Students, teachers, and families will participate in Masses, assemblies, and other special activities during Celebrate Catholic Schools Week, January 26–February 1. The theme again this year is Catholic Schools: Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed. Share with your families the specific benefits of a Catholic education and together celebrate the strengths of our Catholic schools.
Saint Thomas Aquinas is the patron of Catholic schools and universities, publishers, scholars, and students. This thirteenth-century philosopher and Doctor of the Church is known for his influence on Western thought, including ethics, natural law, and political theory. Saint Thomas’ writings still influence those who study theology and canon law. Share this saint resource page with your children and their families during National Catholic Schools Week. On his feast day (January 28), pray the Prayer of Saint Thomas Aquinas together:
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.
Image credits: Detail of the facade of the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy. Zvonimir Atletic/Shutterstock.com
National Catholic Schools Week logos courtesy of ncea.org.
________
