St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Theologian

St. Thomas Aquinas lived during the thirteenth century. He was a religious and scholastic philosopher and the greatest of all Catholic theologians. The Catholic Church still considers the works of St. Thomas Aquinas the most important explanations ever written for understanding the Catholic faith and Christian teachings.

Patron Saint Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas was a brilliant philosopher and educator. For this reason, he was named the patron saint of many academic causes:

* Academics
* Apologists
* Book sellers
* Catholic academies
* Catholic Schools
* Colleges
* Learning
* Pencil makers
* Philosophers
* Publishers
* Scholars
* Schools
* Students
* Theologians

Many Catholics give a St. Thomas Aquinas medal or a St. Thomas Aquinas medallion as a gift to students to help them receive the inspiration of this great philosopher as they go about their studies. Wearing a St. Thomas Aquinas pendant reminds all students to persevere in their education and path to the truth of faith and life.

St. Thomas Aquinas Prayer for Students

Creator of all things,
true source of light and wisdom,
origin of all being,
graciously let a ray of your light penetrate
the darkness of my understanding.

Take from me the double darkness
in which I have been born,
an obscurity of sin and ignorance.

Give me a keen understanding,
a retentive memory, and
the ability to grasp things
correctly and fundamentally.

Grant me the talent
of being exact in my explanations
and the ability to express myself
with thoroughness and charm.

Point out the beginning,
direct the progress,
and help in the completion.

I ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

St. Thomas Aquinas Prayer for Guidance

O creator past all telling,
you have appointed from the treasures of your wisdom
the hierarchies of angels,
disposing them in wondrous order
above the bright heavens,
and have so beautifully set out all parts of the universe.

You we call the true fount of wisdom
and the noble origin of all things.
Be pleased to shed
on the darkness of mind in which I was born,
The twofold beam of your light
and warmth to dispel my ignorance and sin.

You make eloquent the tongues of children.
Then instruct my speech
and touch my lips with graciousness.
Make me keen to understand, quick to learn,
able to remember;
make me delicate to interpret and ready to speak.

Guide my going in and going forward,
lead home my going forth.
You are true God and true man,
and live for ever and ever.
--St Thomas Aquinas, 1225-74