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Pope Benedict XVI- General Audiences |
General
Audience
On St. Thomas Aquinas
"He Showed There is a Natural Harmony Between Christian Faith and
Reason"
H.H. Benedict XVI
June 2, 2010
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
After a few catecheses on the priesthood and my latest trips, we return
today to our principal theme, namely, to the meditation on some of the
great thinkers of the Middle Ages. We saw recently the great figure of
St. Bonaventure, Franciscan, and today I would like to speak of him whom
the Church calls the Doctor Communis, namely St. Thomas Aquinas.
In his encyclical "Fides et Ratio," my venerated predecessor, Pope John
Paul II recalled that "the Church has been justified in consistently
proposing St. Thomas a master of thought and a model of the right way to
do theology" (No. 43). It is not surprising that, after St. Augustine,
among the writers mentioned in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, St.
Thomas is quoted more than any other -- some 61 times! He was also
called the Doctor Angelicus, perhaps because of his virtues, in
particular the loftiness of his thought and purity of life.
Thomas was born between 1224 and 1225 in the castle that his family,
noble and wealthy, owned in Roccasecca, on the outskirts of Aquino and
near the famous abbey of Montecassino where he was sent by his parents
to receive the first elements of his instruction. A year or so later he
transferred to Naples, the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily, where
Frederick II had founded a prestigious university. There he was taught,
without the limitations in force elsewhere, the thought of the Greek
philosopher Aristotle, to whom the young Thomas was introduced, and
whose great value he intuited immediately.
But above all, during those years spent in Naples, his Dominican
vocation was born. In fact, Thomas was attracted by the ideal of the
order founded not many years earlier by St. Dominic. However, when he
was clothed in the Dominican habit, his family opposed this choice, and
he was obliged to leave the convent and spend some time with the family.
In 1245, now older, he was able to take up again his path of response to
God's call. He was sent to Paris to study theology under the guidance of
another saint, Albert the Great, about whom I spoke recently. Albert and
Thomas forged a true and profound friendship and they learned to esteem
and wish one another well, to the point that Albert wanted his disciple
to follow him also to Cologne, where he had been invited by the
superiors of the order to found a theological study. Thomas now made
contact with all of Aristotle's works and with his Arab commentators,
which Albert illustrated and explained.
In that period, the culture of the Latin world was profoundly stimulated
by the encounter with Aristotle's works, which had been ignored for a
long time. They were writings on the nature of knowledge, on the natural
sciences, on metaphysics, on the soul and on ethics, rich in information
and intuition that seemed valid and convincing. It was a whole complete
vision of the world developed without and before Christ, with pure
reason, and it seemed to impose itself on reason as "the" vision itself;
hence, it was an incredible fascination for young people to see and know
this philosophy. Many received with enthusiasm, and some with acritical
enthusiasm, this enormous baggage of ancient learning, which seemed to
be able to renew the culture advantageously, to open totally new
horizons. Others, however, feared that Aristotle's pagan thought was in
opposition to the Christian faith, and they refused to study him. Two
cultures met: the pre-Christian culture of Aristotle, with his radical
rationality, and the classic Christian culture.
Certain environments were led to refuse Aristotle, as well as the
presentation that was made of this philosopher by the Arab commentators
Avicenna and Averroes. In fact, they were the ones who transmitted
Aristotelian philosophy to the Latin world. For example, these
commentators had taught that men do not have a personal intelligence,
but that there is only one universal intellect, a common spiritual
substance for all, which operates in all as "the only one," hence, a
de-personalization of man. Another disputed point made by the Arab
commentators was that the world is eternal like God. Understandably,
endless disputes were unleashed in the university and ecclesiastical
realms. Aristotelian philosophy was being spread, even among simple
people.
Thomas Aquinas, in the school of Albert the Great, carried out an
operation of fundamental importance for the history of philosophy and
theology, I would say for the history of culture: He studied Aristotle
and his interpreters in depth, obtaining new Latin translations of the
original texts in Greek. Thus, he no longer relied only on the Arab
commentators, but could read the original texts personally, and he
commented on a great part of the Aristotelian works, distinguishing what
was valid from what was doubtful or to be refuted all together, showing
the consonance with events of Christian revelation and using
Aristotelian thought at length and acutely in the exposition of the
theological writings he composed. In short, Thomas Aquinas showed there
is a natural harmony between Christian faith and reason. And this was
the great work of Thomas, who in that moment of encounter between two
cultures -- that moment in which it seemed that faith should surrender
before reason -- showed that they go together, that what seemed to be
reason incompatible with faith was not reason, and what seemed to be
faith was not faith, in so far as it was opposed to true rationality;
thus he created a new synthesis, which shaped the culture of the
following centuries.
Because of his excellent intellectual gifts, Thomas was recalled to
Paris as professor of theology in the Dominican chair. Here he also
began his literary production, which he continued until his death, and
which is something prodigious: commentaries on sacred Scripture, because
the professor of theology was above all interpreter of Scripture,
commentaries on Aristotle's writings, powerful systematic works, among
which excels the Summa Theologiae, treatises and discourses on several
arguments. For the composition of his writings, he was helped by some
secretaries, among whom was Brother Reginald of Piperno, who followed
him faithfully and to whom he was tied by a fraternal and sincere
friendship, characterized by great confidence and trust. This is a
characteristic of saints -- they cultivate friendship, because it is one
of the most noble manifestations of the human heart and has in itself
something of the divine. Thomas himself explained this in the Summa
Theologiae, in which he wrote: "Charity is man's friendship with God
primarily, and with the beings that belong to him" (II, q. 23, a.1).
He did not stay a long and stable time in Paris. In 1259, he
participated in the General Chapter of the Dominicans at Valenciennes
where he was member of a commission that established the program of
studies for the order. Then, from 1261 to 1265 Thomas was in Orvieto.
Pope Urban IV, who greatly esteemed him, commissioned him to compose the
liturgical texts for the feast of Corpus Domini, which we celebrate
tomorrow, instituted after the Eucharistic miracle of Bolsena. Thomas
had an exquisitely Eucharistic soul. The very beautiful hymns that the
liturgy of the Church sings to celebrate the mystery of the real
presence of the Body and Blood of the Lord in the Eucharist are
attributed to his faith and his theological wisdom. From 1265 until
1268, Thomas resided in Rome, where, probably, he directed a Studium,
namely a House of Study of the Order, and where he began to write his
Summa Theologiae (cf. Jean Pierre Torrell, "Tommaso d'Aquino. L'uomo e
il teologo" [Thomas Aquinas: The Man and the Theologian], Casale Monf.,
1994, pp. 118-184).
In 1269 he was recalled to Paris for a second cycle of teaching. The
students -- understandably -- were enthusiastic about his lessons. A
former student of his said that a great multitude of students followed
Thomas' courses, so much so that the classrooms barely succeeded in
containing them. He added, with a personal annotation, that "to listen
to [Aquinas] was for him a profound happiness." The interpretation of
Aristotle given by Thomas was not accepted by everyone, but even his
adversaries in the academic field, such as Goffredo di Fontaines, for
example, admitted that the doctrine of Brother Thomas was superior to
that of others for usefulness and value, and that it served as a
corrective to those of all the other doctors. Perhaps to extricate him
from the lively discussions under way, his superiors sent him once again
to Naples, to be at the disposition of King Charles I, who intended to
reorganize university studies.
In addition to studying and teaching, Thomas was also dedicated to
preaching to the people. And the people willingly went to hear him. I
would say that it is truly a great grace when theologians are able to
speak with simplicity and fervor to the faithful. The ministry of
preaching, moreover, helps the scholars of theology themselves to a
healthy pastoral realism, and enriches their research by lively
stimulation.
The last months of Thomas' earthly life remained surrounded by a
particular atmosphere -- I would say a mysterious atmosphere. In
December 1273, he called his friend and secretary Reginald to
communicate to him the decision to interrupt all work because, during
the celebration of Mass, he had understood, following a supernatural
revelation, that all he had written up to then was only "a heap of
straw." It is a mysterious episode, which helps us to understand not
only Thomas' personal humility, but also the fact that all that we
succeed in thinking and saying about the faith, no matter how lofty and
pure, is infinitely exceeded by the grandeur and beauty of God, which
will be revealed to us fully in Paradise. A few months later, always
more absorbed in a thoughtful meditation, Thomas died while traveling to
Lyon, where he was going to take part in the ecumenical council called
by Pope Gregory X. He died in the Cistercian Abbey of Fossanova, after
having received the Viaticum with sentiments of great piety.
The life and teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas could be summarized in an
episode handed down by the ancient biographers. While the saint, as was
his custom, was praying in the morning before the crucifix in the Chapel
of St. Nicholas in Naples, the sacristan of the church, Domenico da
Caserta, heard a dialogue unfolding. Thomas was asking, worried, if what
he had written on the mysteries of the Christian faith was right. And
the Crucifix responded: "You have spoken well of me, Thomas. What will
be your recompense?" And the answer that Thomas gave is that which all
of us, friends and disciples of Christ, would always wants to give:
"Nothing other than You, Lord!" (Ibid., 320).
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Holy Father then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English,
he said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our catechesis on the Christian culture of the Middle Ages, we now
turn to St. Thomas Aquinas, known as the Doctor Communis, whose life and
teaching have always been revered as an outstanding model for
theologians. As a young student at the University of Naples, Thomas was
introduced to the recently rediscovered works of Aristotle. Much of his
scholarly life would be devoted to studying the Philosopher's authentic
teaching, discerning its valid elements, and demonstrating its value for
Christian thought. Thomas entered the Order of Preachers, studied under
Albert the Great, and taught theology in Cologne, Paris, Rome and
Naples. Among his many commentaries and systematic works, the great
Summa Theologiae reveals his critical gifts and his conviction of the
natural harmony between faith and reason. Thomas also composed the
liturgical texts for the new feast of Corpus Domini, whose hymns reflect
his deep Eucharistic faith and theological wisdom. At the end of his
life, St. Thomas stopped writing, after a mystical experience which
convinced him that all he had written "was as straw," in comparison with
the infinite grandeur and beauty of God's truth. In coming catecheses we
will explore the thought and writings of this great theologian.
I send greetings to those gathered during these days in Scotland for the
centennial of the first Edinburgh Missionary Conference, which is now
acknowledged to have given birth to the modern ecumenical movement. May
we all renew our commitment to work humbly and patiently, under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, to live again together our common apostolic
heritage.
I send cordial greetings to the delegates gathered in New Orleans for
this year's Catholic Media Convention.
The theme of your meeting, "Spreading the Good News -- Byte by Byte,"
highlights the extraordinary potential of the new media to bring the
message of Christ and the teaching of his Church to the attention of a
wider public. If your mission is to be truly effective -- if the words
you proclaim are to touch hearts, engage people's freedom and change
their lives -- you must draw them into an encounter with persons and
communities who witness to the grace of Christ by their faith and their
lives. In this sense, it is my hope that your days together will renew
and refresh your shared enthusiasm for the Gospel. Notwithstanding the
many challenges you face, never forget the promise of Christ, "I am with
you always, to the close of the age" (Mt 28:20).
Dear friends, with these few words of encouragement, to all of you
gathered for the Convention, I am pleased to impart my Apostolic
Blessing.
Copyright 2010 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[In Italian, he said:]
I turn, finally to young people, to the sick and to newlyweds, wishing
that each one will always serve God in joy and love their neighbor with
an evangelical spirit.
* * *
I would like to remind now that tomorrow, solemnity of Corpus Domini, at
7:00 p.m., in the churchyard of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, I will
preside over the Mass, which will follow the traditional procession to
St. Mary Major. I invite everyone to take part in this celebration, to
express together our faith in Christ, present in the Eucharist.
Finally, I invite you, dear friends, to accompany with your prayer my
pastoral journey to Cyprus, which I will undertake day after tomorrow,
so that it will be rich in spiritual fruits for the dear Christian
communities of the Middle East.
[The Pope made a final statement in Italian]
With profound trepidation I follow the tragic events that happened in
the proximity of the Gaza Strip. I feel the need to express my profound
grief for the victims of the most painful events, which preoccupy all
those who have at heart peace in the area. Once again I repeat with a
heartbroken spirit that violence does not resolve controversies, but
increases the tragic consequences and generates more violence. I appeal
to all those who have political responsibility at the local and
international level, to search incessantly for just solutions through
dialogue, in order to guarantee to the peoples of the area better
conditions of life, in concord and serenity. I invite you to join my
prayer for the victims, for their families and for all who suffer. May
the Lord sustain the efforts of those who do not tire of working for
reconciliation and peace.
See other
General Audiences by H.H Benedict XVI on St. Thomas...
On
Aquinas, Philosophy and Theology
On the Summa Theologiae
On Theology According to Thomas and Bonaventure
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General Audiences...
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