{"id":807,"date":"2013-01-28T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2011\/04\/zion-to-thy-savior-singing-a-few-words-for-wednesday\/"},"modified":"2015-06-07T22:39:10","modified_gmt":"2015-06-08T03:39:10","slug":"zion-to-thy-savior-singing-a-few-words-for-wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2013\/01\/zion-to-thy-savior-singing-a-few-words-for-wednesday.html","title":{"rendered":"For this Hymn by St. Thomas Aquinas (Zion, To Thy Savior Singing)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\n<\/em><\/div>\n

I am late in coming around to an appreciation of St. Thomas Aquinas. As the old saw goes, better late than never. <\/em>Jacques Maritain\u2019s book The Peasant of the Garonne<\/em> has pointed me towards learning more about this Doctor of the Church.<\/p>\n

G.K. Chesterton wrote a book about him too. Here are a few of G.K.C.\u2019s words to prime the pump so to speak,<\/p>\n

St. Thomas was a huge heavy bull of a man, fat and slow and quiet; very mild and magnanimous but not very sociable; shy, even apart from the humility of holiness; and abstracted, even apart from his occasional and carefully concealed experiences of trance or ecstasy. St. Francis was so fiery and even fidgety that the ecclesiastics, before whom he appeared quite suddenly, thought he was a madman. St. Thomas was so stolid that the scholars, in the schools which he attended regularly, thought he was a dunce. Indeed, he was the sort of schoolboy, not unknown, who would much rather be thought a dunce than have his own dreams invaded, by more active or animated dunces. This external contrast extends to almost every point in the two personalities. It was the paradox of St. Francis that while he was passionately fond of poems, he was rather distrustful of books. It was the outstanding fact about St. Thomas that he loved books and lived on books; that he lived the very life of the clerk or scholar in The Canterbury Tales, who would rather have a hundred books of Aristotle and his philosophy than any wealth the world could give him. When asked for what he thanked God most, he answered simply, \u201cI have understood every page I ever read.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Did you know that when Thomas decided to join the Dominican order, his family wasn\u2019t too thrilled? \u00a0It seems he didn\u2019t ask their permission. In fact, early on, his brothers kidnapped him when he was on his way back to the order after a visit home. They sat on him in a castle for about a year. But, the stubborn ox wouldn\u2019t change his mind, so they let him go. We\u2019re all the better for it, no doubt.<\/p>\n

And he wasn\u2019t a grind, either. Peter Kreeft reminds us of this in the footnotes of his A Summa of the Summa<\/a>, where he quotes our saint saying,<\/p>\n

Jokes and plays are words and gestures that are not instructive but merely seek to give lively pleasure. We should enjoy them. They are governed by the virtue of witty gaiety to which Aristotle refers and which we call pleasantness. A ready-witted man is quick with repartee and turns speech and action to light relief. It is against reason to be burdensome to others, showing no amusement and acting as a wet blanket. Those without a sense of fun, who never say anything ridiculous, and are cantankerous with those who do, these are vicious, and are called grumpy and rude.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Heh! No \u201csour-faced saint,\u201d he. I wonder what his favorite beer is?<\/p>\n

Another side of Thomas that gets short shrift is his pastoral and poetic side. On his feast day today, I\u2019ll share one of his prayerful hymns. I don\u2019t believe he was thinking of this piece when he claimed that all he had written was \u201cso much straw.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zion, To Thy Savior Singing<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Zion, To Thy Savior Singing
\nZion, to Thy Savior singing,<\/p>\n

To thy Prince and Shepherd bringing,
\nSweetest hymns of love and praise,
\nThou wilt never reach the measure
\nOf His worth, by all the treasure
\nOf thy most ecstatic lays.<\/p>\n

Of all wonders that can thrill thee,
\nAnd, with adoration fill thee,
\nWhat than this can greater be,
\nThat Himself to thee He giveth?
\nHe that eateth ever liveth,
\nFor the Bread of Life is He.<\/p>\n

Fill thy lips to overflowing
\nWith sweet praise, His mercy showing
\nWho this heav\u2019nly table spread:
\nOn this day so glad and holy,
\nTo each longing spirit lowly
\nGiveth He the living Bread.<\/p>\n

Here the King hath spread His table,
\nWhereon eyes of faith are able
\nChrist our Passover to trace:
\nShadows of the law are going,
\nLight and life and truth inflowing,
\nNight to day is giving place.<\/p>\n

Lo, this angels\u2019 food descending
\nHeavenly love is hither sending,
\nHungry lips on earth to feed:
\nSo the paschal lamb was given,
\nSo the manna came from Heaven,
\nIsaac was His type indeed.<\/p>\n

O Good Shepherd, Bread life giving,
\nUs, Thy grace and life receiving,
\nFeed and shelter evermore;
\nThou on earth our weakness guiding,
\nWe in Heaven with Thee abiding,
\nWith all saints will Thee adore.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.<\/p>\n

BONUS!<\/p>\n

Thomas Aquinas\u2019 Works in English<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am late in coming around to an appreciation of St. Thomas Aquinas. As the old saw goes, better late than never. Jacques Maritain\u2019s book The Peasant of the Garonne has pointed me towards learning more about this Doctor of the Church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,232,41],"tags":[83,19,134,22,14,305],"class_list":["post-807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-learning","category-praying","tag-chesterton","tag-feast-days","tag-humor-is-medicine","tag-poetry","tag-saints","tag-st-thomas-aquinas"],"yoast_head":"\nFor this Hymn by St. Thomas Aquinas (Zion, To Thy Savior Singing)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I am late in coming around to an appreciation of St. Thomas Aquinas. As the old saw goes, better late than never. 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