The Saint as Antidote

I came across an interesting quote from G.K. Chesterton's Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox that I'd like to share here, but first I had to tell the funny little story about why I picked up the book today. It seems like I often end up reading long-neglected books because of odd coincidences.

I was picking up vitamins at Walmart today (and I almost never shop at Walmart - just happened to be more convenient today than other options). I was wearing a Thomas Aquinas College sweatshirt and the cashier asked me about Thomas Aquinas (the saint, not the college). Although I was able to tell him some basic facts, like where he lived, it sparked an interest today in wanting to read more - and I've had this book on my to-read list for many years.

Here's the quote...

The saint is a medicine because he is an antidote. Indeed that is why the saint is often a martyr; he is mistaken for a poison because he is an antidote.He will generally be found restoring the world to sanity by exaggerating whatever the world neglects, which is by no means always the same element in every age. Yet each generation seeks its saint by instinct; and he is not what the people want, but rather what the people need.