Suscipe, Domine

St. Ignatius of Loyola

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Receive, O Lord, all my liberty.
Take my memory, my understanding, and my entire will.
Whatsoever I have or hold, You have given me;
to be governed by your will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
and I am rich enough and ask for nothing more.

The Scholar’s Prayer

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Saint Thomas Aquinas. Detail from Benozzo Gonzolli, The Triumph of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1471), Louvre Museum, Paris.

Creator of all things,
true Source of light and wisdom,
lofty origin of all being,
graciously let a ray of Your 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.

Patron saint of scholars

The Seeker’s Prayer

Fr. Thomas Merton

Fr. Thomas Merton.

I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

—Fr. Thomas Merton

(Father Joe shared this with us a few weeks ago in RCIA, and it moved me a lot. I’m presently reading Thomas Merton’s spiritual autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain.)

Prayer for Humility

Mother Cabrini

Mother Cabrini.

Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that you may fortify me with the grace of your Holy Spirit, and give your peace to my soul, that I may be free from all needless anxiety and worry. Help me to desire always that which is pleasing and acceptable to you, so that your will may be my will.

Grant that I may be free from unholy desires, and that, for your love, I may remain obscure and unknown in this world, to be known only to you.

Do not permit me to attribute to myself the good that you perform in me and through me, but rather, referring all honor to you, may I admit only to my infirmities, so that renouncing sincerely all vainglory which comes from the world, I may aspire to that true and lasting glory that comes from you. Amen.

—St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (Mother Cabrini) (1850-1917)