LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
I’m deeply grateful for your
generosity, which helps us to
provide Dominican Friars, other
professed religious, and laity
with the best theological and
pastoral formation possible.
—Father John A. Langlois, O.P.
Saint Thomas Aquinas Before the Crucifix
Saint Dominic's Church
Washington, D.C.
Summer greetings! Although summer
offers a bit of a break from the more
intense schedule of the academic year,
here at the PFIC teaching continues,
and our mission is still being carried
out through our summer M.A. program
in Thomistic Studies. We are blessed to
have over 25 Nashville Dominican sisters
enrolled in this program, as
well as a few other students!
This summer program allows
students who are otherwise
occupied during the normal
academic year to obtain the
Master’s degree over the
course of four or five years.
It forms part of the PFIC’s
outreach and service beyond
our Dominican seminarians
to the wider Church.
You might be asking yourself,
“What exactly is a program
in Thomistic Studies?” The
word “Thomistic” refers to the theological
perspective of Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Saint Thomas has been acknowledged
as one of the greatest minds of human
intellectual history—and he was one of
our own, a Dominican friar!
Thomas de Aquino was born in southern
Italy in 1225, the son of a noble family. He
encountered the Dominicans during his
studies at the University of Naples. As I
mentioned in my last letter, the early friars
consciously chose to establish priories
near the important universities of Europe,
and Naples was one of these. Although
Thomas’ family had hopes that he would
become a Benedictine monk, he was
more attracted to the newly established
Faith & Reason - Volume II, Issue II
Dominicans, who emphasized a life of
study for the sake of preaching. While still
in formation, his superior intellect was
quickly recognized, and he was selected
to do advanced theological studies at the
prestigious University of Paris. In 1256, he
became a Master of Theology at the age of
30, five years below the typical minimum
age! He would spend the rest
of his life teaching theology
in Paris, Naples, and–for a
time–Rome.
In addition to teaching, Saint
Thomas would produce
a prodigious number of
theological works, the most
famous of which would be
his Summa Theologiae. His
Summa was an attempt
to gather into one work a
complete
consideration
of all the different aspects
of theology. It was a
monumental achievement and has served
as a fundamental treatise of Catholic
theology ever since.
I will have much more to say about some
of the more important characteristics of
the Thomistic theological perspective
in upcoming issues of Faith and Reason.
Today at the PFIC, we continue to pass
on the incredible intellectual heritage
we have received from our brother,
Saint Thomas, not only in our summer
program, but in every degree program
that we offer. Although his work is now
eight centuries old, it is as relevant in
responding to the questions and problems
of our contemporary culture as it was in
his own day!
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