Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas (Dominican Friar and Priest), born between Naples and Rome in 1225, is a Doctor of the Church and was one of the most influential thinkers in Catholic theology and philosophy. His father was a Count and despite his privileged family’s numerous attempts to keep him from his interest in the Dominicans (by locking him in a castle and tempting him with a prostitute), he joined the Dominican order of Naples in 1244. At age 31 he received his doctorate and had already been publishing and preaching beautifully as a priest and was made a master of theology at his lectureship in Paris. True to the heart of the Dominican, he refused dignified appointments such as Archbishop of Naples, and was a deep spiritual reader and thinker. His writing of Summa contra Gentiles is an authoritative text written to combat opposing faiths, and his vast work, Summa Theologica was not completed due to an apparition Thomas had of Christ in 1272, at which time he wrote: “All I have written seems like straw compared with what I have seen and what has been revealed to me.”

Feast of Saint Joseph

The Feast of St. Joseph is March 19th. Joseph was descended from the royal house of David and is the Patron Saint of the Universal Church. God appointed St. Joseph to be the foster father of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and entrusted him with the protection of the Holy Family and with the virginity of Our Lady, Mary, the Mother of God. A man of quiet humility, profound faith, and obedience to God, St. Joseph acted without hesitation upon receipt of divine instructions as he dreamed- marrying Mary, fleeing to Egypt to protect Jesus from Herod, and returning to Nazareth, away from Herod’s son, Archelaus. Possessing purity of heart, chastity of life, gentleness, and manliness of character, he is the perfect model of the true Christian male. Particularly known for help in family problems, financial needs, protection of purity and defence against peril, St. Teresa of Lisieux had a lifelong intimate devotion to St. Joseph, providing her with “shelter from every danger”, and St. Padre Pio believed that St. Joseph defended souls from the devil.