A Vision of St. Thomas Aquinas
Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio, Milan, Italy
According to by William of Thoco's vita, on two occasions Christ spoke to St. Thomas Aquinas from the crucifix. In the first he said "Thomas, you have spoken well of me; what reward would you have from me for your labors?" The saint replied, "Lord, nothing but you." In the second, Thomas was concerned about his defense of the doctrine of Transubstantiation. Did he explain it properly? From the crucifix before him, Christ answered, "you have written well of this sacrament of my body."
The painting has Christ's words flowing from the crucifix toward the saint. Unfortunately, my photograph is too blurry to tell whether they are the first or second of his assurances.
Two details in William of Thoco are usually omitted in the images. One is that Thomas was at the time floating two or three feet above the floor. The other is that fellow Dominicans were with him both times. Often in the images the saint is instead accompanied by angels.
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Read more about images of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Photographed at the basilica by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.