Introduction
Introduction
All great men have understood their own age and furnished what it sought. This alone marks them out as heroes worthy of our admiration. But if there are among them men who represent our common nature in one of its permanent functions, their work outlives them, and their message makes a fresh appeal to each generation.
St. Thomas is of this number. He had the divine spark. His doctrine contains something whereby it can renew itself from age to age, while his personality, perfect type as he is of scholar, social benefactor, and saint, is a constant example.
It is gratifying to view this double solution of the problem of existence: by abstract thought in his inspired Summa, and by example in his heroic life. This one man satisfies the two great ideals that we seek with almost equal zest: the ideal of intelligence and the ideal of holiness. Moreover, so closely are they united in him that he has created a new harmony. Holiness in him is a search for knowledge, and his knowledge is his message.
Today, when the world is in a state of upheaval, blinded by uncontrolled lights, and befogged by undisciplined instincts, today is the moment to bring forth such an example. To lead men to meditate on a mind attuned to all knowledge, a soul given up to the supreme values, is the aim of this little book.
Rosemont
September 8, 1930