Confessor Thomas of Villanueva

Thomas of Villanova (Tomás de Villanueva), born Tomás García Martínez in 1488 at Fuenllana in the Kingdom of Castile, received his familiar name from Villanueva de los Infantes, the town of his parents Alonzo Tomás García and Lucía Martínez Castellanos, where he spent his childhood. The family, though of modest means—his father worked as a miller—was distinguished for generosity toward the needy, a trait the future archbishop would later display on a far larger scale. He studied arts and theology at the University of Alcalá de Henares, earned a reputation as a gifted student, and for a time taught philosophy there. Offers of benefices and academic advancement did not hold him; he sought a stricter religious life.

In 1516 he entered the Augustinian monastery at Salamanca, made his profession in the Order of Saint Augustine, and was ordained priest. Within the order he served as prior of houses at Salamanca, Burgos, and Valladolid, and as provincial, first of Andalusia and later of Castile. He became one of the most celebrated preachers of his generation in Spain; Emperor Charles V heard him and held him in high regard. Thomas refused the archbishopric of Granada, preferring the cloister, but in 1544 the emperor insisted that he take the long-vacant see of Valencia. After papal confirmation he accepted, was consecrated, and entered his diocese in 1545.

Valencia had suffered years of neglect. Thomas set about reforming clergy and laity: he founded a college and seminary for the training of priests, visited parishes, insisted on residence and moral reform among the clergy, and devoted particular care to the Morisco population, seeking their instruction in the faith. His personal life as archbishop remained that of a friar. He gave away his revenues, furniture, and even his mattress to the poor, so that he was called the Father of the Poor and the Almsgiver. Hospitals, orphanages, and dower funds for poor young women were among the works he supported. In 1547 he ordained to the priesthood the future saint Luis Beltrán (Louis Bertrand).

Thomas died in Valencia on 8 September 1555. Popular veneration began at once. He was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1618 and canonized by Pope Alexander VII on 1 November 1658. The Roman Martyrology and the General Roman Calendar keep his feast on 22 September. His relics are preserved in the Cathedral of Valencia. Augustinians, Spanish Catholics, and institutions such as Villanova University in the United States have maintained his cult, remembering him above all as a bishop of evangelical poverty and practical charity.