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Following his highly acclaimed study of the life and works of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Jean-Pierre Torrell, O.P., continues his masterful work on the great Dominican theologian and brings an immense learning to bear on a subject that most readers have not considered very carefully: Thomas's spirituality

The presentation of the life and work of any great thinker is a formidable task, even for a renowned scholar. This is all the more the case when such a historical figure is a saint and mystic, such as Friar Thomas Aquinas. In this volume, Fr. Jean-Pierre Torrell, OP, masterfully takes up the strenuous task of presenting such a biography, providing readers with a detailed, scholarly, and profound account of the thirteenth-century theologian whose works have not ceased to draw the attention of both friend and foe! In this volume, Fr. Torrell, an internationally renowned expert on St. Thomas, speaks to neophytes and experts alike: for those new to Thomas’s works, he paints an engaging human portrait of Friar Thomas in his historical context; for specialists, he provides a rigorous scholarly account of contemporary research concerning Thomas’s life and work. This new edition of Fr. Torrell’s widely-lauded text involved significant revision, expansion, and bibliographical updates in light of the latest scholarship. The Catholic University of America Press is pleased to present such an eminent specialist’s mature synthesis concerning Friar Thomas Aquinas.

How can one discover or recover the sense of God’s presence, of living union with God? The Bible speaks to us from beginning to end of God’s presence as Creator and Savior: a presence received, a presence loved, a presence for whose fullness we intensely hope. The liturgy of the Church celebrates God present in Christ and in his Spirit who unite us to the Father. Christian existence is lived in faith by the light of this loving presence of the God who has created us, who has saved us, and who calls us to return to him. This book seeks to ponder God’s presence in its length, depth, and breadth: the presence of God in all his creatures, his presence of indwelling through grace, his presence radiating in the Son’s Incarnation, his presence in the gift of the Holy Spirit, and finally his presence in the blessed vision whereby we shall be united immediately to him. The reader is invited to take a “theological journey” in the school of Saint Thomas Aquinas, a journey in five chapters, which constitute as many stages. The first chapter offers a reflection on the relation that all creatures, including human persons, have with the creating God. The second chapter considers God’s presence in grace: the three divine persons come to abide in the just whom they make their temple. The third chapter is consecrated to Christ Jesus: “In him the whole plenitude of the divinity dwells bodily” (Col 2:9). The fourth chapter turns to the Holy Spirit, considering his presence and the gift of grace. And finally, the fifth and closing chapter deals with the consummation of Christian hope: the union with God in the blessed vision.