A Prayer Before Exams

A Prayer before Exams:

Loving and Gracious God:

You are the true font of light and wisdom,

and origin of life 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

of sin and ignorance into which I was born.

You make eloquent the tongues of infants.

Refine my speech and pour forth upon my lips

and mind the goodness of Your blessing.

Grant to me keenness of mind, capacity to

remember, skill in learning, subtlety to

interpret, and eloquence in writing and speech.

May You guide the beginning of my work,

direct its progress, and bring it to completion.

I pray this to You, God the Father,

to Jesus, your Son, truly God and human,

and in the power of the Holy Spirit,

one living God, world without end. Amen.

Attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas