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Fides quaerens intellectum
College Updates Crest, Adopts Motto
Over the years, Thomas Aquinas College has used various slogans to highlight particular facets of its unique program and mission. Using phrases such as “The True, the Good, and the Beautiful,” “Forming Leaders in the Service of the Truth,” and “Truth Matters” in its promotional materials, it has sought to convey certain aspects of the College’s unique academic program, its alumni, and its intellectual community. With the addition of the New England campus in August, the College had reason to revise its official crest and, as a result, it has adopted — for the first time — a motto.
Unlike an advertising slogan, which is tailored to a particular audience and time, a motto is a timeless expression of the essential nature of an institution. Accordingly, the College has chosen for its motto a quotation that its founders and faculty have long used to describe its program of Catholic liberal education: Fides Quaerens Intellectum, or “faith seeking understanding.” The words now appear at the bottom of the College crest, replacing “California – 1971.”
The phrase “faith seeking understanding” was coined by the medieval bishop, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church St. Anselm, whose Proslogion — an ontological argument for the existence of God — is read by the College’s students during their sophomore year. Not only does this motto attest to the profound confidence the College has in the compatibility of faith and reason, it declares succinctly the nature of the pursuit of truth under the light of faith in which the College’s students and tutors are engaged: a desire to understand more perfectly, to see, as much as is possible, what is first believed.
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Gratitude on two coasts
College Gives Thanks for Extraordinary Year
“We can express our gratitude for the providential founding of this new campus,” said Associate Dean Thomas J. Kaiser at the recent, first-ever Thanksgiving dinner held at Thomas Aquinas College, New England. “It was not something we were looking for when the opportunity presented itself, but given the manner in which things worked out, it was clear that God, in His Providence, wanted us here.”
For the students and faculty of Thomas Aquinas College — on both coasts — Thanksgiving 2019 marked a time of profound gratitude for the extraordinary blessings that God has bestowed upon the College over the last year. On the California campus, the community marked the occasion with a traditional turkey dinner and a Thanksgiving Concert in St. Cecilia Hall. The New England campus, however, followed its festive meal with a dance that night in Gould Hall — the major event of the fall semester.
“We should give thanks not only with our words but with our deeds as well, especially now as the semester draws to a close,” said President Michael F. McLean at the California Dinner. “I encourage you to recall and to rededicate yourselves to what you came here in search of in the first place … deepening your personal relationship with Christ our King and attaining the beginnings of Catholic wisdom and growth in Catholic virtue.”
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President Michael McLean
Associate Dean Thomas J. Kaiser |
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On Science and CATHOLIC EDUCATION
The National Catholic Register Speaks
to Associate Dean Thomas J. Kaiser
Writing in the National Catholic Register, Patrick J. Reilly, president and founder of the Cardinal Newman Society, considers a question often raised by Thomas Aquinas College’s prospective students: “Can a college that teaches theology and philosophy be good at teaching science?”
His answer, emphatically, is yes. Mr. Reilly goes on to survey the natural-science offerings at various schools recommended by the Newman Guide, culminating in a passage about Thomas Aquinas College. The article heavily quotes Dr. Thomas J. Kaiser, the associate dean on the New England campus, who — in addition to being an alumnus of the College — holds a Ph.D. in biology from the University of California, Los Angeles:
“The College’s program of Catholic education requires knowledge of the principles of all the major disciplines, including math and science,” says Dr. Kaiser. “Students get a rigorous foundation in Euclidian geometry, mathematical reasoning, scientific reasoning, natural science, and philosophy.” As Mr. Reilly puts it, “Students can prepare for careers in the sciences while being educated from an authentically Catholic perspective. It’s a wise choice, if wisdom is the objective.”
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ALUMNI UPDATES
Leaders in the Service of the Truth
• The Washington Examiner recently featured a profile of Matt Valliere (’05), executive director of the Patients Rights Action Fund, an organization dedicated to battling assisted suicide and providing compassionate care to the terminally ill. Mr. Valliere earned a master’s degree in philosophy from Boston College and worked for several years in business before being asked by the Fund’s chairman — TAC classmate Greg Pfundstein (’05) — to lend his expertise to this worthy effort. The most challenging part of his job, says Mr. Valliere, is unifying the disparate elements that make up the opposition to assisted suicide. “At the outset, my original opinion was: How is it possible to bring all these odd bedfellows together?” he says. “It took a lot of work.”
• The first of last year’s graduates to answer God’s call to the priesthood or religious life is Sr. Mary Catherine Eddyblouin (’19), who entered the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, on August 22, the Feast of the Queenship of Mary. After briefly considering a religious vocation in high school, she “went to Thomas Aquinas College to study theology and philosophy, and it was there that the idea of a religious life began to come back into my heart,” says Sr. Mary Catherine. “The spiritual formation here is amazing, but the intellectual formation was also instrumental in getting me to realize my vocation,” allowing her to come to know and love God more deeply. “Mathematics, especially, brought me to more fully see the beauty of God.”
• Last month the College bid farewell to an alumnus and employee who is leaving to devote his energies to his next professional pursuit — editorial cartooning. Pat Cross (’14) joined the Admissions Office shortly after his graduation and worked on the California campus until 2017. He then headed to his home state of Massachusetts to help establish the New England campus. In his spare hours he launched a successful career as an editorial cartoonist and illustrator, to which he is now devoting himself fulltime. “Pat is a great man and we will miss him just as greatly,” says Admissions Director Jon Daly, “sure though we are that he is fulfilling an even greater purpose in his work.”
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Matt Valliere ('05)
Mary Catherine Eddyblouin ('19)
Pat Cross ('14) |
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PrayerS for christmas
Chaplains to Offer Novena of Masses
Beginning on December 16, and ending on Christmas Eve, the chaplains of Thomas Aquinas College will offer the College’s Annual Christmas Novena of Masses. “We first came up with the idea for the Christmas Novena four years ago, as a way for the College’s friends to pray for their loved ones and their intentions,” says President Michael F. McLean. “The idea was so well received that the Novena has become an annual tradition.”
Each person enrolled in the Novena will receive a beautiful, personalized card from the College. On the front, the card features a nighttime photo of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, framed by a seasonal green border. Inside, it informs recipients of their inclusion in the Novena, as well as the name of their sponsors. The cost for each card, which includes shipping and handling, is $5.
More than just a Christmas greeting, the Novena card brings the promises of nine Holy Masses and the prayers of the students, faculty, chaplains, and staff of Thomas Aquinas College. “This is a wonderful way for our friends to include their loved ones in the spiritual life of the College,” says Dr. McLean. “We invite everyone to enroll, and hope all of our friends will join us in praying for the entire College community this Advent and Christmas.”
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