St. Thomas Aquinas

St . Thomas Aquinas was born 1225 in the castle of Roccasecca in the kingdom of Sicily. At the age of 5, he was educated in the Monte Cassino until there was a military conflict between Pope Gregory IX and king Frederick II in which he had to enroll at the Stadium Generale in Naples. During his education, he met a Dominican preacher named John that convinced Thomas to join the Dominican order. His family did not approve of this, so his brothers kidnapped him in Rome and locked him up in a castle for one year. Later on, his mother arranged an escape for Thomas through the window of his room. After his escape, he continued his education in Paris at the Faculty of the Arts at the University of Paris. He would later on teach students about the old testament as an apprentice professor in Cologne. Throughout the years he became a preacher and went to many places to preach. In the year 1272, the Dominicans called to Thomas to help build a University in Naples. After the building of the University, Thomas was seen crying and levitating before an icon of the crucified christ in the Dominican convent of Naples. Thomas died on March 7, 1274 due to many illnesses he experienced after seeing the crucified christ. His feast day is January 28 and he is the patron saint of students and universities.

This stained glass of Thomas Aquinas was donated by Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Edge. Mr. J. A. Edge was a county commissioner. He died 3 years after the church was built in 1913.

St. Thomas Aquinas is holding a book and a quill symbolizing the many books he wrote about Jesus and God during his time. It also represents education and learning in which he is the patron saint of. His outfit is a sign of two virtues, simplicity (the black robes) and humility (the white robes). Simplicity means to be understanding, plain, and natural and humility means to be humble and selfless to one another.

My Source: Catholic Online. "St. Thomas Aquinas - Saints & Angels." Catholic Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2019.