Blackfriars Aquinas Group

Home
United Kingdom
Oxford
Blackfriars Aquinas Group

The Aquinas Group offers young adults an opportunity to study the texts of St Thomas Aquinas so as to equip them for their spiritual and intellectual life.

The Blackfriars Aquinas Group brings together students and young adults interested in studying the work of St Thomas Aquinas so as to equip them for their spiritual and intellectual life. We begin with a light meal, then read and discuss the texts guided by one of the friars, before finishing by praying Compline together in the priory church. No prior theological training or experience is required

or expected. All are welcome! The group meets most Monday evenings during the Oxford University academic term (Weeks 1-8). Timings may vary, and readings will be circulated in advance. If you would like to attend, please email to register your interest: [email protected] or [email protected].

28/10/2025

It was wonderful to see many of you at our meeting yesterday!

Next week, in lieu of the usual Aquinas group meeting, there will be a Thomistic Institute, Oxford lecture at 7.30pm, given by Fr Anton ten Klooster, on St Thomas Aquinas on the Beatitudes.

21/10/2025

A couple of photos from the book launch last night of 15 Days of Prayer with Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati by Fr Charles Desjobert OP which was translated into English by Fr Matthew Jarvis OP

18/10/2025

This Monday (20th October) we have a slightly different style of event but one which I believe is quite exciting! We will be hosting Frs Charles Desjobert OP and Matthew Jarvis OP who will be launching their new books on St Pierre Georgio Frassati. The schedule will be similar:

7pm: Refreshments (tea, coffees, biscuits). Please note that there will not be soup this week!
7.45pm: Readings from the book, talk and discussion
8.45pm: Compline in the church.

I believe there will be copies of the book available to purchase as well (and signed too). As always please do share this event to anyone you believe might be interested.

I look forward to seeing you on Monday!

12/10/2025

The Aquinas Group will be restarting with our first meeting tomorrow (Monday 13th October).

The theme for this term will be: "What is man that you care for him?" The human person in the Catholic theological tradition.

Our first session will be given by Fr. Bruno Clifton OP. He will talk about the human person as found in scripture.

The times are as usual, meeting in the Blackfriars Aula:
7pm- Soup dinner
8pm- Talk and discussion
9pm- Compline in Church

We look forward to seeing many of you tomorrow at Blackfriars!

05/06/2025

On Monday 9th June (7th Week), Sir Gabriele Finaldi (Director of the National Gallery) will be speaking at Blackfriars, on 'Visions of Heaven and Hell in Botticelli's "Mystic Nativity", "The Wilton Diptych", and Bermejo's "St Michael Triumphs over the Devil"'.

The lecture will begin at 19:30, followed by Q&A and some light refreshments afterwards. This event is free and open to the public.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Born in London in 1965, Gabriele Finaldi studied art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art where he completed his doctorate in 1995 on Jusupe de Ribera, the 17th-century Spanish painter who worked in Italy. He was curator at the National Gallery between 1992 and 2002, where he was responsible for the later Italian paintings in the collection (Caravaggio to Canaletto) and the Spanish collection (Bermejo to Goya). In 2002, he took up the position of Deputy Director for Collections and Research at the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. In 2015, he was appointed Director of the National Gallery.
He has curated exhibitions in Britain, Spain, Italy, and Belgium; and he has written catalogues and scholarly articles on Velázquez and Zurbarán, on Italian Baroque painting, on religious iconography, and on Picasso.

24/05/2025

On Monday 26th of May, Dr Nuno Castel-Branco (All Souls College) will be speaking at Blackfriars on the topic of how the incorruptibility of the bodies of some saints influenced the development of early modern scientific inquiry.

The title of the lecture is "Holy Corpses: Incorrupt Bodies and Early Modern Science", and it will begin at 19:30, followed by Q&A and some light refreshments afterwards. This event is free and open to the public.

Below is the abstract of the lecture and a short bio of the speaker.

--------------------

ABSTRACT: This talk examines how incorrupt bodies of saints, like those of Philip Neri and Francis Xavier, intertwined with anatomical science. It challenges the presumed antagonism between devotion and scientific inquiry. It does so by arguing that the Church’s engagement with these “holy corpses” was tied to the emergence of human dissections and anatomical advancements in the Italian Renaissance.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Nuno Castel-Branco is a historian of science, culture, and religion in early modern Europe and its global expansion. He completed his PhD in the history of science at Johns Hopkins University in 2021 after obtaining an MSc in Physics from the University of Lisbon. He is currently a Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. In the past, he has worked at Harvard University’s Villa I Tatti (Florence), and at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. His first book, ‘The Traveling Anatomist’, on Nicolaus Steno, is under contract with the University of Chicago Press. His articles have been published in Annals of Science, Early Science and Medicine, and Renaissance Quarterly, among others. He also writes for a broader audience and his essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal and Scientific American.

17/01/2025

The Aquinas Group will be restarting this coming Monday (20th January).

This term we will be focusing on St Thomas' philosophical theology in the Prima Pars of the Summa Theologiae, especially on his doctrine of The One God and Creation. Please, see the term card below for more information.

The times are as usual: 7pm light meal, 7.45pm reading & discussion, and 8.45pm Compline.

We look forward to seeing many of you next Monday at Blackfriars!

19/11/2024

On Monday of 7th Week (25th November), we will welcome Fr Dominic Legge, Director of the Thomistic Institute, who will deliver a lecture on the problem of evil. The title of his lecture is: "What is evil? Why does God permit it?".

Abstract: Evil is a dark mystery. What is it, and where does it come from? What causes it? It is also sometimes posed as an objection to God's existence: how could a good and omnipotent God permit evil? Why would God allow innocent creatures to suffer? Thomas Aquinas has much to say on these questions, and thinks God offers us a good answer to evil. This talk will explore the problem and his responses, to assess whether they are philosophically defensible and theologically persuasive.

https://www.blackfriars.org.uk/event/thomistic-institute-fr-dominic-legge-op/

29/10/2024

On Monday of 4th Week (4th November), we will welcome Dr Robert McNamara, of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, who will deliver a lecture on Edith Stein's synthesis of Thomism and Phenomenology . The title of his talk is:

“Thomistic Personalism: A Steinian Perspective”

Abstract: Reality is divided by a fundamental dichotomy separating persons and (mere) things. It is a metaphysical distinction with defined ethical import, both of which are captured well by Thomas Aquinas when he concludes that the person is ‘that which is most perfect in all nature.’ Edith Stein takes up this objective centrality and reintroduces what she calls an ‘Augustinian way’ of philosophizing, by attending to personal subjectivity via the phenomenological mode of investigation. The result is a form of Thomistic personalism that is attentive both to the substantiality of the person and to the subjectivity of the person, a personalism that avoids the many problems emerging from the modern ‘turn to the subject’ while also judiciously encompassing the genuine insights of this ‘Copernican revolution.’ I propose that only such a personalism can provide an anthropology fitting for the needs of the contemporary era, and indeed adequate to the singular being, nature, and life of the human person.

https://thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events/oxford-mcnamara-stein

20/10/2024

Our first lecture of the new academic year will be on Monday, 21st October (2nd Week).

We will be welcoming Fr Khaled Anatolios, of the University of Notre Dame. The title of his lecture will be 'What does it mean to say that Jesus is Lord? The Witness of Nicaea'.

Abstract: While there is a common inclination among contemporary Christians to locate the intelligibility of Trinitarian doctrine in creaturely analogies of three-in-oneness, it is more profitable to seek that intelligibility as flowing out of a certain conception of the lordship of Christ. Fr. Khaled Anatolios will argue that the Nicene debates revolved around two rival interpretations of the lordship of Christ. To assent to the Nicene creed involves understanding how the Nicene interpretation of the lordship of Christ can be affirmed and enacted by Christ's disciples in today's world.

https://thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events/oxford-anatolios-nicaea

16/10/2024

It was wonderful to see many of you for our first meeting last Monday; and it was a pleasure to meet so many new faces.

Next week, in lieu of the reading group, there will be a Thomistic Institute, Oxford lecture at 7.30pm, given by Fr Khaled Anatolios, on the Council of Nicaea. Fr Anatolios is a well-respected scholar of the Early Church, and the talk promises to be a good one.

On Monday of 3rd Week (28th Oct), the reading group will resume with Fr Richard Ounsworth OP leading a discussion on Divine Revelation & Sacred Scripture, and what it means to say that Scripture is inspired and inerrant.

10/10/2024

The Aquinas Group will be restarting this coming Monday, 14th October (1st Week). This term, we will be focusing on the more fundamental aspects of Catholic theology.

We will address topics such as 'what is Divine Revelation?', the inspiration and inerrancy of Sacred Scripture, the possibility of miracles, and Marian doctrines.

The times are as usual: 7pm light meal, 7.45pm reading & discussion, and 8.45pm Compline (night prayer).

As usual, no prior background in theology is required. Beginners welcome.

There will also be a few Thomistic Institute, Oxford lectures this term. Fr Khaled Anatolios will be speaking on Monday, 21st October (2nd Week), on the Council of Nicaea and what it means to say that Jesus is Lord. Dr Robert McNamara will be speaking on Monday, 4th November (4th Week), on Edith Stein's synthesis on Thomism and Phenomenology. Fr Dominic Legge is also scheduled to speak later in the term.

Address

Blackfriars, Street Giles
Oxford
OX13LY

Website

https://www.blackfriars.org.uk/community-life/groups/aquinas-group/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Blackfriars Aquinas Group posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Want your place of worship to be the top-listed Place Of Worship in Oxford?