, and perhaps in their own way rival the depth of truth contained within his Summa Theologiae.

Of all things, however, Pope Leo XIII said,

this is the greatest glory of Thomas, altogether his own and shared with no other Catholic Doctor, that the Fathers of Trent, in order to proceed in an orderly fashion during the conclave, desired to have opened upon the altar together with the Scriptures and the decrees of the Supreme Pontiffs, the Summa of St. Thomas Aquinas whence they could draw counsel, reasons and answers.

Finally, St. Thomas is unique in that of all of the Saints, he is the only one of whom in the liturgy we ask that we might "understand what he taught and imitate what he accomplished".

And so, today, perhaps let us ask for his intercession in our lives that our devotion to Our Lord, especially in his Eucharistic presence, might increase, and also that our knowledge of the Faith might be enlightened so as to gain the true path to holiness.

Collect:

O God, who made Saint Thomas Aquinas

outstanding in his zeal for holiness

and his study of sacred doctrine,

grant us, we pray,

that we may understand what he taught

and imitate what he accomplished.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.