ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

This Catholic stained glass window is a reflection on St. Thomas Aquinas. Thomas was born in 1225 and died on March 7, 1274. He was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in the Dominican Order. He was an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis. He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of the Thomistic school of philosophy and theology. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy was conceived as a reaction against, or as an agreement with, his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law and political theory. The works for which he is best-known are the Summa Theologica and the Summa Contra Gentiles. One of the 33 Doctors of the Church, he is considered by many Catholics to be the Church's greatest theologian and philosopher. For more information on her life go to www.newadvent.org and type in her name in their internal search engine

At the top of the window is a dove surrounded by tongues of fire. The dove represents the Holy Spirit and the tongues of fire represent the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, which St. Thomas made fruitful use of. Below the central image are three ovals. The one on the left contains the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The one on the right contains the Holy Eucharist. The central oval contains the shield of the Dominican Order. On top of the outer frame are seven fire-like winged shapes that represent the seven spirits (angels) of God that surround his throne in the book of Revelation.  The twenty light blue circles in the border around the window represent the twenty mysteries of the rosary, which is a contemplative prayer of the life of Jesus, Mary. The eighteen yellow, orange, red diamond like shapes in between the rosary beads represent the angels assigned to help St. Thomas in his great

Theological work.