M A R C H
A Prayer To Saint Thomas Aquinas For Catholic Schools
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 labor 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.
The Breastplate of Saint Patrick
(Feast, March 17)
I BIND to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity;
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial, The virtue of His
Resurrection with His Ascension
The virtue of His coming on the Judgment Day
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of the seraphim,
In the obedience of angels, In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs, In predictions of Prophets, In preaching of
Apostles, In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.
I bind to myself today
God's power to guide me,
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to teach me,
God's eye to watch over me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to give me speech,
God's hand to guide me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to shelter me,
God's host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.
I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile, merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.
Christ, protect me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound
That I may receive abundant reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity.
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe. Amen.
(From "Devotions in Honor of Saint Patrick". by Abbot Richard Felix, O.S.B.)
A Prayer to Saint Joseph
(Feast, March 19)
GOOD Saint Joseph, you were the head of the Holy Family in the little house at Nazareth. You know the responsibilities, the joys and sorrows, the duties and rights of that position. Please, in your loving kindness, remembering the goods days at Nazareth, bless the head of our family. Help him in his needs. Make him kind and pure and gentle, as you were. Make him understanding and gracious, and obtain for him the kind of trust in God's loving providence that guided and supported you in Egypt. Obtain for the lady of our house, too, the same graciousness and kindliness, the same devotedness to duty and patient humility that Mary had. Help, please, the children Of this house to form themselves after the model for all children, the Holy Child of your house in Nazareth. And when we all finally come to the last moment of our earthly life, just before the beginning of our life with You and your Holy Family in heaven, stand by us, dear Joseph, and obtain for us the greatest of all graces, that of dying, as you did, a happy and holy death, in the company of Mary and Jesus. Amen.
A Prayer to Saint Isidore, Patron of Country People
(St. Isidore, patron saint of farmers, was himself a farm born in the city of Madrid, Spain, about the year 1110; His chief appeal is to those who, as he did, work the land. But his good qualities-whole-hearted trust in God, his enthusiasm and vigor in doing his job, his spirit of prayer and devotion to religious practice--these can profitably be admired and imitated by all laboring men, just as his wife Maria, can serve as a model for working men's wives. His feast day is celebrated throughout the United States on March 22.)
GOOD Saint, we are told that your devotion to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was so great that you would rise before it was light in order to be able to attend Mass before beginning your work in the fields. Obtain for us, we pray you, some of that loving devotion to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There it is that the fruits of our farm labor, bread and wine, are brought and offered to God by the priest. Then, in the consecration, Christ Himself, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, becomes present on our altars under the appearances of this same bread and wine. And in what was the altar bread. He comes to us to be the very food of our souls. If we deeply realize the value and beauty of Holy Mass, we will be very happy to attend as often as we possibly can.
Help us to understand that in the Mass we offer ourselves to God with Christ by the hands of the priest. There we can bring to God all that we do, and offer it to Him in union with His Holy Sacrifice. The oftener we do this now, the happier we shall be hereafter. Good Saint Isidore, bless us and our labors, that we may some day reap the reward of good works with you in heaven. Amen.