On Prayer and The Contemplative Life | Page 3

God's extraordinary dealings with favoured souls, and while
they presuppose prayer and contemplation on the part of those so
visited they themselves form no integral part of the Contemplative Life;
indeed, they are the exception. Hence in these pages we shall find
nought touching Supernatural manifestations, such as visions, ecstasies,
and revelations; but we shall find what is of far greater use to us--a
Catechism on Devotion, Prayer, and Contemplation.
* * * * *
The main features of the Life of S. Thomas of Aquin are known to
most of those who are likely to read this book. His life at first sight
seems of such an even tenor that there is but little to record. Yet when
we penetrate beneath the surface we realize that he lived in stirring
days, and that his short span of fifty years was passed in the full light of
the world of the thirteenth century. Thomas was born in the beginning
of the year 1225 in the castle of Rocca-Secca, the ancestral home of the
Counts of Aquino, in the kingdom of Sicily. His future glory was
foretold to his mother, the Countess Theodora, by a hermit of that
neighbourhood who also foretold that his parents would endeavour to
make him a monk in the Benedictine Abbey of Monte Cassino, but that
God had other designs for him, since he was to be a Friar Preacher, a
member of the Order of the great S. Dominic who had just gone to his
reward. The prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. At the early age of five
years he was sent to the Abbey to be educated among the young nobles
of the day, as was then the custom. Even thus early he showed a
remarkable maturity of character, and his biographer, William of Tocco,
dwells with delight on the calm reserve of his childish days and on that
eager seeking after God which was to be his future glory.[3]
From Monte Cassino Thomas passed to Naples to complete his studies.
Here he became conscious of his vocation, and offered himself to the
Dominicans. The Prior of the convent at Naples at that time was Father
John of S. Julian, who later became Patriarch of Jerusalem[4]; he gave
the habit of the Order to Thomas, who was then but fourteen years of
age. His parents were indignant at this step, and did all in their power to

shake his determination. Fearing their recourse to the violent methods
then so common, the Dominicans sent Thomas to the convent of Santa
Sabina at Rome. But S. Thomas's brothers, at their mother's bidding,
seized upon the young man and carried him off in his religious habit to
his mother who kept him imprisoned for nearly two years.[5] During
this time of anxiety nothing disturbed the Saint's equanimity, and he
made good use of his time by studying the Bible, the Book of the
Sentences--the Theological Manual of those days--and also Aristotle's
philosophical treatises. It was at this time that the diabolical attempt
upon his virtue was made--an attempt which the Saint resisted
effectually; in reward for his constancy he was miraculously girded
with a cincture by two Angels from Heaven.[6] Failing in their attempt
to shake his determination, his brothers permitted him to escape, and he
returned to the convent at Naples in 1245. Thence he was sent by his
superiors to Rome, and shortly afterwards to Paris and Cologne to
study under Blessed Albert the Great. At Cologne he led the life of a
simple student, a life of recollection, prayer, and study. But his
extraordinary talents could not long remain hid. The post of Bachelor in
the famous House of Studies at Paris was vacant, and at the suggestion
of Cardinal Hugo à S. Caro, himself a Dominican, S. Thomas was
appointed by the Master-General of the Order to the vacant post. This
was a blow to the Saint's humility, but he accepted it under obedience.
The impression made by his teaching was extraordinary, and the words
of William of Tocco on this point are worth transcribing: "Erat enim
novos in sua lectione movens articulos, novum modum et clarum
determinandi inveniens, et novas reducens in determinationibus
rationes: ut nemo qui ipsum audisset nova docere, et novis rationibus
dubia definire dubitaret, quod eum Deus novi luminis radiis illustrasset,
qui statim tam certi c[oe]pisset esse judicii, ut non dubitaret novas
opiniones docere et scribere, quas Deus dignatus esset noviter
inspirare." This novelty in method was evidently remarkable, but, while
provoking the attacks of some, it attracted an immense crowd to his
lectures, and this not simply by reason of the novelty which
characterized them, but by reason of the supereminent sanctity of the
teacher. "Dilectus Deo!" cries out his biographer. "Qui scientiam tribuit;
et acceptus hominibus, quibus