✠ வில்லநோவா புனிதர் தாமஸ் ✠(St. Thomas of Villanova)செப்டம்பர் 10

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(செப்டம்பர் 10)

✠ வில்லநோவா புனிதர் தாமஸ் ✠

(St. Thomas of Villanova)

மறைப்பணியாளர், ஆயர், ஒப்புரவாளர்:

(Religious, Bishop and Confessor)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 1488

வில்லநோவா டி லாஸ் இன்ஃபேன்ட்ஸ், சியுடாட், ஸ்பெயின்

(Villanueva de los Infantes, Ciudad Real, Spain)

இறப்பு: செப்டம்பர் 8, 1555

வலென்சியா, ஸ்பெயின்

(Valencia, Spain)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்: 

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

புனிதர் பட்டம்: நவம்பர் 1, 1658

திருத்தந்தை ஏழாம் அலெக்சாண்டர்

(Pope Alexander VII)

பாதுகாவல்: 

வில்லநோவா பல்கலைகழகம்

(Villanova University)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: செப்டம்பர் 10

வில்லநோவா புனிதர் தாமஸ், “அகுஸ்தினார் துறவற சபையைச்” (Order of Saint Augustine) சேர்ந்த ஒரு ஸ்பேனிஷ் துறவியாவார் (Spanish friar). தமது காலத்தில், குறிப்பிடத்தக்க ஒரு போதகரும், சந்நியாசம், மற்றும் ஆன்மீக எழுத்தாளரும் ஆவார். இவர், ஏழைகளின்பால் அன்பும் கருணையும் கொண்ட ஒரு பேராயரும் ஆவார்.

“தோமஸ் கார்சியா ஒய் மார்ட்டிநெஸ்” (Tomás García y Martínez) எனும் இயற்பெயர் கொண்ட இவருடைய தந்தை, ஒரு தானியங்களை அரைக்கும் தொழில் செய்பவர் ஆவார். அவர் தமது தாயைப் போலவே, உணவு மற்றும் பலசரக்கு வகைகளை தினமும் ஏழைகளுக்கு கொடுக்கும் வழக்கம் கொண்டவராயிருந்தார். 

தமது பதினாறு வயதில், கலை மற்றும் இறையியல் கற்பதற்காக “அல்காலா பல்கழையில்” (University of Alcalá) சேர்ந்தார். தமது கல்வியை முடித்த தாமஸ், அங்கேயே ஒரு பேராசிரியராக பணி புரிந்தார். கலை, தர்க்கம், மற்றும் தத்துவம் ஆகிய பாடங்களைப் போதித்த தாமஸ், தொடர்ச்சியான மறதி மனப்பாங்கு உள்ளவராயும், குறைந்த ஞாபக சக்தியும் கொண்டவராக இருந்தார். இதன் காரணமாகவே, கி.பி. 1516ம் ஆண்டு, “சலமான்கா” (Salamanca) எனுமிடத்திலுள்ள புனித அகுஸ்தினார் துறவற சபையில் இணைந்தார். கி.பி. 1518ம் ஆண்டில் குருத்துவ அருட்பொழிவு பெற்றார்.

அன்பொழுக இனிமையாக அருட்போதனை செய்வதில் மிகவும் பிரசித்தி பெற்றவராக திகழ்ந்தார். "இறைவனின் அன்பு" என்னும் தலையங்கத்திலேயே பெரும்பாலான சொற்பொழிவுகளை தயாரித்து நிகழ்த்தினார். அன்னை கன்னி மரியாளின் மீது அபரிமிதமான பக்தி கொண்டிருந்தார்.

கி.பி. 1533ல், புனித அகுஸ்தினார் துறவற மடத்திலிருந்து மெக்சிக்கோ (Mexico) நாட்டுக்கு அனுப்பப்பட்ட தாமஸ், அங்கே அரசர் ஐந்தாம் சார்லஸ் (Charles V) அவர்களால் “கிரனடா” (Granada) உயர் மறை மாவட்டத்தின் பேராயராக நியமிக்கப்பட்டார். ஆனால், தாமஸ் அதை ஏற்க மறுத்துவிட்டார். கி.பி. 1544ல் மீண்டும் அவர் “வலேன்சியா”வின் (Valencia) பேராயராக நியமிக்கப்பட்டார். ஆனால் தமது முன்னோடிகள் உத்தரவிடும்வரை அவர் தொடர்ந்து அதற்கும் மறுத்துவிட்டார்.

தாமஸ் சிக்கனத்துக்கு பெயர் போனவர். ஒருமுறை, தமது இல்லத்தை அலங்கரிப்பதற்காக கிடைத்த நன்கொடை பணத்தை நகரிலுள்ள ஒரு மருத்துவமனையின் பராமரிப்பு பணிகளுக்காக கொடுத்துவிட்டார். அவர், தாம் படுக்க உபயோகித்த பாயை கூட ஏழை ஒருவருக்கு உதவுவதற்காக விற்றுவிட்டார். துறவு மடத்தில் தாம் புகுநிலை துறவியாக இருந்தபோது அணிதிருந்த சீருடை அங்கியையே பேராயரானபிறக்கும் அணிந்து வந்தார். தாமஸ் "ஏழைகளின் தந்தை" என்று அறியப்பட்டார். அனாதைகள், ஏழைப்பெண்கள், ஆதரவற்றவர்கள் மற்றும் நோயுற்றோர் மீது அவர் கொண்ட தொடர்ந்த அன்பும் பற்றும் அளவற்றது. உறைவிட பள்ளிகள் மற்றும் உயர்நிலை பள்ளிகள் பலவற்றை அவர் கட்டி உருவாக்கினார்.

தமது 67வது வயதில் வலென்சியா'வில் (Valencia) மரணமடைந்த தாமசின் உடல் அங்கேயுள்ள பேராலயத்தில் பாதுகாக்கப்பட்டது.

† Saint of the Day †

(September 10)

✠ St. Thomas of Villanova ✠

Religious, Bishop, and Confessor:

Born: 1488 AD

Villanueva de Los Infantes,

Ciudad Real, Spain

Died: September 8, 1555

Valencia, Spain

Venerated in: Roman Catholic Church

Canonized: November 1, 1658

Pope Alexander VII

Feast: September 10

Patronage:

Santolan, (Pasig City), Alimodian and Miag-ao (Iloilo), Villanova University

St. Thomas of Villanova was a Spanish friar of the Order of Saint Augustine who was a noted preacher, ascetic and religious writer of his day. He became an archbishop who was famous for the extent of his care for the poor of his see.

Biographical selection:

In the early 16th century, Germany and Spain presented a curious contrast: The first was divided, scandalized, and perverted by an apostate Augustinian monk: Luther. The latter was elevated and sanctified by another Augustinian monk, St. Thomas of Villanova. 

St. Thomas was born on September 18, 1488, at Fuentellana, Spain, the son of a noble but impoverished family. His parents were extremely virtuous and transmitted to him their love for the poor. His mother had received the gift of miracles. The boy was the worthy fruit of such saintly parents. 

After a virtuous childhood in Villanova, he graduated with high honours from the University of Alcalá. At age 28, he joined the St. Augustine friars at Salamanca and took his vows on November 25, 1517, the same year of Luther’s apostasy. At Salamanca, he taught Scholastic Theology and soon began to preach in pulpits throughout Spain. He dedicated his life to the confessionary and to the pulpit. 

His sermons were so persuasive that he was named the court preacher of Emperor Charles V and one of his councillors of state. It is said that Charles V never denied anything to St. Thomas because – as the Emperor affirmed – he had the gift to move hearts.  

He was offered the See of Granada but refused the position. Years later, in 1544, he was obliged under obedience to accept the Archbishopric of Valencia. At that time, the Kingdom of Valencia was suffering from a severe drought. When it was announced that St. Thomas had been chosen the new Archbishop, rain poured abundantly, a sign of the days of grace and redemption to come. In fact, this rain summarizes well the tenure of St. Thomas of Villanova, who became known as “Almsgiver” and “Father of the Poor” for his charity, and “model of Bishops” for his administration and laws. He made a gradual and steady reform of the Clergy and then extended it to all the faithful. 

He continued his mortified life, always seeing in the poor his most precious treasure. He was munificent with all but very parsimonious with himself to the point that he wore the same habit that he had received in the novitiate. Once he was accused of avarice by a tailor who received an old coat for him to mend. Notwithstanding, sometime later St. Stephen gave 150 silver coins as dowry for the tailor’s daughters. 

Several hundred poor came to St. Thomas’ door each morning and were given meals, wine, and money. His charity was often accompanied by miracles of healing the sick, the multiplication of food and extraordinary conversions. His ecstasies were so common that at times he described them in his sermons on the Transfiguration. 

After 11 years of his episcopate, St. Thomas fell gravely ill and died September 8, 1555, the day of the Nativity of Our Lady. In his death agony, he gave the bed in which he was laying to a poor man. It was the last thing he had. 

St. Thomas of Villanova left a great number of sermons and theological writings; his grandiose style is reminiscent of St. Bernard. 

Comments:

This is not a very easy selection to comment on since it primarily reports facts about St. Thomas of Villanova that are characteristic of many saints. They are admirable and praiseworthy, but a little too generic and repeat what we hear about others. I limit myself, therefore, to comment on some more distinctive points here and there for our meditation.

First, it is a remarkable fact that Charles V chose St. Thomas of Villanova as a preacher and counsellor. He was a person who in many ways directed the conscience of the Emperor. You see the finger of Divine Providence directing this great statesman. 

Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman German Empire, a man over whose domains the sun never set, was an extraordinarily important man. He continued the vocation of the Hapsburgs of the House of Austria. There is a text by Mary de Agreda describing the designs of Providence for the House of Austria and all the graces God gave the Hapsburgs to fulfil them. It is very beautiful to see how Divine Providence assisted the realization of those designs by sending St. Thomas of Villanova to be the court preacher and counsellor to Charles V. 

Charles V, we must add with sadness, did not entirely correspond to those plans of God. He had a stint as a councillor, but he was a man whose softness and spirit of tolerance permitted Protestantism to expand in his lands. It is true that he had many different enemies to fight. One of them was the league formed by Muslim Turkey and Catholic France, which also became indirectly responsible for the expansion of Protestantism. 

But Charles V had long periods of peace when he could have opposed the expansion of Protestantism. His famous temporizations have made him the subject of strong, objective critiques by Church historians. 

But he ended his life well. He left aside all his possessions and goods and retired to a monastery as a penitent. He spent his last years there living a life that edified all Christendom. Did the good counsels of St. Thomas of Villanova finally move his heart? He used to say that St. Thomas had the gift of moving hearts. Did St. Thomas also bend his own heart of iron? It is a point to consider.

Someone could object: Why do you say that he had an iron heart? A man who makes concessions is a soft man and cannot be considered a man with an iron heart. 

I would answer that the long experience of life has shown me that nothing is harder to change than the heart of a soft man and make him an energetic man. It is harder to make a soft man energetic than to make an energetic man become soft. I think that a saint who could have made Louis XVI lose his softness would have performed a supernatural exploit greater than one who would convince Louis XIV to refrain from using force. So, the change of Charles V, who went to a monastery to make penance, may have been due to the good counsel of St. Thomas of Villanova. 

Second, it is interesting to see that St. Thomas had so many ecstasies that he used to speak about them in his sermons. It is admirable to see how he reported, sincerely and nobly, without vanity, the manifestations of grace in his soul from the pulpit. Only a truly superior soul can do this because he understands that grace does not rely on his personal merit but only on the largesse of God. 

This attitude is the opposite of a certain Calvinist way of understanding humility that has infiltrated many Catholic milieus. According to it, an individual is proud if he ever praises himself or lets someone else know of his qualities or gifts because humility would always demand that he hide such things. This is not always true. It is a simplified picture. 

I know, of course, that it can be dangerous to tell a person he can praise his own qualities. Often it happens that the person does not have an objective view of himself, but exaggerates his qualities and becomes proud. I know this, and I agree that we must be careful about encouraging this kind of pride. 

But this is different from obliging everyone to hide his qualities in the name of humility. You can see in the life of St. Thomas of Villanova how he made a beautiful and natural manifestation of the graces he received and the marvellous things God did in his soul. He could talk about them even in a sermon because he was detached from them and was glorifying God alone, and not himself. 

In the richness of the Catholic Church, we can find the models for both the rule, which is to be silent about one’s qualities and also for the exception, which is to praise one’s own graces and qualities in order to honour God. 

This is another beautiful facet of the life of St. Thomas of Villanova.

~ Late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira