Skull of Saint Thomas Aquinas venerated in St. Dominic Chapel
By Michael Hagan ’15, ’19G
Members of the campus and greater Providence communities prayed before the skull of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the 13th-century Dominican friar and doctor of the church who is the patron saint of students, teachers, and scholars. His Summa Theologiae and other writings are foundational texts in Western Christian theology and philosophy.
The skull, considered a holy relic by the Catholic Church, was carried across campus by Dominican friars to St. Dominic Chapel on Wednesday, December 4, in a gilded container called a reliquary. It was placed before the altar, and visitors were invited to approach.
Many brought rosaries, crucifixes, and other devotional items that Dominicans touched to the reliquary, a practice the church teaches makes items relics in their own right. The chapel was filled to capacity for two Masses celebrated in the presence of the skull at 4:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
“We venerate relics because of the bond of affection between us and the saint to whom the relics belong,” College Chaplain Rev. Simon Teller, O.P. wrote in a message to the student body. “Relics ought to be venerated because during their earthly lives, the bodies of saints were temples of the Holy Spirit,” and “they point us to the resurrection of the dead that will occur on the Last Day.”
Elisia Pagliuca ’25 of Berlin, Connecticut, who is president of Campus Ministry, prays for the intercession of Thomas Aquinas and other Dominican saints when she passes the space where several smaller relics are held in St. Dominic Chapel.
“Studying Saint Thomas has helped answer so many of my questions and doubts, and I know that his prayers help me grow in faith. Seeing even his mortal remains was like being in the presence of an old friend,” she said.
Pagliuca was one of several volunteers who stood nearby as visitors venerated the skull.
“Relics can be a hard concept to digest. I think people are intrigued by their historicity and tangibility. But regardless of how foreign or familiar the veneration of relics is to them, they acknowledge the presence of something holy,” she said.
From St. Dominic Chapel, the skull was transported to St. Gertrude Dominican Priory in Cincinnati as part of a 10-city tour of the eastern United States that ends later this month in Baltimore. When not on tour, the skull is interred beneath the altar at the Church of the Jacobins in Toulouse, France, where the Dominican Order was founded in the 13th century.
In May 2023, a group of students, chaplains, faculty, and staff participated in a pilgrimage to sacred and historic sites in Spain and France, where they venerated the relics of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Toulouse.
