STUDIORUM DUCEM. - Encyclical of Pius XI (29 June 1923) on St. Thomas Aquinas, published on the occasion of the sixth centenary of his canonization (AAS, 15 [1923], pp. 309-26).

In the first part the Pontiff treats of the holiness of the Aquinate, which made him particularly suited to penetrate the mysteries of the faith and to speak of them with sweetness and persuasive force. The excellence of his doctrine (part 2), so widely acknowledged by the Church (the Popes from John XXII to Leo XIII and Pius X are cited), is as it were the fruit of the extraordinary spiritual personality of the Angelic and Common Doctor: his entire scientific work is a yearning toward God, from metaphysics (in which he is superior to all) to dogmatic and moral theology (whose fundamental contributions are brought to light) down to ascetics, mysticism, exegesis and the liturgy. His hymns for the feast of Corpus Christi give him the right to be considered « Eucharistiae praeco et vates maximus ». The substantial document closes with an exhortation to follow the examples and the doctrine of the holy Doctor (ite ad Thomam), whose perennial relevance is brought to light.

Less lofty and solemn than the Aeterni Patris (v.) of Leo XIII, this encyclical is attuned to the needs of the moment.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: L. Lavaud, St Thomas a'Aquin guide des études. Notes et commentaires sur l'encycl. « S. d. », Paris 1925; M. Cordovani, S. Tommaso nella parola di Pio XI, in Angelicum, 6 (1920), pp. 1-12; E. Hugon, De se doctrinali encyclicarum Pii XI, ibid., pp. 17-20; A. Walz, Studi domenicani, Rome 1939, p. 144.

Antonio Piolanti

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