The holy relic of Saint Thomas Aquinas’s skull is continuing its world tour to celebrate the Triple Jubilee of the 700th anniversary of his canonization in 1323, the 750th anniversary of his death in 1274. and the 800th anniversary of his birth in 1225. To celebrate these special anniversaries, the Dominican province of Toulouse in France, where his relics permanently (at least for the last 200 years or so) reside, has offered to display Saint Thomas’s skull for veneration there and across Europe, and eventually other parts of the world in 2025. But before its next scheduled (or at least announced) stop in Manila, Philippines, in January, it will be stopping in ten cities in the United States, starting Friday, November 29, 2024 at Saint Dominic Church in Washington, DC, before its final stop in Baltimore, MD on December 19. If you know of any other places the St. Thomas Aquinas Skull World Tour will be coming to in the US, or elsewhere for that matter, please leave a comment below.
If you are anywhere near any of the places of the skull’s visitation, I encourage you to make a trip to venerate the relic, and to ask the saint’s intercession. No doubt, such a pilgrimage would also qualify for the plenary indulgence offered for the Triple Jubilee.
Interestingly, this report from the National Catholic Register also notes that the town of Priverno, Italy, near to where Saint Thomas died at the Cistercian monastery of Fossa Nova also has a skull of his which it, too, is displaying for veneration. To verify whether the saint’s skull might be miraculously bilocating, or whether one is simply mistakenly (fraudulently) identified as Saint Thomas’s, it has been suggested the owners the relics have their DNA tested.
Thomistic Philosophy Page 