Prayer Before Study


If you’re a writer, or creative in some other way, how do you prepare to work and dedicate the work to God?  Surely there are as many ways to do this as there are people doing it!  If you don’t already have a routine, the prayer below from St. Thomas Aquinas (originally in Latin) is an excellent place to start.  I use this “Prayer Before Study,” or some other form of it often, especially if I’m struggling to write.

“Ineffable Creator,
You are proclaimed the true font of light and wisdom,
and the primal origin raised high beyond all things.

Pour forth a ray of your brightness into the darkened places of my mind;
disperse from my soul the twofold darkness into which I was born:
sin and ignorance.

You make eloquent the tongues of infants.
Refine my speech and pour forth upon my lips
the goodness of your blessing.

Grant to me keenness of mind,
capacity to remember,
skill in learning,
subtlety to interpret,
and eloquence in speech.

May you guide the beginning of my work,
direct its progress,
and bring it to completion.

You who are true God and true Man,
who live and reign, world without end. Amen.”

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