Today is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Here is his tomb in Toulouse, France:

One of the most amazing scenes in the lives of the saints to me, as a writer, is when Our Lord appeared to St. Thomas Aquinas and said, "Thou hast written well of Me, Thomas. What wouldst thou have?"

Now THAT is what I call being a successful writer! Right there. 

That's it. 

That's the pinnacle of success.

And Saint Thomas replied, "Only Thyself, Lord." St. Thomas, wise man that he was, knew that all we human beings need, in the end, is God.

(This is the cloister of the Dominican monastery where he is buried.)

This great priest and theologian is one of my father's favorite saints. I prayed to St. Thomas today to intercede for my dad with Almighty God. It's a wonderful, consoling thought, that I've mentioned before on this blog, that the saints are cheering us on from Heaven...they're praying for us, they're encouraging us, they WANT us to join them in eternal bliss.

“Be patient and trust your friends in Heaven. They wish you more good than you do, they care for you more than you do yourself.”

~ St. Bernadette Speaks, by Fr. Albert Bessieres, SJ, 1956.