New England
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February 6, 2025
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To commemorate the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas on January 28, the entire New England campus joined together in an all-day celebration of its patron.

The morning began with Mass in Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel, led by a procession of faculty in full academic regalia. Rev. Romanis Cessario, O.P., a professor of theology at Ave Maria University, offered the Mass. “Among Dominicans, the Feast of St. Thomas is always occasion for great festivities, both liturgical and social,” he said in his homily.

Photos: Mass
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A longtime friend of the College, Fr. Cessario made his TAC lecture debut on the California campus over 20 years ago on St. Thomas Day and returned in 2015 to deliver a second. For his third St. Thomas Day lecture at the College and his first in Northfield, he chose to address the question, “Why Study Aquinas Today?” 

“We should study Aquinas to maintain our hold on Catholic orthodoxy,” Fr. Cessario said. “In its index of ecclesiastical references, the Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions St. Thomas 61 times. Only St. Augustine appears more often. The Angelic Doctor is a safeguard of Church teaching.”

After a busy morning, students took a break for a few hours before gathering for the St. Thomas Day dinner, an elegant meal of Dijon pork chops, green beans, and mashed potatoes. Yet after dinner came perhaps the merriest event of the day: the annual game of Trivial-Quadrivial Pursuit! 

Photos: Trivial-Quadrivial Pursuit
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Divided into three teams, each led by a senior, students competed to answer questions about the curriculum. Adding to the fun, the teams coordinated themed costumes and choreographed their entrances. This year’s teams included a band of busy bees, led by Julianna Bafundo (’25); Republican stereotypes, led by Sam Peterson; and lawyers from Legally Blonde, led by Mary Wassel (’25). After much racking of brains and ridiculous sophistry, Julianna’s team took home the gold.

“I love this part of St. Thomas Day,” said Elizabeth Doylend (’26). “It’s the goofiest part of the day, but by far my favorite.”