Aquinas Biographer Margaret (Steichen ’84) O’Reilly Featured in New Book

“O’Reilly’s endlessly thought-provoking novel is a miracle of concision, a tender word-portrait of the best and brightest of the Scholastic theologians,” remarks Darren J. N. Middleton in his new book, The Writer and the Cross: Interviews With Authors of Christian Historical Fiction, praising the work of alumna author Margaret (Steichen ’84) O’Reilly. “The idea of a thinking faith is something she cannot imagine living without.”

The Writer and the Cross features interviews with many notable authors of Christian historical fiction, ranging in works set in the Patristic period to the modern day. One of the 12 interviews centers around Mrs. O’Reilly’s 2020 book, Humble Servant of Truth. The historical-fiction novel tells the story of St. Thomas Aquinas, beginning with his precocious, deeply faithful childhood, and continuing through his days as a monk and scholar, touching upon his numerous, glorious encounters with the Divine. 

Humble Servant of Truth is part of the Mentoris Project, founded by a member of the College’s Board of Governors, Robert Barbera, which publishes biographies and novels based on the lives of prominent Italians and Italian-Americans. “The idea was to portray St. Thomas in his own real-life setting and to accompany him through the milestones that shaped his life,” says Mrs. O’Reilly in the interview. “My challenge was to make many of the philosophical and theological ideas he grappled with accessible so that the story could still flow easily, without over-simplifying them.”

In The Writer and the Cross, Mr. Middleton asks Mrs. O’Reilly a variety of questions about her background and writing. “During my time at Thomas Aquinas College, I realized there is more to education than just reading a book and talking about it,” she remarks. “To be educated, one has to become familiar with reality under many aspects and at the same time be competent enough to think about it intelligently and speak about it with clarity.”

Mrs. O’Reilly also reflects on different parts of the Angelic Doctor’s life and works. “Although his approach and language are deceptively simple, his body of work is profound, eminently reasonable, and a significant contribution to faith and reason,” she says. “The glory of St. Thomas Aquinas lies not in an ornate presentation but in his ability to examine the monumental questions that surface again and again in every age, to every thoughtful mind, and then to penetrate to the heart of the matter, making truth accessible.”