Vallgornera, Tomas de
VALLGORNERA, TOMAS DE
Theologian and spiritual writer; b. 1595?, Catalonia; d. Sept. 15, 1665. Vallgornera became a Dominican in Barcelona and became known for his piety and learning. He refused, on two occasions, to accept his election as provincial of Aragon. Under obedience he served as vicar-general of the Catalonian priories when that region joined France in 1642. In weak health during his last 20 years, he devoted himself to study and writing, publishing rosary meditations, De Rosario B. Mariae Virginis; and his major work, Mystica theologia divi Thomae (1662, enl. 1665). In this work he gathered and classified St. Thomas's ascetical and mystical doctrine. Written in a lucid and simple style, the volume, after a preliminary study of its subject, deals with the purgative, the illuminative, and the unitive ways. Mystica theologia was of significance in counteracting the ideas of the Alumbrados and is still much respected and studied.
Bibliography: t. de vallgornera, Mystica theologia divi Thomae, 2 v. (Turin 1924) 1:vii–x. j. quÉtif and j. Échard, Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum (New York 1959) 2.2:604. Année Dominicaine (Sept. 12, 1900) 523.
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