The Dominican community of Valletta is commemorating the feast of St Thomas Aquinas on January 28.

Holy rosary will be said at St Dominic parish church at 5.45pm, followed by sung mass by Fr Provincial Vincent Micallef, OP at 6.15pm. 

To commemorate the great ‘Angelic Doctor’, two talks are also being held at the Valletta church on February 4 and 11 at 6.45pm. They will be delivered by Fr Anton Farrugia Pisani, OFM.

Thomas Aquinas was canonised by Pope John XXII on July 18, 1323. A renowned mediaeval philosopher and theologian, Aquinas contributed immensely to both fields.  

The Church recognised his unparalleled contribution by conferring on him the title of ‘Doctor of the Church’ by Pope Pius V, as well as by declaring him the patron saint of all Catholic universities, academies, colleges and schools by Pope Leo XIII in 1880.

The ‘Doctor Angelicus’ greatly impacted Western thought. He was the first eminent philosopher and theologian who seriously distinguished between philosophy and theology. 

His best-known works are the Disputed Questions on Truth (1256-1259), the Summa contra Gentiles (1259-1265), and the unfinished but very influential Summa Theologica, or Summa Theologiae (1265-1274).