Thomas Aquinas: The Gifts of the Spirit : Selected Spiritual Writings

by Benedict M. Ashley

Giving us a new look at the important work of the much-beloved Thomas Aquinas, this book reminds us that he went beyond philosophy and theology-his Christian practice was elevated to mysticism by gifts of the Holy Spirit. This anthology presents a selection of his writings including his commentaries on the Bible and other little-explored works chosen for their focus on the role of the Holy Spirit in Christian life. Topics grace the primacy of love the organic structure of the Christian community the charisms of the spirit the prayer of praise the mystic marriage and the eucharist.

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Benedict M. Ashley, O.P. is Emeritus Professor of Moral Theology at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. Before his conversion to Catholicism, Fr. Ashley was a professed atheist and communist. He found his way to the Church through his study of the works of St. Thomas Aquinas under Mortimer Adler at the University of Chicago. Before his ordination to the priesthood through the Order of Preachers in 1948, he received his Doctorate in Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. Fr. Ashley also holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and a Master’s in Sacred Theology. He is an Associate Faculty of Philosophy for the Institute for Advanced Physics, and was a Senior Fellow of the National Catholic Center for Bioethics. Among Fr. Ashley’s books is Health Care Ethics, co-authored in 1975, a fundamental text on the topic of Catholic medical ethics, now in its fifth edition.