A Catholic Life Pages

At the head of the academic quadrangle on Thomas Aquinas College’s

California | New England
“OF” denotes Masses offered in the ordinary form.
“EF” denotes extraordinary form.

At Thomas Aquinas College, the practice of the Faith is by no means limited to Sundays. Most students also attend weekday Masses, frequent the Sacrament of Confession, and participate in daily rosaries and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

“What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works?”
— James 2:14 

In their everyday lives, the College’s alumni are faithfully serving both Church and society. Yet perhaps nowhere are these good fruits more apparent than in the relatively large number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life to be found among Thomas Aquinas College graduates. Since the College’s inception, a steady 10 percent of its alumni have pursued a vocation. There are some 80 alumni priests and more than 40 fully professed religious, with many more alumni in seminaries around the country and abroad.

In keeping with the College’s commitment to remain faithful to the Magisterium of the Church, and in accordance with canon law, members of the Thomas Aquinas College faculty take the Oath of Fidelity and make the Profession of Faith, printed below:

Oath of Fidelity

I, (Name), in assuming the office of tutor at Thomas Aquinas College, promise that in my words and in my actions I shall always preserve communion with the Catholic Church.

The students of Thomas Aquinas College are blessed by the ministry of five full-time chaplains who reside on the two campuses.

California

This essay was adapted from “The Pastoral Work for Vocations at Tertiary Level: The Case of Thomas Aquinas College," which appeared in the 2007 issue of Seminarium, a publication of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education.  It was solicited by the head of the Office of Vocations who was astounded to learn that a lay-administered, co-educational college could produce the relatively high number of vocations to the priesthood and religious that are the steady fruit of Thomas Aquinas College.  The article includes many quotations from alumni priests and n

At Thomas Aquinas College, the Catholic faith is more than a mere adornment on an otherwise secular education. The intellectual tradition and moral teachings of the Catholic Church infuse the whole life of the College, illuminating all learning as well as the community within which learning takes place. The curriculum is ordered toward theology — that is, the knowledge of God — and the College strives in all things to remain faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.

Wall Street Journal and New York Times

“A Return to Grace” reads the headline on the March 18, 2010, Wall Street Journal “Leisure & Arts” page. In the ensuing article, author Catesby Leigh heralds the work of University of Notre Dame architect Duncan Stroik, particularly Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel at Thomas Aquinas College.

“Behind every great building and its architect there is a visionary patron. Someone who thinks big, takes risks, raises funds, and above all recognizes the significance of architecture.”