Story by Lillian Syren, Culture Columnist
The spring semester has the buzz of excitement from the New Year, but this will not be a short-lived spirit! Packed with activities and events, this upcoming semester has much to offer and will dispel the cold environment soon enough. The biggest event is the feast day of our very own patron, Saint Thomas Aquinas. Not only is he our namesake and patron, but he is also the patron saint of all universities and scholars. This patronage is marked by his incredibly advanced theological and philosophical pursuits, the crux of which being the Summa Theologica, and he is also a very important Doctor of the Church. His prominence in Scholasticism was revolutionary for the Church and the philosophical world, so much so that he even has a school of thought named after him: Thomism.
Saint Thomas Aquinas’ feast day is commemorated here at Aquinas by a week-long celebration with a wide variety of collaborations and events to honor our namesake. In the old calendar of feast days in the Catholic Church, Saint Thomas Aquinas’ feast day used to be on March 7th, because that was the day he died. However, unless it happens to be a very lucky year, March 7th almost always happens in Lent. To preserve the penitential tone of Lent and ensure that it would not supersede the festivity of this important Doctor of the Church’s feast day, Pope Paul VI reformed the calendar and switched Aquinas’ day as well as many others. His feast day was moved to January 28th, commemorating the day that his relics were transferred from the Abbey near Rome where he died to the Dominican’s Church of the Jacobins in Toulouse, France. Celebrating his feast day on both days is certainly no problem, but the Church officially recognizes the new date in Her celebrations.
This year, the 28th falls on a Sunday, so Aquinas’ feast day is coupled with the pinnacle of the week! It starts the week off with Mass at 7 pm and a movie to follow. Throughout the week, the scheduled sacramentals will not change, like Mass, confession, Praise and Worship Night, and Prayer Night, but Campus Ministry is collaborating with many RSOs to commemorate our patron’s feast day in unique ways. In addition to the spiritual events, there will be talks on topics relevant to the science and philosophical world today, an all-student campus photo, a visit from a band, and many more collaborations from organizations like the Multicultural Club and the Sociology Department. Mark your calendars, Saints! We hope to see you there!
The Saint 