On Wednesday, Dec. 4, the skull that once housed one of the greatest theological minds in history was on display in Providence for the faithful to venerate, beginning at St. Pius V Church. In a solemn procession, the skull was then transported in its reliquary across the street to the campus of Providence College, where it remained in St. Dominic’s Chapel for public veneration until after the Mass of St. Thomas Aquinas was celebrated.
As the time neared 6 p.m. at St. Dominic’s, those waiting to pray before the relic formed a line that stretched from the chapel’s front door to the altar rail. The college’s Associate Director of Media Relations Carolyn Cronin said there had also been a line “out the door” at St. Pius V earlier in the day.
Kneeling at the altar rail, the faithful presented sacramentals such as rosaries to Dominican friars attending the reliquary. The priests took turns touching the objects to St. Thomas’ skull as they recited a prayer of blessing.
When an object is touched to the remains of a saint — known as a first-class relic — that object becomes a relic itself, known as a third-class relic.
Plastic rosaries and holy cards commemorating the occasion were made available at the front of the chapel for conversion into third-class relics for those who had not brought their own items.
One student presented a Bible to be touched to the saint’s skull. Later, Father Simon Teller, Chaplain and Director of Campus Ministry, explained that this Bible was one of those that had been given to the college’s incoming freshmen at the beginning of the current academic year.
The saint’s relics are on tour throughout the U.S. for the first time as part of a two-year celebration of several important anniversaries in St. Thomas’ life. The years 2023-2025 mark “the 700th anniversary of the saint’s canonization, the 750th anniversary of his death, and 800th anniversary of his birth”, according to the website of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph.
The tour began at St. Dominic’s Church in Washington, D.C. on November 29 and will end at SS. Philip and James Church in Baltimore, MD on December 18.
According to Father Teller, the relic cannot be sent by air transport due to the fact that it is too valuable to be covered by insurance. It must be transported personally by Dominican friars. This began with a journey by ship from France and has continued on U.S. shores with Dominicans driving the skull in its reliquary from one location to the next.
Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope St. Pius V in 1567, St. Thomas’ works, particularly the “Summa Theologica,” continue to provide a basis for formally expressing Catholic doctrine.
The relics’ permanent home is in Toulouse in southern France, where St. Dominic established the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominicans, in 1215.
The factors that drew people to the exhibition were numerous, but Saint Thomas’ presence on campus came at a good time as PC students prepared for final exams, and St. Thomas is the patron of students, said Fr. Teller.
“Everyone has their own reason for coming to venerate the relics of the saints,” Father Teller said. “God does amazing things in the lives of the faithful through the relics of the saints, and he has special graces that he wants to give to each person who came to venerate the relics of Aquinas.”
As a Dominican priest, having St. Thomas’ relics at the college was “incredible.”
“St. Thomas Aquinas is the father of the Dominican intellectual tradition,” Father Teller said. “His thought shapes the theological studies for all Dominicans, and personally I feel a close fraternal bond with him, as a Dominican and as a disciple of his thought.
“Having his relics on campus draws me closer to Saint Thomas, and is such a special opportunity to give thanks for all that he has done for our Order.”
For Amanda and Michael Hare, residents of Sutton, Mass., and parishioners of St. Mary’s on Broadway in Providence, venerating such a major relic assists the learning process as they plan to receive the sacraments of initiation as “reverts” to the faith.
“It definitely helps me understand and appreciate those who’ve come before,” said Michael.
Christina Wassell, also of St. Mary’s on Broadway, was drawn to the exhibition by an appreciation for St. Thomas as instrumental in her family’s personal journey in the faith.
“The theology that has really shaped us and formed our Catholicism (as a family) is Thomistic,” said Wassell, who entered the Catholic Church in 2010 and credits St. Mary’s with “deepening the scholastic part of our faith.”
However, for Providence College students Emma Morris and Chloe Fanous, who study Aquinas’ works in the college’s Western Civilization program, the visit to the relic was a matter of curiosity.
“I was very curious,” said Fanous. “Our dorm last year was called St. Thomas Aquinas, and there are pictures of him in there.”
For Morris, the experience was “a little unsettling, but cool.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been in the presence of anybody’s skull,” said Morris. “Honestly it was a very odd experience. I’m not used to seeing bones in a church.”
Yet, braving the unfamiliar was worth experiencing what Fanous and Morris agreed was “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Fanous was impressed that the relics of a person who shaped Western civilization were “here, at our school, in our chapel,” she said.
Morris added, summing up the significance of the exhibition whether a visitor was religious or not: “You’re in the presence of history.”
A plenary indulgence, under ordinary conditions, was granted to those who venerated the skull of the saint.
