Top five articles on St Thomas Aquinas
On the feast of St Thomas Aquinas, check out our top five articles on the Angelic Doctor of the Church.
Since our launch in 2021, The WM Review has sought to provide rigorous and solidly theologically resources for our fellow Catholics.
In honour of the feast of St Thomas Aquinas, we are presenting a curated selection of our favourite five articles or series on the Angelic Doctor.
In no particular order…
FIRST ARTICLE: St Thomas Aquinas and the Church
This two-part series examines the status of St Thomas in the Church, both in his intrinsic authority as the greatest of theologians, and in his extrinsic authority as “canonised” by the Church as the Common Doctor:
SECOND ARTICLE: The Fioretti of St Thomas Aquinas
This three-part series is a summary and re-ordering of the testimonies given in St Thomas’s 1319 canonisation enquiry, 45 years after his death. We have called it the “Fioretti” of St Thomas, referring to the Fioretti of St Francis, the classic collection of incidents in the life of St Francis.
The difference here, however, is that the fioretti of St Thomas are not stories passed down by hearsay: they are sworn testimonies recounted under oath by respectable men, both from the clergy and the laity.
They provide a unique view into the life of St Thomas which later biographies cannot:
THIRD ARTICLE: St Thomas Aquinas, Humour and Depression
Some people seem to think that it’s a good thing to be being grouchy, rude and boorish. Others present a common “hot take” that depression is actually a form of pride. In this two-part series, we dig into what St Thomas said on these issues, taking St Philip Neri as a case study of their exercise in a saint.
FOURTH ARTICLE: True Law According to the Principles of St Thomas
In recent memory, governments worldwide enforced draconian regulations, the likes of which we may have never imagined. In the face of these violations of the most basic rights, many were extremely compliant, often on the grounds that “it is the law” and must be obeyed.
This piece considers the traditional teaching of the Church on the nature of law, as expressed by St Thomas:
FIFTH ARTICLE: St Thomas Aquinas and the Necessity of the Church for Supernatural Faith
Is it possible for non-Catholics to have the virtue of faith—without which it is impossible to please God? Today, many answer this question in the affirmative. However, the issue is considerably more subtle than it might appear.
In this two-part series, Fr Marín-Sola takes us through St Thomas Aquinas' treatise on the virtue of faith, and shows why the Church is indispensable for this virtue.
This issue has significant implications for the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus (“outside the Church, there is no salvation”).
HONORABLE MENTION: The Angelic Warfare Confraternity, of the Cord of St Thomas Aquinas
As one comes to know St Thomas, one comes to love him. One of the most obvious things that Catholics look for under such circumstances is some sort of confraternity by which they can make public and external this love.
As luck should have it, there is indeed such a confraternity. These two articles explain what it is, how it came to be, and how it can help many Catholics today.
Some Books
In addition to the articles above, take a look at some of these recommended texts. Every purchase made with these links earns The WM Review a small commission. Enjoy!
Summa Theologica, Trans. by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province, (5 vols.) Ave Maria Press, Hardback (and UK readers) and Paperback (and UK readers). Also online at New Advent and iPieta.
Summa Theologiae, Aquinas Institute (8 vols.) Latin-English, based on the English Fathers’ translation, without the Supplementum parts. (And for UK readers) Supplementum I-68 (and UK readers) Supplementum 69-99 (and UK readers)
Summa Contra Gentiles, Aquinas Institute in 2 vols: Vol. I (Books I-II) and Vol. 2 (Books III-IV) and for UK readers here and here. Budget single-volume from Aeterna Press (and for UK readers) and online at iPieta or Aquinas.cc
Catena Aurea (and for UK readers). 4 vols, line-by-line commentary on the four Gospels from the Fathers of the Church, assembled by St Thomas Aquinas and translated by Cardinal John Henry Newman. Published by Baronius Press.
Abbé Anger, The Doctrine of the Mystical Body According to the Principles of St Thomas Aquinas (and for UK readers). Internet Archive. Draws together several texts for which there is a bit of a lacuna in the Summa itself.
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