By Michael Pakaluk

But first:

God our Father, giver of life, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care. You are the rock on which this nation was founded. You alone are the true source of our cherished rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Reclaim this land for your glory and dwell among your people. Send your Spirit to touch the hearts of our nation's leaders. Open their minds to the great worth of human life and the responsibilities that accompany human freedom. Remind your people that true happiness is rooted in seeking and doing your will. Through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, patroness of our land, grant us the courage to reject the "culture of death." Lead us into a new millennium of life. We ask this through Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

Now for today's column...

"Study," says St. Thomas, "implies the vehement application of the mind to something" (ST II-II, 166, 1). Nothing easy about study apparently; no curling up in an easy chair with a cup of coffee simply taking it in.

Moreover, this Doctor of the Church says, although study itself is good, incidentally it easily leads to sin, as:

when "one takes pride in knowing the truth," or

"when a man desires to know the truth about creatures, without referring his knowledge to its due end, namely, knowledge of God," or

"when a man studies to know the truth above the capacity of his own intelligence, since by doing so men easily fall into error." (167, 1).

This last sin is a kind of recklessness - by not knowing your own limits, you place yourself in situations where you can't but formulate false views, liable to lead others astray also.

A striking corollary of these assertions is that, simply by the nature of the case, atheists can hardly avoid at least material sin when they study. Also, for a Christian there is a burden of proof against studying under non-Christians. Also, how could a Christian practically speaking avoid sin except by enclosing his study within prayer?

We should expect St. Thomas Aquinas's own Oratio ante Studium, "Prayer before study," to be a kind of antidote to these and other sins. And indeed, it is. Since all the translations I see on the internet are inaccurate, a good service may be done to readers of this site simply by publishing a good translation.

Here is the best I know, from a recent dissertation at my university on the prayers of St. Thomas, by a young theologian at St. John Vianney Seminary, Joshua Revelle:

InvocationIneffable Creator, who from the treasury of Thy wisdom didst appoint three hierarchies of Angels and set them in wondrous order over the highest heavens, and who didst distribute the parts of the universe most elegantly:PetitionsDo Thou, who art rightly called the fountain of light and wisdom and supereminent principle, deign to pour a ray of Thy brightness upon the darkness of my intellect, removing from me the twofold darkness in which I was born, namely, sin and ignorance.Thou, who makest eloquent the tongues of infants, instruct my tongue, and pour onto my lips the grace of Thy blessing.Give me sharpness of understanding, capacity for remembering, method and ease in learning, subtlety of interpreting, and copious grace of speaking.Prepare the beginning, direct the progress, and perfect the ending.ConclusionThou who art truly God and Man, who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen

I have distinguished the parts of the prayer, adding headings and numbers for clarity.

Right from the start, St. Thomas's words express humility. Although the prayer keeps in mind that study is meant to lead to fruitfulness and therefore speech that helps others find the truth, God is addressed as "ineffable," which means beyond our capacity to express in words. The highest realities, the most interesting and precious truths, must ultimately remain mysterious for any creature.

Furthermore, he situates himself at the lowest rung of a vast hierarchy of intelligences. You are doubtless familiar with astronomers...