The Mystical experience of Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Acquinas is not only a Doctor of the Church, but the “Angelic Doctor,” as the Dominicans like to say. His works are vast and overwhelming. Indeed, he is a highly respected and influential theologian in the Catholic Church. The illustration figure is generated by AI Domini.

On the feast of St. Nicholas [in 1273], St. Thomas was celebrating Mass when he received a spiritual revelation that so affected him. Consequently, he stopped his writing work leaving his great work the ‘Summa Theologiae’ unfinished. To Brother Reginald’s (his secretary and friend) expostulations, he replied, ‘The end of my labors has come. All that I have written seems to me like straw compared to what I have seen and what has been revealed to me.’ Aquinas later said, ‘I can write no more. I have seen things that make my writings like straw.’

In his mystical event, Aquinas entered a deep and unusually long state of ecstasy or divine contemplation while at the altar, The "straw" remark could be understood to mean that the Divine revelation in question is truly transcendental and ineffable. His experience exposed the limits of human language. Aquinas humbly acknowledged that human concepts and words are utterly inadequate to capture the direct, transcendent glory of God.

Aquinas famously held that "grace does not destroy nature, but perfects it" (gratia non tollit naturam, sed perficit). In his view, human reason is a gift from God capable of discovering true things about creation and even proving certain truths about God (like His existence). Reason, however, has strict limits. For Aquinas, human intellect is a stepping stone. It climbs as high as it possibly can through logical arguments, but it eventually reaches a ceiling where it must hand the reins over to faith and divine revelation. In short, Aquinas used reason to build a magnificent cathedral of thought. However, once he encountered the Almighty in spirit, the Divine revelation was too profound and transcendental to be expressed in words available in his reach!

To sum up, Aquinas argued that faith and reason come from the same divine source and cannot contradict each other. Reason can establish certain truths about God (natural theology), while supernatural mysteries surpass human reason and require divine revelation. For believers in Christ, it becomes a matter of faith and choice. Would you agree with Aquinas that God’s truth is really beyond words? Have you come across a similar issue in your life?

In fact, Aquinas is just one of the Church Fathers who had a similar mystical experience of seeing or meeting God. Additionally, the recent study of near-death heaven experiences strengthens our belief that the fullness of God is truly supernatural and transcendental beyond our intellect and description. As such, our faith in God should accordingly be extended to embrace such ineffable mystery. Nevertheless, it should not exempt us from using our gifts (e.g. wisdom and free will) wholeheartedly and respectfully in our quest to understand and be united with the Lord in our earthly journeys. May God help us, Amen!

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