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Saint Thomas was born at Roccasecca, Italy in 1225 of the family of the Counts of Aquino. At the age of seventeen he received the habit of the Order at Naples. He was a disciple of Saint Albert the Great, and at the early age of twenty-five obtained the title of Doctor at the University of Paris. He spent his life teaching and writing, deriving as he said, more light and help from the Crucifix than from books. His immortal Summa Theologiae is his best known work. He devoted all of his energy to the service of truth, eagerly searching it out, lovingly contemplating it, and imparting it to others through his writing, his teaching and his preaching. His life was marked by devotion to the Passion of the Lord, to the mystery of the Eucharist and to the Virgin Mary, Mother of God. His hymns on the Blessed Sacrament are among the greatest treasures of the liturgy. In his humility he declined all worldly honors and ecclesiastical dignities. He was renowned for his purity. He died on March 7, 1274, at the Cistercian Monastery of Fossanova, while on his way to the Council of Lyons. In 1323 he was solemnly canonized by Pope John XXII. Known as the “Angelic Doctor,” he was declared Doctor of the Church by Pope Saint Pius V; and by Pope Leo XIII in 1880 was declared Patron of Catholic Schools. Pope Pius XI declared him Doctor of the Most Holy Eucharist. He is Patron of the Confraternity of the Angelic Warfare. This date recalls the translation of his remains to Toulouse. Read More.

Works Recently Added: St. Thomas Aquinas: Summa Contra Gentiles - ALL BOOKS ARE NOW ONLINE: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3-1, Book 3-2, and Book 4; as well as The Lenten Homilies and The Easter Homilies of St. Thomas Aquinas. Also: The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich; Exercise of the Way of the Cross by St. Alphonsus de Liguori; and The Rhythmical Prayer to the Sacred Members of Jesus Hanging upon the Cross by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. The Divinity of Christ by Joseph Rickaby.

The Dominican Portal — Resources related to the Order of Preachers.

A famous painter of the Florentine school, born near Castello di Vicchio in the province of Mugello, Tuscany, 1387; died at Rome, 1455. He was christened Guido, and his father's name being Pietro he was known as Guido, or Guidolino, di Pietro, but his full appellation today is that of "Blessed Fra Angelico Giovanni da Fiesole". He and his supposed younger brother, Fra Benedetto da Fiesole, or da Mugello, joined the order of Preachers in 1407, entering the Dominican convent at Fiesole. Giovanni was twenty years old at the time the brothers began their art careers as illustrators of manuscripts, and Fra Benedetto, who had considerable talent as an illuminator and miniaturist, is supposed to have assisted his more celebrated brother in his famous frescoes in the convent of San Marco in Florence. Read more about the life of Fra Angelico or view selections of his artwork in our gallery.