Toulouse: the journey of the skull of Saint Thomas Aquinas for the triple jubilee of the Dominican
The year 2023 will be marked by the celebrations of the triple jubilee of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), tutelary figure of the order of Preachers (Dominicans), whose bodily relics lie under the altar of the Jacobins in Toulouse.
The skull of Saint Thomas Aquinas, placed in a magnificent reliquary covered with gold leaf, is preparing to make a grand tour of France on the occasion of the celebrations of his triple jubilee (his birth, his canonization and his death ).
For the time being, he is jealously locked up in a chest in the Dominican convent in Toulouse (Rangueil), the first stage of a long journey through the parishes of France. La Dépêche du Midi was able to have access to it, the remains of his body are still locked up in a vault under the altar of the Jacobins.
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)? The Italian monk, born in the castle of Roccasecca near Aquino, in the peninsular part of the Kingdom of Sicily (Lazio), is one of the tutelary figures of the Order of Preachers.
A disciple of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC), he is considered one of the main masters of school philosophy and Catholic theology. He was canonized on July 18, 1323 by John XXII, then proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pius V, in 1567, and Patron of Catholic universities, schools and academies, by Leo XIII in 1880.
From Saint-Sernin to the Jacobins
“For three years, we will only talk about Saint Thomas, explains the Dominican brother Philippe-Marie Margelidon. We decided to offer him what he hadn’t had since 1974, when he moved from Saint-Sernin to Les Jacobins, a reliquary. In 1974, it had been deposited in a golden chest which is not strictly speaking a reliquary. As the relics of Saint-Thomas will move throughout France, throughout the south to Arras (Pas-de-Calais). The first Toulouse parish to receive the reliquary will be Christ the King. The skull of Saint-Thomas was taken last Tuesday, under the altar of the Jacobins”.
“The skeleton was red in color…”
Mgr Jean-Louis Bruguès, ex-prefect of the Roman Church in charge of the archives and the Vatican library, remembers the celebration at the Jacobins.
“I was the deacon of the celebration in 1974 and we put all the bones under the altar of the Jacobins. The skeleton was red, since at the time it was the technique of preservation with wine or vinegar. We know that these relics went to Saint-Sernin at the time of the French Revolution, in 1790. Before that, the Jacobins were already the setting for Saint Thomas Aquinas, among the Dominicans”. The bodily relics of this common Doctor of the Church had been hidden from Italy in 1368 by the then Pope Urban V at the convent of the Jacobins.
“We must remember, insists Brother Philippe-Marie Margelidon, that it was the faithful who protected the relics of Saint Thomas, it was not the Dominicans.
From left to right, Brother Philippe-Marie Margelidon and Bishop Jean-Louis Bruguès.
Patronage of the Heritage Foundation
The reliquary, which contains the head of Thomas Aquinas and for which the Heritage Foundation has launched a sponsorship, is a contemporary work executed for the triple jubilee by three artists: Augustin Frison-Roche (painter), Louis-Guillaume Piéchaud (goldsmith) and Pierre Claverie (cabinetmaker).
On the box, you can admire the portrait of Thomas Aquinas and symbols such as the vine (for wine), wheat (bread), angels. It also contains the relic authentication documents. “They attest that they are real relics,” continued Brother Margelidon. These documents were completed by what could be called experts: doctors, officers of the Dominican province and of the diocese (clerks, notaries, representatives of the archbishop and of the city). We should also note the ribbon with the seals which attests to the transfer of the skull of the Jacobins into the reliquary”.
The exhibition from May 2 to June 29 at the Catholic Institute of Toulouse
On the occasion of the jubilee of the canonization of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1323-2023), an exhibition will be visible, from May 2 to June 29, at the Catholic Institute of Toulouse (31, rue de la Fonderie), then at the Hiéron museum in Paray-le-Monial (Saône-et-Loire), from July 10 to October 1. This exhibition will present major artistic pieces never shown to the public and property of private collectors: altarpiece of the Master of the Cross of the Piani d’Invrea (1335), the Blessed Sacrament by Guillaume Gabron (17th century), the canvas by Antoine Nicolas “Saint Thomas Aquinas, Fountain of Wisdom” (1648), kept at Notre-Dame de Paris. The visitor will also be able to discover more modest pieces (paintings, prints, sculptures, enamels), which nevertheless attest to the continuity of the esteem and devotion held by the Aquinas.
