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Patron saints

Patron saints of students and exams

Catholics ask St Thomas Aquinas and St Joseph of Cupertino; the Orthodox ask the Three Holy Hierarchs, Sts Basil, Gregory and John Chrysostom, and St Sergius.

Picture: Francisco de Zurbarán, The Apotheosis of St Thomas Aquinas, 1631, Museo de Bellas Artes, Seville

Catholics ask him

St Thomas Aquinas

St Thomas’s prayer before study

Creator beyond all words,from the treasures of Your wisdomYou set the angels in three ranks,placed them in wonderful order above the highest heaven,and arranged every part of the universe with perfect beauty.

You are called the true Source of light and wisdom,the First Beginning, high above all things.Be pleased to pour a ray of Your brightnesson the darkness of my mind,and take from me the double darkness I was born in,sin and ignorance.

You Who make the tongues of little children speak well,teach my tongue,and pour the grace of Your blessing on my lips.

Give me a sharp mind to understand,a memory that holds what I learn,a good way of learning and skill in it,fine insight to interpret,and a rich gift for speaking.

Prepare my beginning,guide me as I go on,and bring my work to its end,You Who are true God and man,Who live and reign for ever and ever.Amen.

Traditional wording, 1910

O ineffable Creator, Who, of the treasures of Thy wisdomhast formed the nine choirs of Angels,and set them on high above the heavens in a wonderful order,and hast exquisitely fashioned and knit together all parts of the universe;

do Thou, Who art the true fountain and one principle of light and wisdom,deign to shed the brightness of Thy light upon the darkness of my understanding,and thus to disperse the twofold darkness of sin and ignorancewherein I was born.

O Thou, Who makest eloquent the tongues of babes,instruct my tongue,and pour forth on my lips the grace of Thy blessing.

Grant me acuteness in understanding what I read,power to retain it,subtlety to discern its true meaning,and clearness and ease in expressing it.

Do Thou order my beginnings,direct and further my progress,complete and bless my ending;Thou Who art true God and true Man,Who livest and reignest world without end.Amen.

Pope Leo XIII made him the patron of Catholic universities, colleges and schools in 1880.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Latin. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: an unnamed translator, The Raccolta (London, 1910 edition), 1910.

More about St Thomas Aquinas His story, his feast days and where his prayer comes from

Catholics ask him

St Joseph of Cupertino

Prayer to St Joseph of Cupertino for exams

O Great St. Joseph of Cupertinowho while on earth did obtain from God the graceto be asked at your examination only the questions you knew,obtain for me a like favorin the examinations for which I am now preparing.

In return I promise to make you knownand cause you to be invoked.Through Christ our Lord.St. Joseph of Cupertino, pray for us.Amen.

He could barely read, yet he became a priest. The bishop had already heard him preach on “Blessed is the womb that bore you”, so in 1628 he was ordained “without examination”. Students from all over Italy have long left thanks offerings at his shrine when they finish their studies.

As printed by “Feast day of Saint Joseph of Cupertino”, Franciscan Friars Conventual, 2017.

More about St Joseph of Cupertino His story, his feast day and where his prayer comes from

The Orthodox ask them

The Three Holy Hierarchs

Troparion of the Three Holy Hierarchs

Come, all who love their words,let us gather and honour with hymnsthe three greatest lights of the Godhead that shines as three Suns,who lit up the whole world with the rays of divine teaching,the rivers of wisdom that flow with honey,who watered all creation with streams of the knowledge of God:Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian,with the famous John, whose tongue spoke words of gold.

For they always pray to the Trinity for us.

Traditional wording, 1914

Let us all who love their words, come together with hymns,to honour the three great torch-bearers of the Triple Godhead:Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and renowned John of the Golden Mouth.

These have enlightened the world with the rays of their divine doctrines,and are flowing rivers of wisdom;they have inundated all creation with springs of heavenly knowledge,and ever for us do they intercede with the Holy Trinity.

In Greece they are the patrons of learning and education. The University of Athens declared them so in 1841, and Greek schools kept their feast as a holiday until 2020.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: an unnamed translator, The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom: the Greek text with a rendering in English, 1914.

More about The Three Holy Hierarchs Their story, their feast day and where their prayer comes from

The Orthodox ask him

St Sergius of Radonezh

Troparion of St Sergius

O athlete of the virtues,like a true soldier of Christ Godyou fought hard against the passionsin this passing life.In singing, in vigils and in fastingyou were an example to your disciples.So the most Holy Spirit came to dwell in you,and by His working you are radiantly adorned.

Now, since you have boldness before the Holy Trinity,remember the flock you gathered, O wise one,and do not forget to visit your children,as you promised,O holy Sergius, our father.

Traditional wording

As a virtuous ascetic athlete, and true warrior of Christ Godfighting fiercely the good fight against the passions during this earthly life,laboring in hymnody, vigil and fasting thou wast an example to thy disciples.Wherefore, the Holy Spirit made His abode within thee, Whose activity adorned thee with radiant beauty:

Since thou hast great boldness towards the Holy Trinityremember thy flock wisely gathered by theeand forget not as thou didst promise, to visit thy children,O venerable father Sergius.

The Russian prayer book prints prayers to him among its prayers for children’s understanding, because of what happened to him when he was a boy.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic, with the English Menaion of All Saints Eastern Orthodox Church beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: an unnamed translator, English Menaion, All Saints Eastern Orthodox Church.

More about St Sergius of Radonezh Why people ask him, his feast day and where his prayer comes from

Other saints people ask

The Orthodox ask her

St Tatiana

Troparion of St Tatiana

Plain English only: no traditional English wording is given for this prayer

Following the most pure Lamb and Shepherd,Tatiana, His lamb in spirit,you did not fear the unseen wild beasts,but, armed with the sign of the cross,you brought them down for goodand entered the fold of heaven.

There remember us too,most wise martyr of Christ.

She is Russia’s patron of students. Moscow University was founded on her feast in 1755, and her day, 25 January, is Russian Students’ Day, near the end of the winter exams.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic. How the wording is made.

More about St Tatiana Her story, her feast days and where her prayer comes from

Catholics ask her

St Catherine of Alexandria

Prayer to St Catherine for students

Plain English only: no traditional English wording is given for this prayer

Glorious Saint Catherine, wise and prudent virgin,you set the knowledge of Jesus Christ above all knowledge.

Obtain for us that we may hold fast to the Catholic faith without fail,and in our studies and our teaching seek onlyto spread the kingdom of Jesus Christ our Lord and of His holy Churchin ourselves and in others.Amen.

In the Middle Ages scholars asked her to light their minds before they studied, wrote or preached, and she became the patroness of women students.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the French. How the wording is made.

More about St Catherine of Alexandria Her story, her feast days and where her prayer comes from

Catholics ask him

St John of God

The Church’s prayer for St John of God

O God, You set blessed John on fire with Your loveand made him walk unharmed through the flames,and through him You made Your Church fruitful with new children.

By the help of his merits, grantthat the fire of Your love may heal our vices,and that remedies that last for ever may come to us.

Traditional wording, 1719

O God, Who having inflamed blessed John with Thy Love,didst make him walk in the Flames without hurt,and by him hast made Thy Church fruitful in a new Offspring:

grant, thro’ the Suffrage of his Merits,that our Vices may be cured by the Fire of Thy Charity,and that we may obtain eternal Remedies.

Pope Pius XI named him, with St Camillus de Lellis, a principal patron of nurses and of nurses’ associations in 1930.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Latin. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: an unnamed translator, The Evening-Office of the Church, in Latin and English, 1719.

More about St John of God Where his prayer comes from

A prayer to God for this

Before you begin

Prayer before study

O most gracious Lord,send down on us the grace of Your Holy Spirit,Who gives understandingand strengthens the powers of our souls,

so that, listening to the teaching given to us,we may grow up to glorify You, our Creator,to bring comfort to our parents,and to serve the Church and our country.

Traditional wording, 2011

O Most-good Lord! Send down upon us the grace of Thy Holy Spirit,Who granteth gifts and strengtheneth the powers of our souls,

so that by attending to the teaching given us,we may grow to the glory of Thee, our Creator,to the comfort of our parents,and to the service of the Church and our native land.

The prayer Russian schoolchildren say before lessons. It asks God to send the grace of the Holy Spirit, Who gives understanding and strengthens the powers of the soul.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic, with the Jordanville Prayer Book’s English beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, Prayer Book, 2011.

This wording follows a shorter Slavonic copy. Where today’s prayer book asks for the Spirit “Who gives understanding”, it has “Who granteth gifts”.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic
Orthodox prayers before study and exams Every prayer for this, with the Bible passages for it.

Scripture for this

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, Who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5 James tells anyone who lacks wisdom to ask God for it, because He gives it generously and without finding fault.

To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. And Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams.

Daniel 1:17 God gave Daniel and his three friends knowledge and skill in all their learning while they studied in Babylon.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

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