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Student's prayer

The Student's Prayer (or Scholar's Prayer), by St. Thomas Aquinas:

Creator of all things,
true source of light and wisdom,
origin of all being, graciously
let a ray of your light penetrate
the darkness of my understanding.

Take from me the double darkness
in which I have been born,
an obscurity of sin and ignorance.

Give me a keen 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 the completion.

I ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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