Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints
- Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor of the Church
- Peter Nolasco, confessor
- John of Reomay, abbot
- Paulinus of Aquileia, bishop
- Charlemagne
- Amadeus, bishop
- Peter Thomas, bishop
St. Thomas of Aquinas (ca. 1225-1274 A.D.) was of noble ancestry. He was the son of a count and a relative of both the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the King of France. Thus, his family was strongly opposed to him entering the Order of Preachers. Despite all the dissuasion of his family members, he managed to obtain studies in Paris and Cologne with St. Albert the Great, and was ordained as a Dominican around 1250 A.D.
Before the acknowledgement of the social sciences as one of the means to understand the Christian faith in the world, it was the scholastic theology of St. Thomas Aquinas that dominated the official theology of the Church and the tradition of reason and divine revelation.
St. Thomas drew a sharp distinction between faith and reason. He emphasized that the fundamental Christian doctrines, though impossible to establish by reason, are not contrary to reason and can be understood by revelation. Nevertheless, as regards such truths as God's existence, St. Thomas believed that it can be discovered by natural reason.
St. Thomas Aquinas was canonized a saint in 1323 A.D. and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius V in 1567 A.D. He is the patron saint of students, schools, colleges and universities.
Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas
Lord, Father all-powerful, and ever-living God, I thank you, for even though I am a sinner, your unprofitable servant, not because of my worth, but in the kindness of your mercy, you have fed me with the precious body and blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that this holy communion may not bring me condemnation and punishment but forgiveness and salvation.
May it be a helmet of faith and a shield of good will.
May it purify me from evil ways and put an end to my evil passions.
May it bring me charity and patience, humility and obedience, and growth in the power to do good.
May it be a strong defense against all my enemies, visible and invisible, and the perfect calming of all my evil impulses, bodily and spiritual.
May it unite me more closely to you, the one true God, and lead me safely through death to everlasting happiness with you.
And I pray that you will lead me, a sinner, to the banquet where you, with your Son and Holy Spirit, are true and perfect light, total fulfillment, everlasting joy, gladness without end, and perfect happiness to your saints.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Biographical sketch, teaching and spirituality, and excerpts from the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, Learn more
Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [January 28]
- Ephraem, "Prophet of Syrians and cithara of Holy Spirit"
In the Roman Calendar the feast of St. Ephraem is commemorated every 9th of June. In the Byzantine Calendar he is commemorated every 28th of January. He is commemorated also this day by the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches. On June 10, he is commemorated by the Episcopal Church in the USA.
St. Ephraem, or Ephrem (ca. 306-373 A.D.) was only a deacon, but he wrote many works in Syriac on exegetical, dogmatic, and ascetical themes with Scriptures as his main sources.
He:
- wrote against the Arians
- wrote against the Gnostics
- wrote on the Last Judgment
- was devoted to the Blessed Virgin
- introduced hymns in public worship and religious instruction
- composed Nisibeian hymns
- composed canticles for the seasons
St. Ephrem was called "Harp of the Holy Spirit" or "cithara of the Holy Spirit". In 1920 A.D., Pope Benedict XV declared him Doctor of the Church - the only Syrian to be honored as such.
St. Ephrem: Birth and early life, his life in Nisibis, his retirement at Edessa, and his work in the famine of Edessa & death, Learn more
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