15 Days of prayer with St. Thomas Aquinas

Saint Thomas Aquinas (c. 12251274), generally regarded as the greatest of Catholic theologians, was born of a knightly family, educated at the monastery of Monte Cassino, and in 1244 joined the Dominican Order against his family’s wishes. His life was dedicated to studying, lecturing, and writing his major works were Summa contra Gentes and Summa Theologica but Thomas was also a mystic, engaging in deeply contemplative prayer that was sometimes ecstatic. In 1272 he experienced a divine revelation, after which he declared his writings “so much straw” in comparison to what he had seen, and composed no more in the brief period before his death.

André Pinet is a Benedictine at the Fleury monastery, a theologian, and director of the oblates of that community.

Suzanne Vrai is a lay oblate of the Benedictine monastery at Fleury in the Loire region of France.