Joining the Dominican Friars
Chapter Three
Joining the Dominican Friars
“The things that we love tell us what we are.”
—Thomas Aquinas
Thomas was barely 18 years of age when he decided that he would like to spend the rest of his life in the monkish habits of a Dominican friar. He aspired to be like such saintly and impoverished figures as Saint Francis of Assisi, who had died a year after Thomas was born. The actual Order of Dominicans had only been established some ten years before that, but by the time Aquinas was reaching adulthood, their fame for faith, devotion, and austerity had already spread far and wide.
As esteemed as these monks were for their efforts, a life of poverty was not what was expected of a scion of such wealth and nobility as Thomas Aquinas. As such, as soon as word got back to his father of his plans, he issued Aquinas an ultimatum in no uncertain terms that he was to abandon any plans of joining the Dominicans. Not only that, but he also issued a warning to the monastery itself, telling the Dominican Fathers that if they were to so much as think about accepting Thomas Aquinas into their fold, he would make sure that they would have the full wrath of the Holy Roman emperor come down upon them. This must have given them some pause, but these were men of faith after all, and if they felt that Aquinas had a God-given calling to join their ranks, they were not going to let threats—even from the emperor—sway them in their decision making.
According to legend, it was allegedly a miraculous sign that convinced the friars that it was indeed God’s will for Thomas Aquinas to join them. It is claimed that one day while Thomas was praying, the monks observed his countenance suddenly supernaturally glow with the “blessed light of the glory of God.” It was allegedly this bright shining halo over Aquinas’s head that led the order to openly defy the threats of Aquinas’s father and allow him to join their ranks. As such, in the late summer month of August in 1243, Thomas received the white robes of a Dominican initiate without delay.
Although the monks made the claim that these events were God’s will, there were still many detractors from Aquinas’s family. They charged the monks with nothing short of manipulation in their efforts to get Thomas to join their flock. Aquinas’s mother too, who although is said to have encouraged much of her son’s piety early on, was deeply disappointed in his decision to join the monks. She expected great things for her son, and him being buried in the living tomb of a Dominican monastery was not among her ideas of future greatness. She was so dismayed, in fact, that she set off on a journey to Naples to intercept her son in an effort to change his mind.
Thomas Aquinas was tipped off to this fact, however, and decided to skip town in order to avoid his meddling mother. As soon as he got permission from his instructors, he left for Rome and was sure to take a road that he knew his mother would not. It was after going down this road less traveled that Aquinas made his way to the Roman convent of Santa Sabina. Here, he sought to hide until the storm of his family’s wrath and discontent blew over. His mother quickly learned of his plans, however, and raced off to Santa Sabina. It is said that she banged upon the gates of the abbey, demanding to have an audience with her son.
It must have been quite a spectacle to see this noblewoman and her entourage camped out around this modest monastery. Yet it was all to no avail since Aquinas had expressly informed the church officials that he was not to be disturbed by anyone—not even his own mother. Denied access to her son, Theodora had no choice but to march back home, empty-handed and broken-hearted.