By: Austin Habash

When most Catholics hear the name Saint Thomas Aquinas, they think immediately of dense theology, philosophical arguments, and the towering Summa Theologiae. He is often presented as the Church’s greatest intellect, the man who organized doctrine with unmatched clarity.

But this common picture is incomplete.

Aquinas was not only a master of theology. He was also a master of prayer. Some of the most beautiful liturgical and devotional texts in the Church’s life flow directly from his pen. To recover Aquinas as a spiritual guide, not only as a theological authority, is to rediscover a deeply underappreciated dimension of Catholic tradition.

This rediscovery has also affected my own spiritual life. Studying Aquinas daily for Summa in a Year began as an intellectual project. Over time, I found myself drawn not only to his arguments but to his spirit. He was a man who thought precisely because he prayed profoundly.

Aquinas and the Prayer of the Church

In the thirteenth century, Pope Urban IV commissioned Aquinas to compose the liturgical texts for the new feast of Corpus Christi. The result was extraordinary. Aquinas wrote hymns and prayers that the Church still sings and prays today.

Pange Lingua

Tantum Ergo

O Salutaris Hostia

Lauda Sion

These are not academic treatises. They are lyrical, poetic, and deeply affective. They express love, awe, and reverence before the Eucharistic mystery. Every time Catholics kneel for Benediction and sing Tantum Ergo, they are praying Aquinas’s theology, not in syllogisms but in song.Aquinas did not separate theology from worship. Doctrine was meant to lead the soul to adoration.

Right belief was ordered toward right praise.

He also composed prayers for the Divine Office, reflections for priests before Mass, and meditations on the Passion. Many of his private prayers survive. They are simple, humble, and almost childlike in tone. The intellectual giant prayed like a man who knew he stood before God in need.

Near the end of his life, after a profound mystical experience during Mass, Aquinas set aside his writing and said, “All that I have written seems like straw compared to what has been revealed to me.” The theologian’s final word was silence, the silence of contemplation.

The Spirituality Beneath the Summa

To read Aquinas only as a philosopher is to misunderstand him. His theology was born in prayer, sustained by the sacraments, and ordered toward holiness.

He celebrated Mass daily. He prayed the Divine Office faithfully. He fasted. He kept long vigils before the Blessed Sacrament. His Dominican brothers testified that he wept during Mass, overwhelmed by the mystery he taught.

This is why his theology has such enduring clarity. It was purified in worship.

Many Catholics today struggle to connect doctrine with devotion. Theology can feel abstract, while prayer can feel emotional. Aquinas shows that these belong together. True prayer seeks understanding. True understanding leads to prayer.

This is how I believe someone should approach the Summa in a Year. The goal is not merely to learn Aquinas but to pray with him, allowing his clear vision of God to reshape how we approach Scripture, the sacraments, and daily Christian life.

Recovering Aquinas for the Life of Prayer Today

Highlighting Aquinas’s liturgical and devotional legacy is especially important today. Many Catholics are rediscovering Eucharistic adoration, chant, and traditional forms of prayer. Few realize that Aquinas stands quietly behind much of this renewal.

His Eucharistic hymns remain the gold standard of sacred poetry. His prayers teach reverence without sentimentality. His theology safeguards worship from becoming mere self-expression. His personal holiness reminds us that knowledge without love is incomplete.

Perhaps this is the most urgent lesson Aquinas offers modern Catholics. We do not study God in order to master Him. We study God in order to adore Him more deeply.

That is why Aquinas remains not only the Angelic Doctor of the Church, but also one of her hidden masters of prayer. Perhaps this is the angle we most need to recover today.

About Our Guest Blogger

Austin Habash is the owner and founder of Think Catholic and Sent Evangelization, a unique neighborhood evangelization ministry that trains, equips, and accompanies parish-based teams across the country. Habash is a former diocesan seminarian and Carthusian monk, passionate about sharing the Gospel wherever he goes. Habash resides in Denver where he enjoys recording his podcast, “Summa in a Year,” and praying among God’s beauty in the Colorado mountains.