Prayers to Saint Thomas Aquinas

[Hildegard of Bingen]

(Prayers taken from the "Saint Thomas Aquinas - The Story of the Dumb OX by Mary Fabyan Windeatt)

PRAYER TO SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS

BEFORE STUDY OR LECTURE

O BLESSED Thomas, Patron of Schools, obtain for us from God

an invincible faith, a burning charity, a chaste life, and true

knowledge, through Christ Our Lord.  Amen.

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PRAYER TO SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS

TO OBTAIN A SPECIAL FAVOR

DEAR Saint Thomas, gentlest of saints, you loved Jesus so tenderly and wrote

so well of Him that He made you the glory of the Church and a shining star in

the Order of St. Dominic.  Encouraged by your kindness and charity, I beg you

to obtain this favor that I now ask.  (State your request.)

Plead my cause with your beloved Jesus, so that I may serve Him faithfully in this

life and enjoy Him forever in Heaven.  Amen.

One Decade of the Rosary.

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PRAYERS OF THE ANGELIC WARFARE

Recommended to Be Said Frequently by the Members of the Society

PRAYER OF SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS

This prayer was said by St. Thomas as he lay prostrate before the cross which he

had drawn upon the wall with the burning brand after repelling the last attack

on his purity.  Then the angels girded him with the cincture of perpetual chastity,

a favor which his humility concealed until the approach of death, when he revealed

to his confessor what had happened to him.

Dearest Jesus!  I know well that every perfect gift, and above all others that

of chastity, depends upon the most powerful assistance of Thy Providence,

and that without Thee a creature can do nothing.  Therefore, I pray Thee

to defend, with Thy grace, chastity and purity in my soul as well as in my

body.  And if I have ever received through my senses any impression that

could stain my chastity and purity, do Thou, Who art the Supreme Lord

of all my powers, take it from me, that I may with an immaculate heart

advance in Thy love and service, offering myself chaste all the days of my

life on the most pure altar of Thy Divinity.  Amen.

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PRAYER FOR PURITY

CHOSEN lily of innocence, purest St. Thomas!  to thee who didst preserve ever fair thy

baptismal robe; to the a true angel in the flesh!  to thee do I pray to Lamb, and to Mary the

Queen of Virgins, that I also, who seek to honor thee, may receive the gift of thy purity;

that thus imitating thee upon the earth, I may one day be crowned with thee, O great

guardian of my purity, amongst the angels in Paradise.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

V.  Pray for us, St. Thomas.

R.  That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, Who hast vouchsafed to defend with the blessed cincture of St. Thomas those who

are engaged in the terrible conflict of chastity!  grant to us Thy suppliants, by his help,

happily to overcome in this warfare the terrible enemy of our body and soul, that being

crowned with the lily of perpetual purity, we may deserve to receive from Thee, among

the chaste bands of the angels, the palm of bliss.  Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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ANOTHER PRAYER OF SAINT THOMAS

O MERCIFUL God, grant that I may eagerly desire, carefully search out, truthfully

acknowledge, and ever perfectly fulfill all things which are pleasing to Thee, to the

praise and glory of Thy Name.  Amen.

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PRAYER TO SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS

PATRON OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

O ANGELIC Doctor, Saint Thomas, prince of theologians and model of philosophers,

bright ornament of the Christian world and light of the Church; O heavenly patron of

all Catholic schools, who didst learn wisdom without guile and dost communicate

it without envy, intercede for us with the Son of God, Wisdom Itself, that the

Spirit of Wisdom may descend upon us, and enable us to understand clearly

that which thou hast taught, and fulfill it by imitating they deeds; that we may

become partakers of that doctrine and virtue which caused thee to shine like the

sun on earth, and may at last rejoice with thee forever in their most sweet fruits

in Heaven, together praising the Divine Wisdom for all eternity.  Amen.

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When putting on the cord or medal of St. Thomas Aquinas say:

GIRD me, O Lord!  with the cincture of purity; and by the merits of St. Thomas

extinguish within me every evil desire, that I may remain continent and chaste until death.  Amen.

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PRAYER TO SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS

BEFORE STUDY

Creator of all things,

True Source of light and wisdom,

Lofty origin of all being,

Graciously let a ray of Thy brilliance

Penetrate into the darkness of my understanding

And take from me the double darkness

In which I have been born,

An obscurity of both sin and ignorance.

Give me a sharp sense of understanding,

A retentive memory,

And the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally.

Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations,

And the ability to express myself with thoroughness and charm.

Point out the beginning,

Direct the progress,

And help in completion;

Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

A STUDENT'S PRAYER

(By St. Thomas Aquinas)

Come, Holy Ghost, Divine Creator,
True source of light and fountain of wisdom!
Pour forth your brilliance upon my dense intellect,
Dissipate the darkness which covers me,
That of sin and of ignorance.
Grant me a penetrating mind to understand,
A retentive memory,
Method and ease in learning,
The lucidity to comprehend,
And abundant grace in expressing myself,
Guide the beginning of my work,
Direct its progress,
And bring it to successful completion.
This I ask through Jesus Christ,
True God and true man,
Living and reigning with Thee
and the Father, forever and ever.
AMEN.