Dear Friends,
I have long admired Saint Thomas Aquinas. His keen intellect was capable of wading through tumultuous sofisms and heretical claims to defend doctrinal matters. His reverent heart composed poems, revealing a wisdom that articulated the great mysteries of our faith.
Deign, O Jesus, Pelican of heaven, me, a sinner,
in Thy Blood to lave, to a single drop of which is given
all the world from all its sin to save.
Contemplating, Lord, Thy hidden presence,
grant me what I thirst for and implore,
in the revelation of Thy essence to behold Thy glory evermore. Amen.
(Last 2 stanzas of St. Thomas’ Adore Te Devote – Hidden God).
As I read portions of his last words, I was struck by the manifestation of two movements in his heart: obedience and humility.
How tempting for the wise and learned to believe themselves the possessors of truth! Saint Thomas teaches us that we are merely its custodians. He is said to have written over 100,000 pages in over 20 works, some of which were multi-volume works. Despite his great accumulation of knowledge, one of his final acts, upon receiving the Holy Viaticum, was a humble submission of his life’s labor to the judgment of the Holy Roman church, whose wisdom is rooted in Jesus Christ and passed on through its apostolic foundations. His endeavors sought to elaborate more fully the revealed truth already affirmed by the Church through the centuries.
On the verge of finishing his almost life-long project, the Summa Theologiae, the Lord bestowed upon him a personal revelation, after which, despite all the wisdom he had attained, he professed, “I will write no more. I have seen things that make my writings seem like straw.” Humility enabled him to see the truth of our labors for what they are. Far from demeaning them, we still can acknowledge that all pales in comparison with the revelation of God Himself. No more words can be spoken once the Word Himself has appeared.
Perhaps this is authentic contemplation. No accumulated knowledge can tap into the essence of the mystery of God, despite knowing something of Him from the revealed wisdom of the ages. Rather, we discover that all we have received is the gift of God that far surpasses words, written or spoken. One remains utterly speechless in humble adoration, obedient to the movements of the Spirit already present in His Holy Church. This is nothing less than a being-drawn-into, life-giving, eternal communion.
Your Friend in Christ,
Jennifer Ristine
Jennifer lives in the formation center for the consecrated women of Regnum Christi in Madrid, Spain, and is the author of “Mary Magdalene, Insights from Ancient Magdala” and “Nine Days with Mary Magdalene.”