St. Thomas Aquinas, the Big Question Saint
St. Thomas Aquinas (say a-KWY-nus) was a friar who loved to learn and to ask big questions. Every answer he found led him closer to God!
St. Thomas Aquinas
The Big Question Saint
Curious About God!
Meet St. Thomas Aquinas!
St. Thomas Aquinas (say a-KWY-nus) was a friar who loved to learn and to ask big questions. Every answer he found led him closer to God!
The patron saint of students
Follow St. Thomas!
Let's follow Thomas on his great big learning adventure.
Story 1
The Baby Who Held On
Roccasecca, Italy, about 1225
Long ago, in a castle on a hill in Italy, a baby boy named Thomas was born. His family was rich and important, and they loved him very much.
One day, baby Thomas found a little paper with the Hail Mary written on it. He held it tight and would not let go! Even as a baby, he loved Mother Mary.
Let us pray
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you!
Story 2
What Is God?
Monte Cassino, Italy, about 1230
When Thomas was five, he went to school at a big abbey on top of a mountain. The kind monks there taught him to read, to write and to pray.
Thomas had one question that he asked again and again: “What is God?” He asked his teachers. He asked the monks. He never stopped wondering!
Thomas wondered about the sun, the stars and the singing birds. Everything he learned showed him how great and good God is!
Let us pray
Dear God, help me to learn more about You every day.
Story 3
A Basket for Thomas
Roccasecca, Italy, 1244
When Thomas grew up, he met the Dominican friars. They were poor and joyful, and they traveled around teaching about God. Thomas wanted to be a friar too!
But his family wanted him to be rich and important, so they kept him at home in the castle for a whole year! Thomas didn't get grumpy. He read, prayed and taught his sisters about God.
At last, his sisters helped him climb down from the tower in a big basket! Off he went to join the friars. Hooray!
Let us pray
Jesus, help me to follow You with all my heart.
Story 4
The Quiet Ox
Cologne, Germany, 1248
Thomas went to study with a wise teacher, St. Albert. Thomas was big and very quiet, so some students called him “the Ox.” They didn't know how much he understood!
One day, a classmate tried to help Thomas with a hard lesson. But Thomas explained it even better, so clearly and kindly! His classmate's mouth fell open.
St. Albert smiled and said, “One day this ox will bellow so loudly that the whole world will hear him!” And it did!
Let us pray
Jesus, help me to be humble and kind, just like Thomas.
Story 5
The Big Idea
Paris, France, about 1269
Thomas became a teacher in Paris. Students came from far away to hear him. He wrote SO many books that they would fill a whole bookshelf!
Thomas had so many ideas that he needed helpers to write them down. Sometimes he talked about different books to different helpers, all at the same time!
Once, Thomas had dinner with good King Louis. Suddenly he thumped the table: “I've got it!” He'd been thinking about God! The kind king smiled and sent for someone to write it down.
Let us pray
Holy Spirit, fill my mind with good ideas.
Story 6
Songs for Jesus
Orvieto, Italy, 1264
The Pope asked Thomas to write prayers and songs for a brand-new feast day, all about Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.
Thomas wrote beautiful songs for Jesus. Today, all around the world, people still sing them when they adore Jesus in the Eucharist!
Let us pray
Jesus, I adore You in the Holy Eucharist.
Story 7
Only You, Lord
Naples, Italy, 1273
Thomas loved to pray. Late at night, he often went to the chapel to talk with Jesus about everything he was writing.
One night, Jesus spoke to him from the cross: “You have written well about Me, Thomas. What would you like as a reward?”
Thomas answered, “Only You, Lord!” Not long after, Jesus took Thomas home to Heaven. His books still help people everywhere to know and love God.
Let us pray
Jesus, You are my greatest treasure. I love You!
A Prayer to St. Thomas
Let's pray it together!
St. Thomas, you loved to learn, and you loved God most of all. Help me to ask good questions, to listen well and to learn new things. Fill my mind with good ideas and my heart with love for Jesus. Help me to share what I learn with others. Amen.
A little prayer for little ones
Thomas, Thomas, wise and kind, help me grow in heart and mind. Help me learn and help me pray, and love God more in every way! Amen.
Big Questions!
St. Thomas loved to wonder. What do you wonder about?
St. Thomas's answer: God made everything with love, and that includes YOU!
Be Like St. Thomas!
Color in a book each time you do it!
I can ask a big question.
I can read a book with a grown-up.
I can say a prayer before I learn.
I can help a friend who is stuck.
I can thank God for all He made!
St. Thomas's Special Day
January 28
Every year on January 28, the Church celebrates St. Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of students. Here are some fun ways to celebrate!
Ask a big question
Read a book together
Sing a song for Jesus
Pray before school
Color St. Thomas!
Keep wondering!
God loves your questions!
St. Thomas asked big questions, and every answer led him closer to God. When you wonder, learn and pray, you are a lot like him. St. Thomas is cheering you on!
Dear Jesus, thank You for St. Thomas. Help me to learn and to love You more. Amen.
For Grown-Ups
Where these stories come from: the early lives of St. Thomas written by those who knew him, retold here simply and gently for young children.
The Baby Who Held On. Thomas was born around 1225 at Roccasecca, between Rome and Naples, to Landulf and Theodora of Aquino. His early biographers tell of the baby clutching a scrap of paper bearing the Hail Mary and refusing to let it go.
What Is God? At about five he was entrusted to the great Benedictine Abbey of Monte Cassino, where he is remembered asking his teachers again and again, “What is God?”
A Basket for Thomas. While studying in Naples he joined the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) in 1244. His family, who hoped he would become abbot of Monte Cassino, kept him at home for about a year; he spent it studying and teaching his sisters. Tradition says his sisters helped him get away by lowering him from a window in a basket.
The Quiet Ox. He studied under St. Albert the Great in Cologne. Fellow students called him “the dumb ox” because he was large and silent (softened here for young readers); Albert replied that this ox's bellowing would one day be heard throughout the world.
The Big Idea. He taught at the University of Paris and wrote a great deal, including the Summa Theologiae, often dictating to several secretaries at once. At dinner with King St. Louis IX he suddenly struck the table, having found an argument, and the king had a secretary write it down.
Songs for Jesus. When Pope Urban IV established the feast of Corpus Christi in 1264, Thomas composed its prayers and hymns, including Pange Lingua (with Tantum Ergo), Panis Angelicus and O Salutaris Hostia.
Only You, Lord. In Naples in 1273, a friar heard Christ speak to Thomas from the crucifix: “You have written well of me, Thomas. What reward would you have?” He answered, “Nothing but you, Lord.” He died on March 7, 1274, at Fossanova, on his way to the Council of Lyon. Canonized in 1323 and named a Doctor of the Church, he is patron of students and schools. His feast day is January 28.
St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!
The end
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