The Divine Eucharistic Hymns of St. Thomas Aquinas

Today in the pre-Vatican II Catholic calendar is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas was certainly not right about everything (as he himself would have been quick to agree), and he has perhaps been treated with rather exaggerated reverence in the past; but he was definitely outstanding both for his brilliance and his holiness, and his theology was hugely influential on Catholic thought and teaching.

Aquinas was the key force in bringing the Greek philosopher Aristotle back into popularity in the West, and Aristotle later had significant impact not only on Christians but on secular thinkers. Aquinas preserved the best of the past but also espoused revolutionary ideas such as a form of popular sovereignty and the concept that the king can be removed if he is tyrannical. Therefore, for his sanctity and his achievements, he deserves honor and respect.

Aquinas is famous for his theological and philosophical writings, particularly his Summa Theologiae, but many people throughout the centuries have found his Eucharistic hymns the most inspiring. Aquinas had the deepest devotion to Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist, and his hymns are the most poetic expression of the truth he expressed toward the end of his life, that his great theological works were as straw before the reality of God’s divinity. What Aquinas the celebrated scholar knew was that education is useful, but all the knowledge in the world is worthless if one has no personal relationship with God and no charity. That is a lesson our modern world, with its worship of degrees, certificates, and expertise, is desperately in need of.

Below are the lyrics and translation of part of one of Aquinas’s Eucharistic hymns, and a musical setting of them:

Panis angelicus, fit panis hominum.

Dat panis coelicus, figuris terminum.

O res mirabilis, manducat Dominum

Pauper et servus et humilis.

Te trina Deitas, unaque, poscimus,

Sic nos tu visita sicut te colimus;

Per tuas semitas duc nos quo tendimus,

Ad lucem quam inhabitas. Amen.

The angelic bread becomes the food of men.

The heavenly bread gives form to the imagination.

O wondrous thing, the poor man and servant

and the humble man eat the Lord.

We pray to you, Triune and One God,

that you visit us, as we cherish you;

through your counsel lead us to what we pursue:

to your light, which you inhabit. Amen.

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!