Thomas of Villanova
Encyclopedia
St. Thomas of Villanova, O.S.A.
(born Tomás García Martínez, Ciudad Real
, 1488 - died Valencia
, September 8, 1555), was a preacher, ascetic, writer and
Spanish
friar
of the Order of Saint Augustine
.
Thomas grew up and was educated in Villanueva de los Infantes
, in the province of Ciudad Real
, Spain
, where his parents owned a prosperous estate
; therefore the name Thomas of Villanueva. Part of the original house still stands, with a coat of arms in the corner, beside a family chapel. In spite of his family's wealth, as a young boy he often went about naked because he had given his clothing to the poor.
Even though he studied Arts and Theology at the University of Alcalá de Henares and became a professor there, he decided to enter the Augustinian order in Salamanca
in 1516, and in 1518 was ordained a priest. Within the order, he held the positions of prior
of the friary, General Visitor
, and Provincial
Prior for Andalusia
and Castile
. He was also a professor at the university and counsellor and confessor to the Spanish King and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
He was well known for his great personal austerity (he sold the straw mattress on which he slept in order to give money to the poor) and for his continual and untiring charitable efforts, especially towards orphans, poor women without a dowry, and the sick. He possessed, however, an intelligent notion of charity, so that while he was very charitable, he sought to obtain definitive and structural solutions to the problem of poverty; for example, giving work to the poor, thereby making his charity bear fruit. "Charity is not just giving, rather removing the need of those who receive charity and liberating them from it when possible," he wrote.
In 1533, he sent out the first Augustinian friars to arrive in Mexico
. He began to experience mystical ecstasies during Mass
and when reading the psalms. Charles V offered him the post of Archbishop
of Granada
but he would not accept it. In 1544 he was nominated as Archbishop of Valencia
but he continued to refuse the position until ordered to accept by his superior. There, aided by his assistant bishop, Juan Segriá, he put in order a diocese that for a century had not had direct pastoral government. He organized a special college for Moorish
converts, and in particular an effective plan for social assistance, welfare, and charity.
He composed beautiful sermons, among which stands out the Sermon on the Love of God, one of the great examples of sacred oratory of the 16th century. He enjoyed great fame as a preacher, with a plain and simple style. Charles V, upon hearing him preach, exclaimed, "This monsignor can move even the stones!", and he brought about public conversions. Some of his sermons attacked the cruelty of bullfighting. He also had a great devotion to the Virgin Mary, whose heart he compared to the burning bush that is never consumed. In 1547 he ordained as a priest the future Saint Luis Beltrán. He died in 1555 of angina at the age of 67. He was canonized by Pope Alexander VII on November 1, 1658. His liturgical feast day is celebrated on September 22.
He is the author of various Tracts, among which is included the Soliloquy between God and the soul, on the topic of communion. Francisco de Quevedo
wrote his biography. His complete writings were published in six volumes as Opera omnia, in Manila
in 1881.
He is the namesake
and patron saint
of Villanova University
, near Philadelphia (USA), which was founded and is administered by the friars of his order, Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva
in Havana (Cuba), St. Thomas University
in Miami Gardens, Florida, (USA)and Villanova College
, a catholic school for boys located in Brisbane, Australia.
Order of Saint Augustine
The Order of St. Augustine —historically Ordo Eremitarum Sancti Augustini", O.E.S.A.), generally called Augustinians is a Catholic Religious Order, which, although more ancient, was formally created in the thirteenth century and combined of several previous Augustinian eremetical Orders into one...
(born Tomás García Martínez, Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real (province)
The province of Ciudad Real is a province of South-central Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca, Albacete, Jaén, Córdoba, Badajoz, and Toledo. Its extent is effectively that of the old province of La Mancha...
, 1488 - died Valencia
Valencia (city in Spain)
Valencia or València is the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third largest city in Spain, with a population of 809,267 in 2010. It is the 15th-most populous municipality in the European Union...
, September 8, 1555), was a preacher, ascetic, writer and
Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
friar
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
of the Order of Saint Augustine
Order of Saint Augustine
The Order of St. Augustine —historically Ordo Eremitarum Sancti Augustini", O.E.S.A.), generally called Augustinians is a Catholic Religious Order, which, although more ancient, was formally created in the thirteenth century and combined of several previous Augustinian eremetical Orders into one...
.
Thomas grew up and was educated in Villanueva de los Infantes
Villanueva de los Infantes
Villanueva de los Infantes is a municipality in the province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of c. 5,800.This is also the capital of the comarca Campo de Montiel. It has been signed by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid as "El Lugar de La Mancha" called at start...
, in the province of Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real (province)
The province of Ciudad Real is a province of South-central Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca, Albacete, Jaén, Córdoba, Badajoz, and Toledo. Its extent is effectively that of the old province of La Mancha...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, where his parents owned a prosperous estate
Estate (house)
An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...
; therefore the name Thomas of Villanueva. Part of the original house still stands, with a coat of arms in the corner, beside a family chapel. In spite of his family's wealth, as a young boy he often went about naked because he had given his clothing to the poor.
Even though he studied Arts and Theology at the University of Alcalá de Henares and became a professor there, he decided to enter the Augustinian order in Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
in 1516, and in 1518 was ordained a priest. Within the order, he held the positions of prior
Prior
Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...
of the friary, General Visitor
Apostolic visitor
In the Catholic Church, an apostolic visitor is a papal representative with a transient mission to perform a canonical visitation of relatively short duration...
, and Provincial
Provincial superior
A Provincial Superior is a major superior of a religious order acting under the order's Superior General and exercising a general supervision over all the members of that order in a territorial division of the order called a province--similar to but not to be confused with an ecclesiastical...
Prior for Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
and Castile
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
. He was also a professor at the university and counsellor and confessor to the Spanish King and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
He was well known for his great personal austerity (he sold the straw mattress on which he slept in order to give money to the poor) and for his continual and untiring charitable efforts, especially towards orphans, poor women without a dowry, and the sick. He possessed, however, an intelligent notion of charity, so that while he was very charitable, he sought to obtain definitive and structural solutions to the problem of poverty; for example, giving work to the poor, thereby making his charity bear fruit. "Charity is not just giving, rather removing the need of those who receive charity and liberating them from it when possible," he wrote.
In 1533, he sent out the first Augustinian friars to arrive in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. He began to experience mystical ecstasies during Mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
and when reading the psalms. Charles V offered him the post of Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
but he would not accept it. In 1544 he was nominated as Archbishop of Valencia
Archdiocese of Valencia
The Archdiocese of Valencia is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, part of the autonomous community of Valencia. The archdiocese heads the ecclesiastical province of Valencia, having Metropolitan authority over the suffragan dioceses of...
but he continued to refuse the position until ordered to accept by his superior. There, aided by his assistant bishop, Juan Segriá, he put in order a diocese that for a century had not had direct pastoral government. He organized a special college for Moorish
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
converts, and in particular an effective plan for social assistance, welfare, and charity.
He composed beautiful sermons, among which stands out the Sermon on the Love of God, one of the great examples of sacred oratory of the 16th century. He enjoyed great fame as a preacher, with a plain and simple style. Charles V, upon hearing him preach, exclaimed, "This monsignor can move even the stones!", and he brought about public conversions. Some of his sermons attacked the cruelty of bullfighting. He also had a great devotion to the Virgin Mary, whose heart he compared to the burning bush that is never consumed. In 1547 he ordained as a priest the future Saint Luis Beltrán. He died in 1555 of angina at the age of 67. He was canonized by Pope Alexander VII on November 1, 1658. His liturgical feast day is celebrated on September 22.
He is the author of various Tracts, among which is included the Soliloquy between God and the soul, on the topic of communion. Francisco de Quevedo
Francisco de Quevedo
Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, Luis de Góngora, Quevedo was one of the most prominent Spanish poets of the age. His style is characterized by what was called conceptismo...
wrote his biography. His complete writings were published in six volumes as Opera omnia, in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
in 1881.
He is the namesake
Namesake
Namesake is a term used to characterize a person, place, thing, quality, action, state, or idea that has the same, or a similar, name to another....
and patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of Villanova University
Villanova University
Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
, near Philadelphia (USA), which was founded and is administered by the friars of his order, Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva
Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva
Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva was a private Roman Catholic university founded on August 15, 1946, in Havana, Cuba. It was founded by American Augustinians with assistance from European Augustinians and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. In 1957, it was declared a pontifical...
in Havana (Cuba), St. Thomas University
St. Thomas University (Florida)
St. Thomas University is a private Roman Catholic university in the Miami, Florida, United States suburb of Miami Gardens.-History:The University traces its roots to the Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva, founded in 1946 in Havana, Cuba, named after Saint Thomas of Villanova, by...
in Miami Gardens, Florida, (USA)and Villanova College
Villanova College
Villanova College is a private and catholic school for boys located in Coorparoo, a southern suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The school has a non-selective enrolment policy for all years and caters for approximately 1,150 boys in three schools, Junior, Middle and Senior from year five to...
, a catholic school for boys located in Brisbane, Australia.
External links
- Catholic Online: St. Thomas of Villanueva
- Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Thomas of Villanueva
- Life of Thomas of Villanova (Augustinians of the Midwest)
- Sermons of Saint Thomas of Villanueva (in LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
)