O Godhead hid, devoutly I adore Thee,
Who truly art within the forms before me;
To Thee my heart I bow with bended knee,
As failing quite in contemplating Thee.

Jesu, eternal Shepherd! hear our cry;
Increase the faith of all whose souls on Thee rely.  

Sight, touch, and taste in Thee are each deceived;
The ear alone most safely is believed:
I believe all the Son of God has spoken,
Than truth's own word there is no truer token.

Ave Jesu, Pastor Fidélium;
Adáuge fidem ómnium in te credéntium.

God only on the cross lay hid from view;
But here lies hid at once the manhood too;
And I, in both professing my belief,
Make the same prayer as the repentant thief.

Ave Jesu, Pastor Fidélium;
Adáuge fidem ómnium in te credéntium.

Thy wounds, as Thomas saw, I do not see;
Yet Thee confess my Lord and God to be;
Make me believe Thee evermore and more;
In Thee my hope, in Thee my love to store.

Ave Jesu, Pastor Fidélium;
Adáuge fidem ómnium in te credéntium.

O Thou memorial of our Lord's own dying!
O living bread, to mortals life supplying!
Make Thou my soul henceforth on Thee to live,
Ever a taste of heavenly sweetness give.

Ave Jesu, Pastor Fidélium;
Adáuge fidem ómnium in te credéntium.

O loving Pelican!  O Jesus Lord!
Unclean I am, but cleanse me in Thy Blood!
Of which a single drop, for sinners split,
Can purge the entire world from all its guilt.

Ave Jesu, Pastor Fidélium;
Adáuge fidem ómnium in te credéntium.

Jesus, whom, for the present, veil'd I see,
What I so thirst for, oh! vouchsafe to me;
That I may see Thy contenance unfolding,
And may be blest Thy glory in beholding.

Ave Jesu, Pastor Fidélium;
Adáuge fidem ómnium in te credéntium.

Down in adoration falling,
Lo! the sacred host we hail;
Lo! o'er ancient forms departing,
Newer rites of graces prevail;
Faith for all defects supplying,
Where the feeble senses fail.
To the everlasting Father,
And the Son, who reigns on high,
With the Holy Ghost proceeding
Forth from each eternally,
Be salvation, honour, blessing,
Might and endless majesty.
Amen.

V. Thou gavest them bread from heaven.
R. And therein was sweetness of every kind.

Let Us Pray.
O God, Who, under this wonderful Sacrament,
hast left unto us the memorials of Thy Passion;
grant us, we beseech Thee,
so to venerate the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Thy Blood,
that we may constantly experience within us the fruit of Thy redemption.

Who livest and reignest...

Hail to Thee! True body sprung
From the Virgin Mary’s womb!
The same that on the cross was hung
And bore for man the bitter doom.
Thou Whose side was pierced and flowed
Both with water and with blood;
Suffer us to taste of Thee
In our life’s last agony.
O kind, O loving One!
O Jesus, Mary’s Son!

Amen.

Sion, lift thy voice and sing:
Praise thy Saviour and thy King;
Praise with hymns thy Shepherd true:
Dare thy most to praise Him well;
For He doth all praise excel;
None can ever reach His due.
Special theme of praise is thine,
That true living Bread Divine,
That life-giving flesh adored,
Which the brethren twelve received,
As most faithfully believed,
At the Supper of the Lord.

Let the chant be loud and high;
Sweet and tranquil be the joy
Felt to-day in every breast;
On this festival Divine
Which recounts the origin
Of the glorious Eucharist.

At this table of the King,
Our new Paschal offering
Brings to end the olden rite;
Here, for empty shadows fled,
Is reality instead;
Here, instead of darkness, light.

His own act, at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
In His memory Divine;
Wherefore now, with adoration,
We the Host of our salvation
Consecrate from bread and wine.

Hear what holy Church maintaineth,
That the bread its substance changeth
Into Flesh, the wine to Blood.
Doth it pass thy comprehending?
Faith, the law of sight transcending,
Leaps to things not understood.

Here in outward signs are hidden
Priceless things, to sense forbidden;
Signs, not things, are all we see:-
Flesh from bread, and Blood from wine;
Yet is Christ, in either sign,
All entire confessed to be.

They too who of Him partake
Sever not, nor rend, nor break,
But entire their Lord receive.
Whether one or thousands eat,
All receive the selfsame meat,
Nor the less for others leave.

Both the wicked and the good
Eat of this celestial Food;
But with ends how opposite!
Here 'tis life; and there 'tis death;
The same, yet issuing to each
In a difference infinite.

Nor a single doubt retain,
When they break the Host in twain,
But that in each part remains
What was in the whole before;
Since the simple sign alone
Suffers change in state or form,
The Signified remaining One
And the Same forevermore

Lo! upon the Altar lies,
Hidden deep from human eyes,
Angels' Bread from Paradise
Made the food of mortal man:
Children's meat to dogs denied;
In old types foresignified;
In the manna from the skies,
In Isaac, and the Paschal Lamb.

Jesu! Shepherd of the sheep!
Thy true flock in safety keep.
Living Bread! Thy life supply;
Strengthen us, or else we die;
Fill us with celestial grace:
Thou, who feedest us below!
Source of all we have or know!
Grant that with Thy Saints above,
Sitting at the Feast of Love,
We may see Thee face to face.

Amen

Almighty and everlasting God,
behold I come to the Sacrament of Thine only-begotten Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ:
I come as one infirm to the physician of life,
as one unclean to the fountain of mercy,
as one blind to the light of everlasting brightness,
as one poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth.
Therefore I implore the abundance of Thy measureless bounty
that Thou wouldst vouchsafe to heal my infirmity,
wash my uncleanness,
enlighten my blindness,
enrich my poverty and clothe my nakedness,
that I may receive the Bread of Angels,
the King of kings, the Lord of lords,
with such reverence and humility,
with such sorrow and devotion,
with such purity and faith,
with such purpose and intention
as may be profitable to my soul’s salvation.
Grant unto me, I pray,
the grace of receiving not only the Sacrament of our Lord’s Body and Blood,
but also the grace and power of the Sacrament.
O most gracious God,
grant me so to receive the Body of Thine only-begotten Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
which He took from the Virgin Mary,
as to merit to be incorporated into His mystical Body,
and to be numbered amongst His members.
O most loving Father,
give me grace to behold forever
Thy beloved Son with His face at last unveiled,
whom I now purpose to receive under the sacramental veil here below.

Amen.

Almighty and ever-living God,
I approach the sacrament
of Your only-begotten Son
Our Lord Jesus Christ,
I come sick to the doctor of life,
unclean to the fountain of mercy,
blind to the radiance of eternal light,
and poor and needy to the Lord
of heaven and earth.
Lord, in your great generosity,
heal my sickness,
wash away my defilement,
enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty,
and clothe my nakedness.
May I receive the bread of angels,
the King of kings and Lord of lords,
with humble reverence,
with the purity and faith,
the repentance and love,
and the determined purpose
that will help to bring me to salvation.
May I receive the sacrament
of the Lord's Body and Blood,
and its reality and power.

Kind God,
may I receive the Body
of Your only-begotten Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
born from the womb of the Virgin Mary,
and so be received into His mystical body
and numbered among His members.

Loving Father,
as on my earthly pilgrimage
I now receive Your beloved Son
under the veil of a sacrament,
may I one day see him face to face in glory,
who lives and reigns with You for ever.

Amen.

I give thanks to Thee, O Lord, most holy,
Father almighty, eternal God,
that Thou hast vouchsafed,
for no merit of mine own,
but out of Thy pure mercy,
to appease the hunger of my soul
with the precious body and blood of Thy Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Humbly I implore Thee,
let not this holy communion
be to me an increase of guilt unto my punishment,
but an availing plea unto pardon and salvation.
Let it be to me the armour of faith
and the shield of good will.
May it root out from my heart all vice;
may it utterly subdue my evil passions
and all my unruly desires.
May it perfect me in charity and patience;
in humility and obedience;
and in all other virtues.
May it be my sure defence
against the snares laid for me by my enemies,
visible and invisible.
May it restrain and quiet all my evil impulses,
and make me ever cleave to Thee
Who art the one true God.
May I owe to it a happy ending of my life.
And do Thou, O heavenly Father,
vouchsafe one day to call me, a sinner,
to that ineffable banquet,
where Thou, together with Thy Son and the Holy Ghost,
art to Thy saints true and unfailing light,
fullness of content,
joy for evermore,
gladness without alloy,
consummate and everlasting happiness.
Through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen.

LORD, Father all-powerful,
and ever-living God,
I thank Thee,
for even though I am a sinner,
Thy unprofitable servant,
not because of my worth,
but in the kindness of Thy mercy,
Thou hast fed me with the precious Body
and Blood of Thy Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.

I pray that this holy communion
may not bring me condemnation
and punishment but forgiveness and salvation.

May it be a helmet of faith
and a shield of good will.

May it purify me from evil ways
and put an end to my evil passions.

May it bring me charity and patience,
humility and obedience,
and growth in power to do good.

May it be my strong defense against all my enemies,
visible and invisible,
and the perfect calming of all my evil impulses,
bodily and spiritual.

May it unite me more closely to Thee,
the one true God
and lead me safely through death
to everlasting happiness with Thee.

And I pray that Thou willest lead me,
a sinner to the banquet
where Thou with Thy Son and Holy Spirit,
are true and perfect light,
total fulfillment,
everlasting joy,
gladness without end,
and perfect happiness to Thy saints.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Come, Holy Spirit, Divine Creator,
true source of light and fountain of wisdom!
Pour forth your brilliance upon my dense intellect,
dissipate the darkness which covers me,
that of sin and of ignorance.
Grant me a penetrating mind to understand,
a retentive memory,
method and ease in learning,
the lucidity to comprehend,
and abundant grace in expressing myself.
Guide the beginning of my work,
direct its progress,
and bring it to successful completion.
This I ask through Jesus Christ,
true God and true man,
living and reigning with You
and the Father, forever and ever.

Amen.

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.

Prayer Before Study #2

O ineffable Creator,
Who, out of the treasure of Thy wisdom,
hast ordained three hierarchies of Angels,
and placed them in wonderful order above the heavens,
and hast most wisely distributed the parts of the world;
Thou, Who are called the true fountain of light and wisdom,
and the highest beginning,
vouchsafe to pour upon the darkness of my understanding,
in which I was born,
the double beam of Thy brightness,
removing from me all darkness of sin and ignorance.
Thou, Who makest eloquent the tongue of the dumb,
instruct my tongue,
and pour on my lips the grace of Thy blessing.
Give me quickness of understanding,
capacity of retaining,
subtlety of interpreting,
facility in learning,
and copious grace of speaking.
Guide my going in,
direct my going forward,
accomplish my going forth;
through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Grant me grace, O merciful God,
to desire ardently all that is pleasing to Thee,
to examine it prudently,
to acknowledge it truthfully,
and to accomplish it perfectly,
for the praise and glory of Thy name.

Amen.

Grant me, O Lord my God,
a mind to know you,
a heart to seek you,
wisdom to find you,
conduct pleasing to you,
faithful perseverance in waiting for you,
and a hope of finally embracing you.

Amen.

The Cross is my sure salvation.
The Cross I ever adore.
The Cross of my Lord is with me.
The Cross is my refuge.

I thank you, O holy Lord,
almighty Father, eternal God,
who have deigned,
not through any merits of mine,
but out of the condescension of Your goodness,
to satisfy me a sinner,
Your unworthy servant,
with the precious Body and Blood of Your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that this Holy Communion
be not a condemnation to punishment for me,
but a saving plea to forgiveness.
May it be to me the armor of faith
and the shield of a good will.
May it be the emptying out of my vices
and the extinction of all lustful desires;
an increase of charity and patience,
of humility and obedience, and all virtues;
a strong defense against the snares of all my enemies,
visible and invisible;
the perfect quieting of all my evil impulses of flesh and spirit,
binding me firmly to You, the one true God;
and a happy ending of my life.
I pray too that You will deign to bring me, a sinner,
to that ineffable banquet where You with Your Son and the Holy Spirit,
are to Your Saints true light,
fulfillment of desires, eternal joy,
unalloyed gladness, and perfect bliss.
Through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen.

O Mary, Seat of Wisdom, so many persons of common intellect
have made through your intercession admirable progress in their studies.

I hereby choose you as guardian and patron of my studies.
I humbly ask You to obtain for me the grace of the Holy Spirit,
so that from now on I could understand more quickly,
retain more readily, and express myself more fluently.
May the example of my life serve to honour you
and your Son, Jesus.

Amen.

0 most blessed and sweet Virgin Mary,
Mother of God, filled with all tenderness,
Daughter of the most high King,
Lady of the Angels,
Mother of all the faithful,
On this day and all the days of my life,
I entrust to your merciful heart my body and my soul,
all my acts, thoughts, choices,
desires, words, deeds,
my entire life and death,
So that, with your assistance,
all may be ordered to the good
according to the will of your beloved Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.

From your beloved Son,
request for me the grace to resist firmly
the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil.

My most holy Lady,
I also beseech you to obtain for me
true obedience and true humility of heart
So that I may recognize myself truly
as a sinner, wretched and weak,
and powerless,
without the grace and help of my Creator
and without your holy prayers.

Obtain for me as well,
O most sweet Lady,
true charity with which
from the depths of my heart
I may love your most holy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
and, after Him,
love you above all other things.

Grant, O Queen of Heaven,
that ever in my heart
I may have fear and love alike
for your most sweet Son.

I pray also that, at the end of my life,
you, Mother without compare,
Gate of Heaven and Advocate of sinners,
will protect me with your great piety and mercy.

and obtain for me,
through the blessed and glorious Passion of your Son
and through your own intercession,
received in hope,
the forgiveness of all my sins.

When I die in your love and His love,
may you direct me
into the way of salvation and blessedness.

Amen.

Virgin full of goodness,
Mother of mercy,
I entrust to you my body and my soul,
my thoughts and my actions,
my life and my death.
My Queen,
come to my aid
and deliver me from the snares of the devil.
Obtain for me the grace of loving
my Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
with a true and perfect love,
and after him,
O Mary,
of loving you with all my heart
and above all things.

Amen.

Saint Thomas Aquinas,
you are called by Holy Mother Church,
the Angel of the Schools.
Your wisdom, gathered through long meditation
from the source of all wisdom,
the most holy Trinity,
has long been a shining light in the Catholic Church.
Ignorance of the things of God
is a darkness now enveloping the minds
of many of our countrymen.
In this darkness,
we need an angel like you who will protect,
foster, and nourish the schools we have,
and guide and strengthen us
in establishing and building
newer and more adequate schools
for the instruction of our children in the ways of Christ.
Help and bless the generous sisters, brothers,
and priests who labour so unselfishly in the classroom
to spread the knowledge of Christ.
Inspire our Catholic men and women
to be most generous in the support of the schools we have.
Grant to parents the wise generosity they need
to give their child back to God
when that child wishes to follow a priestly or religious vocation.
Help us, Saint Thomas, Angel of the Schools,
to understand what you taught,
and to follow your example.

Amen.

O great student of knowledge and wisdom,
Whose great efforts attempted to synthesize the greatest works of faith and reason;
But knew with the greatest humility that compared to the Divine itself such works were ‘like straw.’
Pray that the Lord may grant us, the students of knowledge, a great love of Truth, limited only by a love of God.
That we may have the faith to search for her in the storms of materialism and uncertainty,
And that we may become the great protectors and preachers of Truth’s beauty when we hold her in our midst.
For this we pray,

Amen.

Angel of Schools, at the bidding of Peter,
Thousands today are saluting thee thus.
We too are claiming thy care and thy counsel,
Angel of Schools, be an Angel to us.
Come to our aid when thou hearest us calling,
Light up the dark, make the rough places plain,
Bring to our thoughts the unknown or forgotten,
Give us the words that we seek for in vain.