St. Thomas of Villanueva
St. Thomas of Villanueva
1488 - 1555
Augustinian bishop. Born at Fuentellana, Castile, Spain, he was the son of a miller. He studied at the University of Alcala, earned a licentiate in theology, and became a professor there at the age of twenty-six. He declined the chair of philosophy at the university of Salamanca and instead entered the Order of St Augustine at Salamanca in 1516. Ordained in 1520, he served as prior of several houses in Salamanca, Burgos, and Valladolid, as provincial ofAndal usia and Castile, and then court chaplain to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (r. 1519-1556). During his time as provincial of Castile, he dispatched the first Augustinian missionaries to the New World. They subsequently helped evangelize the area of modern Mexico. He was offered but declined the see of Granada, but accepted appointment as archbishop of Valencia in 1544. As the see had been vacant for nearly a century, Thomas devoted much effort to restoring the spiritual and material life of the archdiocese. He was also deeply committed to the needs of the poor. He held the post of grand almoner of the poor, founded colleges for the children of new converts and the poor, organized priests for service among the Moors, and was renowned for his personal saintliness and austerities. While he did not attend the sessions of the Council of Trent, he was an ardent promoter of the Tridentine reforms throughout Spain.
Previous Saint
< Bl. Thomas Percy
Next Saint
Bl. Thomas of Tolentino >

Rate This Saint
Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All
Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested
1 - 15 of 15 Comments
Leave a Comment
Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.
Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.
This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.
We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.
We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.
Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample
Previous Saint
< Bl. Thomas Percy
Next Saint
Bl. Thomas of Tolentino >
Find Saints
Catholic Online offers the largest searchable database of Catholic Saints on the internet.
| Browse Saints by Alphabet |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| Patron Saints by Alphabet |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Videos
St. Francis of Assisi 80,693 views View Video
Padre Pio 48,933 views View Video
Black Saints Vol I 31,733 views View Video
Black Saints Vol II 28,004 views View Video
Most Popular
No-one Can Change the Truth About Fatherhood. Love Your Father. Be a Good Father Read More
Courageous Cardinal George of Chicago Defends Marriage, Calls for Public Conversion Read More
Fall of the Wall of Silence: More on Pope Francis and Reports of a 'Gay Lobby' in the Roman Curia Read More
Pope Francis Refers to 'gay lobby' inside Vatican Read More
Why Catholics Have Failed Our Culture: The Bottom Line Read More
Daily Readings
Reading 1, Second Corinthians 8:1-9
Next, brothers, we will tell you of the grace of God which has ... Read More
Psalm, Psalms 146:2, 5-6, 7, 8-9
I will praise Yahweh all my life, I will make music to my God ... Read More
Gospel, Matthew 5:43-48
'You have heard how it was said, You will love your neighbour ... Read More
Saint of the Day
St. Gregory Barbarigo
June 18: St. Gregory Barbarigo was born in 1625, of a very old and ... Read More
Latest Videos
Pope Francis: Forgiveness enriches us View Video
Zanies Comedy Club - Comedian Sally Edwards View Video
Jun 18 - Homily - Fr. Benedict: St. Ephrem - Mary's Own Singer View Video
Jun 18 - Homily: Love those who Persecute us View Video
Pope Francis: Let us pray for our enemies! View Video
Marketplace
Our Lady Teaches About Prayer at Medjugorje Read More
St. Joseph with Child Statue
A wonderful religious gift to dear friends and family, our St Joseph ... Read More




















Dear St.Thomas of Villanueva pray that I may in a little way be able to help as you did to the poor I have done a bit through my needy unemployed family etc,but I am now unemployed so my help/support is very limited.Pray to our Lord Almighty to bless us, and guide me too how I may be able to help in other ways.This I ask of you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
St Thomas please help my grandparents as they are in the last stages of there life help them to see the one true church. And When they do pass away help them to find peace with God. Help me to be paceint and to be open to Gods call. Amen.
Today I share my birthday on the feast day of St. Thomas of Villanueva. I pray that you intercede for me that I will continue to build my faith daily. Let my love for God our Father and the Holy Family be my strength in this hardened world. Help me to guide my children in His ways. So, they too will choose to live their life in ways that bring honor to Him always. St. Thomas you inspire me to do good for others. Particularly the children, the old and the poor. My Saint Thomas together we happily share this day. Please pray for us. Amen.
St. Thomas of Villaneuva, please continue to pray for me to be more responsive to the needs of the poor and of the downtrodden.
St thomas of villanueva i ask you 2 pray for me and my family
i belive in you god bless you
Amen
Dear St. Thomas of Villanueva, pray for us always. Help us in our earthly journey to eternity. Please grant us abundant graces to live the live that Jesus wants us to. Amen.
Dear St. Thomas of Villaneuvea, More than a reformer your saintliness shines forth, since you were very kind hearted. Please do pray for me.
St. Thomas please pray for the new people who are comming to the church, that they may be touched by and filled with the Holy spirit. And that my personal petitions may be answers as well.
st tomas of villanueva happy feast day,pls pray for us sinners like me to be more acceptable to GOD and make us humble like mary,in dealing to GOD especially on how we treat to our brothers and sisters in christ pls,pray for us amen...
St. Thomas of Villanueva, I'm delighted to read about your illustrious life, marked by your of love of the poor and your missionary zeal. Pray for all the poor and suffering whose homes have been swept away in the recent floods in Pakistan, May Christians all over the world respond to the desperate need of children dying of, malnutrition and cholera. St Thomas inspire us to give a helping hand.
I have my personal needs too. Give complete healing, health of mind and body to Christian. This I ask on your feast day, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
good to know that my bday is also the feast day of St. Thomas of Villanueva.
St. Thomas please intercede for me to the LORD and to the blessed Virgin Mary that i may always strive to be pleasing to them. Help me my saint not to offend my Lord again. Guide my thoughts, my words and my deeds to be always pleasing to them. I ask for your prayer that i will not succumb to temptations. I ask for your prayer of protection against the enemies snare. Please pray for us. Amen
good to know that my bday is also the feast day of St. Thomas of Villanueva.
St. Thomas please intercede for me to the LORD and to the blessed Virgin Mary that i may always strive to be pleasing to them. Help me my saint not to offend my Lord again. Guide my thoughts, my words and my deeds to be always pleasing to them. I ask for your prayer that i will not succumb to temptations. I ask for your prayer of protection against the enemies snare. Please pray for us. Amen
ST. THOMAS of VILLANUEVA.... tommorow is your feast day at the same time is my 33 birthday. This is the first time that i ask you for a help....coz today i search what saints that have a feast on the same of my birthday.Now, please help me to pray the LORD JESUS....i pray have a good health always, protect and guide us always for me and to my whole family.(husband,father, sisters,brother, nephew,neice, and inlaws.Today, i bought lotto please that is good for 5 days ...please let my nos. fall or win so that my husband will ccome with me when i go back in philippines on october 5. please ........this i ask through JESUS CHRIST our LORD. .....AMEN.....
we will join with you our prayers.
I'm from Sto.Tomas, Tobias Fornier, Antique, republic of the Philippines. St. Thomas of Vilnova is our patron saint and we want to have a image of that saint in our place. we are hoping that their have a kind hearted person and to the miracle of St. Thomas that his life size image will be bring to our place. i'm hoping that somebody will donate the image..