Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas to visit Washington, DC, on international tour

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 23, 2024 / 06:00 am

The major relics of St. Thomas Aquinas, “The Angelic Doctor,” are on tour and scheduled to make a stop in Washington, D.C., next weekend as part of the commemoration of the 700th anniversary of his canonization. 

Members of the faithful will be able to venerate the relics, including his skull, on two separate occasions: first at St. Dominic’s Church on Friday, Nov. 29, and then again on Saturday, Nov. 30, at the Dominican House of Studies. The event is co-sponsored by the Thomistic Institute. 

“In a time of renewed interest in the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, the jubilees of his canonization (700 years in 2023), death (750 years in 2024), and birth (800 years in 2025) draw our attention to the masterwork of wisdom and sanctity which God wrought in him,” Father Gregory Pine, OP, assistant director at the Thomistic Institute, said in a press release. 

“The opportunity that we have to receive and venerate his relics makes this grace all the more proximate and precious to us,” Pine added.

Friday’s event will begin at 12:10 p.m. with a solemn Mass celebrated by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington, followed by an opportunity to venerate the relics of the revered theologian and philosopher from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. There will also be solemn vespers at 5:30 p.m. and night prayer at 6:45 p.m. with a Marian procession to follow. 

On Saturday, the Dominican House of Studies will begin the day with solemn lauds and a votive Mass of St. Thomas Aquinas at 7:30 a.m., and veneration of the relics will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pine will also preach at 3 p.m. that day. 

“‘Get wisdom, get understanding’ (Prv 4:5). One way is to study, another way is to pray for it, but an exceptional way is to pray for it in the presence of the skull of St. Thomas Aquinas,” Father James Brent, OP, an assistant professor of philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies, also stated in the release. 

The relic of St. Thomas Aquinas’ skull comes to the U.S. from the Dominicans in Toulouse, France, and is one of two skulls Church officials claim to have belonged to the 11th-century saint. The other is housed in the Italian city of Priverno. The Dominicans in France commissioned a new reliquary for the skull last year to celebrate the saint’s canonization anniversary.

After Aquinas’ death in 1274, his body was kept in Fossanova Abbey in Priverno until 1369, when his relics were moved to Toulouse, a city in southwestern France, where the Order of Preachers was established. Aquinas’ tomb rests in the Church of the Jacobins. 

Researchers are currently weighing the possibility of conducting an in-depth forensic analysis of both skulls to determine their authenticity. 

Where do the relics go next?

After two stops in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 29 and Nov. 30, Aquinas’ relics hit the road for their U.S. tour:

Charlottesville, Virginia: St. Thomas Aquinas on Dec. 2

Providence, Rhode Island: Providence College on Dec. 4

Cincinnati: St. Gertrude Priory on Dec. 6

Columbus, Ohio: St. Patrick Priory on Dec. 7–8

Louisville, Kentucky: St. Louis Bertrand on Dec. 10

Springfield, Kentucky: St. Rose Priory on Dec. 12

New York City: St. Vincent Ferrer on Dec. 14

Philadelphia: St. Patrick on Dec. 16

Baltimore: Sts. Philip and James on Dec. 18