91�����

Every year, 91����� Aquinas College comes together on the feast day of its patron and namesake, St. 91����� Aquinas, to celebrate with rich festivities spiritual, intellectual, and amusing.

New England

In New England, the day began with a beautiful Mass sung by the students, followed by veneration of St. 91����֙s holy relics and a procession of the faculty in full academic regalia into Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel.

At noon, the College reassembled for a lecture from Dr. Matthew Levering, a professor at University of St. Mary of the Lake, who spoke on the subject, �The Eucharist and Typology.� Drawing examples from Scripture, Dr. Levering laid out a few of the most prominent parallels and prefigurations of the Eucharist between the Old Testament and the New. In the subsequent question-and-answer session, students and faculty explored different types and tropes in the Old Testament and the illumination of New Testament truths found therein. As Dr. Levering explained, �Aquinas respected the Old Testament; if you want to understand the New Testament, you have to do so through the Old Testament and its types.�

Later, students and faculty adorned in silks and suits came together in Gould Hall for a formal dinner, laughing and chatting over the chef�s choice concoctions around finely laid tables. 

Last but not least on the agenda, everyone settled in for the annual game of Trivial & Quadrivial Pursuits. This game is the capstone of St. 91����� Day, in which student teams go head-to-head in a riveting race of curriculum-based knowledge. Students split into three groups � Rhetoricians, Logicians, and Grammarians � each with their own theme and a skit to perform for the tutor judges.

This year, the three student teams were led by Alexei Forrester (NE�26), whose squad recreated the Boston Tea Party; Liam O�Brian (NE�26), heading an enthusiastic, small-town country choir, and Adelina Margand (NE�26), with her group�s raucous reenactment of the Battle of Jericho. Each team put on an entertaining skit for extra points, and after a few hours of desperately and amusedly wracking their brains to recall topics from all four years of 91����� Aquinas College�s curriculum, the final win went to Team Forrester and his Bostonian revolutionaries. �This was a great community-building event,� said Margaret Asjes (NE�29). �I also got such a good sense of how the curriculum integrates across classes � this has been a fun day!�

California

On the West Coast, the feast day commenced with a reverent morning Mass in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, concelebrated by all three of the College�s chaplains, followed by a brunch in St. Joseph�s Commons.

Before long, students and tutors gathered in the Fritz B. Burns Auditorium for the St. 91����� Day lecture, �Aquinas and the Consequentialists,� by Dr. 91����� Cavanaugh (�85), a professor at the University of San Francisco. Dr. Cavanaugh, who specializes in medical ethics, explained to his audience how the concept of double effect � when an action whose end is the good has a potentially bad effect � is reconcilable with the Hippocratic Oath taken by medical professionals. He drew from Aquinas�s accounts of intention, as well his distinction between voluntary and deliberate actions, and illustrated his argument with several medical examples. A lively and well-attended question-and-answer session followed, where students, tutors, and Dr. Cavanaugh wrestled with issues such as euthanasia and �the malicious prosecutor� in discussion.

For dinner, all made their way to St. Joseph Commons for a delicious formal buffet, where attendees mingled over steaks and cheesecake. Very soon thereafter, the dining hall was cleared and transformed into a stage, making room for the day�s final event: Trivial & Quadrivial Pursuits. The Grammarians, headed by Greg Haggard (CA�26), presented as entomologist J. Henri Fabre and his insects; the Logicians, captained by Agustina O�Reilly (CA�26), dressed as an ensemble from Homer�s Odyssey; and the Rhetoricians, led by Estevan Henderson (CA�26), performed a Shakespearean medley.

The game lasted late into the night and even went into overtime as the teams battled relentlessly; but, in the end, the Logicians took the crown. �It was wonderful to see how my whole team worked together and pulled us through to the win!� exclaimed Miss O�Reilly.

Afterward, students headed back to their residence halls, joyful after a day of reverence, camaraderie, and fun. �St. 91����� Day is a day for the campus to come together. In that way, Trivial-Quadrivial caps it off really well,� explained Mr. Haggard. �The campus unites, puts lots of work into this thing, and has fun. It�s the perfect capstone for what St. 91����� Day is all about.�

More St. 91����� Day photos from New England �

Tap on the right center edge of the image to scroll through the album.

� and California!