St. Thomas Aquinas

Surely there is no author to compare with St. Thomas Aquinas. Difficult to read! Extremely so, and– forgive me– therefore intensely, painfully boring. I am referring to his books.

The music of St. Thomas Aquinas, however, is much more bearable. Perhaps the very first Latin hymn I learned to sing was Adoro te devote. Simple easy-to-learn melody. And I vaguely understood what the words meant. At times I sang English translations. In Catholic and in Anglican churches. That is probably how I learned what the song was all about. A eucharistic hymn about God hidden in the Sacrament.

This morning I woke up and the hymn was in my mind. The first two lines, in Latin, in particular: Adoro te devote, latens deitas. Eventually I found time to consult an English translation. Yes! Hidden God! And I felt a connection to the God of St. John of the Cross, hidden within us.

The Eucharist then, is something like the hidden God within us. We believe in the Eucharist, even in today’s world of facts and necessary factual proof of facts. I believe in the Eucharist. Though I have not received since November last year and am not in a rush to return to in-person church services.

I don’t make any heretical claims here. I am not proposing anything really. Just noting that the concept of “hiddenness” that St. John of the Cross applies to God in general (and in particular to God within us), and the concept of God hidden in the Eucharast (Jesus) are similar.

That is my theology thought of the day. No offence intended to God, Jesus, St. John of the Cross or St. Thomas Aquinas. Just expressing what came to my little mind this morning. My little morning thought has made me regard Adoro te devote with much more affection.