What’s up with the name?

The DUMB OX in our company name is derived from the life of St. Thomas Aquinas.  When he was roughly 20 years old, he joined the Dominican order.  During his time of study there, since he was quiet and extremely large in size, Thomas’ comrades came up with a nickname: The Dumb Ox.  This seems to imply that Thomas was stupid, however, “dumb” was really meant to signify that he did not speak much. He certainly was not stupid; Thomas’ family was fairly wealthy, and he was afforded a very good education.  He had many great teachers, including St. Albert the Great, from whom he received much training.  Of course, Thomas grew in faith, wisdom and knowledge—and later wrote the Summa Theologiae, which is widely renowned as the foundational work serving as the basis of much of our modern Christian theology and philosophy.  Many regard it as the greatest work of theology in the history of the church.  And so it happened that the Dumb Ox actually turned out to be one of the most brilliant and prolific Christian men ever to walk the face of our planet.  

Aquinas is known for his great ability to reconcile faith with intellect.  He used this gift to challenge many different schools of thought, and Thomas dialogued with many who espoused different philosophical views.  Even in his brilliancy, Thomas remained simple in his desire to please the Lord.  He did not allow his intellect to get in the way of his desire to be holy and pure.  People do not become saints simply because they are brilliant or because they write books; people become saints, because they love God above all else.  Thomas’ life is a reflection of that love upon which we can gaze, admire and hope to imitate.  We pray that we, like Thomas, may use our minds to seek the Truth and always live our lives humbly for love of our God.

In addition, Thomas pursued his vocation with serious persistence. At one point, his family kidnapped him and locked him up in a castle for about a year, in an effort to dissuade him from joining the Dominicans. They even sent a prostitute into his cell to try to tempt him away from what He knew God’s will was for his life. Not to be distracted, Thomas pulled a firebrand from the fireplace and chased her out with it!

We pray that we (and all those to whom we minister) may pursue our vocations with the same purity and tenacity as St. Thomas, training in faithfulness in order to fulfill whatever God desires of us.