In the year 1225, St. Thomas Aquinas was born into a wealthy family in the Lazio region of Italy. There he began his education at 5 years old, but when war eventually broke out, he was transferred to a medieval college in Naples in his later years.

It is believed that it was at this college Thomas was introduced to his philosophical influences, such as Aristotle, Maimonides, and Averroes, but also where he met John of St. Julian. John was a Dominican preacher that had convinced Thomas to join the recently founded Dominican order.

When Thomas' family learned of his desire to join the Dominicans, they greatly disapproved and forced him to stay as this would ruin the family name. At this time, the Dominicans were a startup, mendicant order and his family intended to have him installed in a wealthy abbot of a large monastery. Therefore, they had him locked away into the family tower, and his brothers even hired a prostitute to try and dissuade him from joining the Dominicans. When she entered St. Thomas' room, he chased her out with a smoldering log however, and immediately began to pray. He drew a cross on the wall with the charred log, and was then visited by two angles of purity who placed an angelic girdle around his waist. From here on, St. Thomas never suffered a lustful thought or action for the rest of his life. It was this holy purity that was the key to Thomas' massive intellect.