Santo Tomás de Aquino y el apostolado intelectual ante el sacerdote de hoy

Transcript of a booklet by Fr. Juan Roig Gironella, S.J., originally published in 1962. Fr. Roig was the founder of the Balmesiana Philosophical Institute (1949), precursor to the current Instituto Santo Tomás (2002), as well as of the journal Espíritu (1952). In this brief but powerful text —addressed especially to priests, though relevant to any scholar of Thomistic thought— he exhorts readers to make the study of St. Thomas fruitful through intellectual apostolate, following the example of the Angelic Doctor himself. The reflection begins with the start of Aquinas’s university teaching office in Paris, marked by the prophetic dream that preceded his principium lecture. According to Roig, this dream symbolized his entire magisterium: from on high, from the clouds sent by God, he would pour down a fruitful rain ("rigas montes de concavibus tuis, fructu operum tuorum satiabitur terra"). Roig develops his vision around three key aspects of Thomas’s person and work: 1) esteem for science; 2) harmony with the Church; 3) science accompanied by sanctity