Saint Thomas Aquinas, Vol. 2: Spiritual Master

Following his highly acclaimed study of the life and works of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Jean-Pierre Torrell, O.P., continues his masterful work on the great Dominican theologian and brings an immense learning to bear on a subject that most readers have not considered very carefully: Thomas’s spirituality. Aquinas’s intellectual power is evident to anyone who has had even modest exposure to his work. Understanding the spiritual impetus behind that massive achievement, however, requires careful attention to the whole Thomistic corpus and a subtle understanding of several crucial works, particularly Thomas’s sermons and commentaries on Scripture. In this long-awaited sequel to Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Person and His Work, Father Torrell brilliantly lays out the theoretical background to Thomas’s spirituality. He shows that Aquinas’s theology is clearly oriented towards contemplation and is as deeply spiritual as it is doctrinal.

Meticulous in his research, Torrell quotes often from Thomas’s own texts and presents a clear understanding of Aquinas’s views on nature, the person, human society, politics, and our ultimate end in communion with God and one another. This volume makes apparent why the Catholic Church thinks of Aquinas not only as a great Christian intellectual, but also as a saint.