Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas

This past week I was in my car when Hugh Hewitt was talking with the faculty of Hillsdale College about Thomas Aquinas.   Basically, Hewitt and Hillsdale are doing a great books conversation every Friday afternoon.  You can see all of the topics here.  They started with Homer and have made it to Aquinas.  The conversation is always interesting and free.  I might try to carve out more time to listen to them more attentively.

This week they started with a prayer that Thomas Aquinas said every morning.  As I listened it just screamed out to me something worth memorizing or at least using in morning time for a season.

Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas (found here)

O merciful God,
grant that I may ever perfectly
do Your Will in all things.
Let it be my ambition to work
only for Your honor and glory.

Let me rejoice in nothing
but what leads to You,
nor grieve for anything
that leads away from You.

May all passing things
be as nothing in my eyes,
and may all that is Yours
be dear to me,
and You, my God,
dear above them all.

May all joy be
meaningless without You
and may I desire
nothing apart from You.
May all labor and toil
delight me when it is for You.

Make me, O Lord,
obedient without complaint,
poor without regret,
patient without murmur,
humble without pretense,
joyous without frivolity,
and truthful without disguise.

Give me, O God,
an ever watchful heart
which nothing can ever
lure away from You;
a noble heart,
which no unworthy affection
can draw downwards to the earth;
an upright heart,
which no evil can warp;
an unconquerable heart,
which no tribulation can crush;
a free heart,
which no perverted affection
can claim for its own.

Bestow on me, O God,
understanding to know You,
diligence to seek You,
and wisdom to find You;
a life which may please You,
and a hope which may
embrace You at the last.

It might be worth listening to a few conversations and thinking about including this prayer in your time with your children at some point.