Robert Miller, associate professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Mount Saint Mary College, recently discussed St. Thomas Aquinas’s respect and admiration for the sacrament of Holy Communion in his talk “Adoro Te Devote: St. Thomas Aquinas on the Eucharist.”
The lecture, held on campus, was the third in a semester-long celebration of the 800th anniversary of the birth of St. Aquinas, an influential philosopher and Dominican priest. It was also part of the series “Lectures in Applied Theology in Honor of Sr. Peggy Murphy,” which honors its namesake, a professor at the Mount for more than 20 years.
St. Thomas Aquinas OP, a 13th century Dominican friar, priest, and the patron saint of colleges and scholars, made innumerable contributions to theology and philosophy over the course of his five decades on this Earth. He embraced Greek philosophers like Aristotle and Averroes, fusing their ideas with the principles of Christianity. He created a school of thought that encompasses both theology and philosophy, now known as Thomism.
Miller explained that the Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion, is the part of a Mass where participants receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Catholics believe that the bread and wine used in the ceremony are truly transformed into the body and blood of Jesus through a process called transubstantiation, though their appearance remains the same.
An important part of the Eucharist is when priests echo the words Jesus said during the Last Supper – “This is my body” – identifying the bread as his body and the wine as his blood. This was the first Holy Communion.
“For Thomas, this is the greatest sentence, because the words of consecration bring the very presence of the second person of the Trinity [God the Son, or Jesus],” said Miller.
Miller is a Senior Fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and a board member for the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary – USA. His research spans a wide area of theology and biblical studies including biblical theology and typology, John’s Gospel, and Mariology. Miller is also active in his parish coordinating the RCIA process and offering other adult enrichment opportunities.
The talk was sponsored by the Mount’s Catholic and Dominican Institute (CDI). CDI promotes the Mount’s heritage of St. Dominic, advances the Dominican charism of study and service, provides a forum for discussion of contemporary ethical issues, and enhances Catholic and Jewish dialogue.