Feast Day · January 28

Thomas Aquinas

Patron ofStudents, Universities, Theologians, Philosophers

SituationsExams, Learning Difficulties, Studies

ProfessionsAcademics, Philosophers, Students, Theologians

Why this patronage

Saint Thomas Aquinas is the patron of students, universities, theologians, and philosophers for the most natural reason imaginable: he was the supreme teacher of the Church, the “Angelic Doctor,” whose Summa Theologiae shaped Catholic thought as no other work has, and whose method still orders the study of theology and philosophy. Pope Leo XIII formally named him patron of all Catholic schools and universities (1880). There is a tender added cause behind his patronage of students and exams: as a boy he was so quiet and ponderous that his classmates mocked him as “the dumb ox,” yet his master Albert the Great answered that this ox’s bellow would one day be heard through the whole world — so the student who is underestimated, or who dreads an examination, prays to the saint who was doubted and proved the greatest mind of his age.

Life

Saint Thomas Aquinas was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and theologian who lived from 1225 to 1274. His monumental work, the Summa Theologica, remains one of the most influential works in Western philosophy and Catholic theology. He is known as the “Angelic Doctor.”

Prayer

Prayer Before Study (Oratio Ante Studium)

Creator ineffábilis,

Ineffable Creator,

qui de thesáuris sapiéntiae tuae

who from the treasures of Your wisdom

tres Angelórum hierarchías designásti

have established three hierarchies of angels

et eas super caelum empýreum

and set them above the empyrean heaven

miro órdine collocásti

in wonderful order,

atque univérsi partes elegantíssime distribuísti:

and have apportioned the parts of the universe most elegantly:

Tu, inquam, qui verus fons lúminis et sapiéntiae díceris

You who are called the true font of light and wisdom

ac superéminens princípium,

and the primal origin,

infúndere dignéris super intelléctus mei ténebras

deign to pour upon the darkness of my understanding

tuae rádium claritátis,

the ray of Your brightness,

dúplicem in qua natus sum

removing from me the double darkness

a me remóvens caliginem, peccátum scílicet et ignorántiam.

in which I was born, namely sin and ignorance.

Da mihi intelléctus acúmen,

Give me keenness of understanding,

memoriae capacitátem,

capacity for remembering,

addiscéndi modum et facilitátem,

method and ease in learning,

interpretándi subtilitátem,

subtlety in interpreting,

loquéndi grátiam copiosam.

and abundant grace in speaking.

Ingréssum ínstruas, progréssum dírigas,

Order my beginning, direct my progress,

egréssum compleas.

and set Your seal upon the finished work.

Per Christum Dóminum nostrum.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

— Attributed to Saint Thomas Aquinas