« STUDIORUM DUCEM ». - Encyclical of Pio XI (29 June 1923) on s. Tommaso d'Aquino, published on the occasion of the sixth centenary of his canonization (AAS, 15 [1923], pp. 309-26).
In the first part, the Pontiff deals with the sanctity of the Aquinate, which rendered him particularly fitted to penetrate the mysteries of the faith and to speak of them with gentleness and persuasive force. The excellence of his doctrine (part 2), so widely acknowledged by the Church (the Popes from Giovanni XXII to Leone XIII and Pio X are cited), is, as it were, the fruit of the extraordinary spiritual personality of the Angelic and Common Doctor: all his scholarly work is an
aspiration towards God, from metaphysics (in which he is superior to all others) to dogmatic and moral theology (whose fundamental contributions are brought to light), and finally to asceticism, mysticism, exegesis, and liturgy. His hymns for the feast of Corpus Domini entitle him to be regarded as « Eucharistiae praeco et vates masimus ». This important document concludes with an exhortation to follow the examples and doctrine of the holy Doctor (ite ad Thomam), whose perennial relevance is emphasized.
Less elevated Aeterni Patris (v.) of Leone XIII, this encyclical adheres to the needs of the moment.