I bought this beautiful antique santo for its beautiful
symmetry, and not for any other reason. In fact, I didn’t even know its
identity—I was simply struck by its perfect proportion, balance, and
reflectional symmetry—that is, if there is a line dividing the santo into two,
the pieces will be mirror images of each other. Remarkable for a folk santo
carved by an anonymous, and perhaps, untrained artisan.
After some time sitting on a shelf, I took a more serious
look at this 20 inch. santo. I knew it was a Dominican santo, but the biretta
he was wearing stumped me. It was only after a thorough cleaning that details
appeared, which led me to suspect that this was a rare Santo Tomas de Aquino.
This Dominican priest (1225-1274) is regarded as one of
the greatest thinkers and writers of the Middle Ages. But save for his
association with the Pontifical University of Sto. Tomas, and the town of Sto.
Tomas in Batangas, the saint is largely unknow; there are few examples of hims
as a carved santo figure.
The tell-tale sign that this was indeed Sto. Tomas de
Aquino was a faded painting of a sunburst drawn on the saint’s breast—the sun
of truth, a symbol of his teachings illuminated by divine truth. Another
painted detail as this string of rosary beads that one can faintly discern
hanging from his neck---the Dominicans often wore the rosary around their cowls
or hoods.
As to the crown-like biretta with four points, this
represents his being a angelic Doctor of the Universal Church (which is why, he
is sometimes also represented as having wings). If he still had his hands, he
would have held a pen to an open book. Or he would have held a small church on
his left hand (as doctor of the church). Some portraits show a dove at his ear
to symbolize the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which is hard to capture in
3-dimensional images.
Sto. Tomas de Aquino is considered as Patron of Students,
Universities, Catholic schools, Doctor of the Church . His feast day was moved
to January 28 in 1970, but Filipinos continue to celebrate the original feast
day of March 7, which actually is the
date of his death.
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