On the Sacraments

Saint Thomas Aquinas, also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Roman Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, within which he is also known as the Doctor Angelicus ([the] Angelic Doctor), Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis. "Aquinas" is both a Latin demonym for a resident of Aquino, his place of birth, and a surname, as his family was among the noblest families of the Kingdom of Naples, with the title of "counts d'Aquino". He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of Thomism. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy was conceived in development or refutation of his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political theory. Thomas is held in the Catholic Church to be the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood.