Commentary of The Gospel of St John

St. Thomas’ commentary on the Gospel of St. John is unique among his many writings on Sacred Scripture. It is the work of a master theologian, delivered at the University of Paris, then the in- tellectual center in Christendom, when Thomas was at the height of his fame and apostolic zeal for souls. A fourteenth-century list of Thomas’ writings notes that this commentary is a reporta- tio by Reginald of Piperno and adds “better than which none can be found.” A reportatio is a verbal report of an actual lecture taken down by a scribe or student in the course of actual deliv- ery. In this case the scribe was the faithful Friar Reginald of Piperno, who had been the “constant companion,” or socius, for the last fifteen years of Thomas’ short but busy life. The Italian Prov- ince of Dominicans wisely provided Thomas with this kind of personal secretary and general fac- totum after he returned from Paris as a Master in Sacred Theology in 1260.