Saint Thomas

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Saint Thomas is mentioned in Paradiso XVI, v. 129, where Cacciaguida, speaking to Dante, affirms that the feast of Thomas comforts the Pilgrims, an expression alluding to the spiritual and intellectual comfort offered by his doctrine. In Canto XII of Paradiso, Bonaventure recalls the life and works of Saint Dominic and, after praising the Franciscan order, pays homage to Saint Francis and to the Franciscan Order; in this context he recalls how a bond of fraternal friendship united the Dominicans and the Franciscans, and he points to Thomas as the intellectual guide who carried the charism of Dominic down to Bonaventure, while Bonaventure himself was the guide of the Franciscan charism. The notes to Canto XII present Thomas as the Dominican theologian, master at Paris and Doctor of the Church, whose work, together with that of Bonaventure, represents the height of thirteenth-century scholastic theology. Thomas is also recalled in the notes as an example of precision and clarity in argumentation, capable of distinguishing doctrinal questions with rigor.