A Dominican friar and one of the Church's greatest thinkers, he put all his learning at the service of the knowledge of God. Near the end of his life, after an experience of prayer that overwhelmed him, he ceased to write, judging all his work to be but straw beside what he had glimpsed.
In their own words
Nothing but yourself, Lord.
Reply to Christ, reported ('Non aliam nisi te, Domine')
All that I have written seems to me like straw compared to what I have seen.
Reported words, after 6 December 1273
Grant me, O merciful God, to desire what is pleasing to you, to seek it prudently, to recognise it truly, and to fulfil it perfectly.