Vatican City, 07 March, 2024 / 12:30 pm (ACI Africa).
March 7 marks the 750th anniversary of the death of St. Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of Catholic education, who uttered a last prophecy and an emotional prayer before his departure to heaven. In addition, the saint reportedly spoke the lyrics of a beautiful hymn of his that is sung to this day throughout the Catholic Church.
The account of the death of St. Thomas, written by Friar Guillermo de Tocco, biographer of the saint, which was published by the website tomasdeaquino.org run by the Institute of the Incarnate Word, relates how the Angelic Doctor was heading to Rome but was having health problems.
Passing near the Fossanova Abbey of the Cistercian monks south of Rome, he agreed to stay there to regain his strength.
In the cloister, he spoke the following prophecy to his companion: “Reginaldo, my son, here will be my rest forever, here I will live because I have desired it.” At this, the Dominican friars who accompanied him began to cry.
As the days passed, St. Thomas, bedridden, became worse and worse. Some monks, seeing that his time was approaching, asked him to give them a token of his great learning. Despite his condition, Aquinas did not stop being a great educator and gave them a brief reflection on the Song of Songs, a book from the Old Testament with songs and poems about love.
