NOVENA TO ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

In preparation for the feast day of our Angelic Patron, please join us in praying this novena that is set to end on the vigil of his feast day. The structure of the novena is as follows: 1. Scripture passage; 2. Novena prayer (to be recited each day); 3. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be; 4. Supplemental Podcasts (Optional)

Download the pdf version here.

DAY 1: St. Thomas, Called by God

St. Thomas Aquinas Novena Day 1

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Mt. 10:37).

NOVENA PRAYER: Ineffable Creator, Who out of the treasures of Your wisdom has appointed three hierarchies of Angels and set them in admirable order high above the heavens and has disposed the different portions of the universe in such marvelous array, You Who are called the True Source of Light and super-eminent Principle of Wisdom, be pleased to cast a beam of Your radiance upon the darkness of my mind and dispel from me the double darkness of sin and ignorance in which I have been born.

You Who makes eloquent the tongues of little children, fashion my words and pour upon my lips the grace of Your benediction. Grant me penetration to understand, capacity to retain, method and facility in study, subtlety in interpretation and abundant grace of expression.

Order the beginning, direct the progress and perfect the achievement of my work, You who are true God and Man and lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…

Blessed Thomas, pray for us; that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.


SUPPLEMENTAL PODCASTS AND VIDEOS
:
Thomas Aquinas on Religious Vocations | Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.
The Vocation of the Student | Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.
The Possibility of Perfection | Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.
Aquinas 101: Why Aquinas? (Course 1)

DAY 2: St. Thomas, Lover of Purity

St. Thomas Aquinas Novena Day 2

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: “For God has not called us for uncleanness, but in holiness” (1 Thess. 4:7).

NOVENA PRAYER: Ineffable Creator, Who out of the treasures of Your wisdom has appointed three hierarchies of Angels and set them in admirable order high above the heavens and has disposed the different portions of the universe in such marvelous array, You Who are called the True Source of Light and super-eminent Principle of Wisdom, be pleased to cast a beam of Your radiance upon the darkness of my mind and dispel from me the double darkness of sin and ignorance in which I have been born.

You Who makes eloquent the tongues of little children, fashion my words and pour upon my lips the grace of Your benediction. Grant me penetration to understand, capacity to retain, method and facility in study, subtlety in interpretation and abundant grace of expression.

Order the beginning, direct the progress and perfect the achievement of my work, You who are true God and Man and lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…

Blessed Thomas, pray for us; that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

SUPPLEMENTAL PODCASTS AND VIDEOS:
Temperance and the Common Good | Prof. Matthew Levering
Lust and Spiritual Contemplation According to St. Thomas Aquinas | Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.
Passions and the Life of Virtue | Sr. Catherine Joseph Droste, O.P.
Beatitude (Aquinas 101)
The Specific Passions (Aquinas 101)

DAY 3: Example of Humility

St. Thomas Aquinas Novena Day 3

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt. 23:12).

NOVENA PRAYER: Ineffable Creator, Who out of the treasures of Your wisdom has appointed three hierarchies of Angels and set them in admirable order high above the heavens and has disposed the different portions of the universe in such marvelous array, You Who are called the True Source of Light and super-eminent Principle of Wisdom, be pleased to cast a beam of Your radiance upon the darkness of my mind and dispel from me the double darkness of sin and ignorance in which I have been born.

You Who makes eloquent the tongues of little children, fashion my words and pour upon my lips the grace of Your benediction. Grant me penetration to understand, capacity to retain, method and facility in study, subtlety in interpretation and abundant grace of expression.

Order the beginning, direct the progress and perfect the achievement of my work, You who are true God and Man and lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…

Blessed Thomas, pray for us; that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.



SUPPLEMENTAL PODCASTS AND VIDEOS:
Humility and Proper Pride | Captain Joseph McInerney
The Light of Reason and the Light of Faith | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
The Moral Virtues (Aquinas 101)
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Aquinas 101)
The Darkness of Faith and the Mind's Encounter with God (Aquinas 101)

DAY 4: St. Thomas, at the Service of Truth

St. Thomas Aquinas Novena Day 4

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ef. 4:15).

NOVENA PRAYER: Ineffable Creator, Who out of the treasures of Your wisdom has appointed three hierarchies of Angels and set them in admirable order high above the heavens and has disposed the different portions of the universe in such marvelous array, You Who are called the True Source of Light and super-eminent Principle of Wisdom, be pleased to cast a beam of Your radiance upon the darkness of my mind and dispel from me the double darkness of sin and ignorance in which I have been born.

You Who makes eloquent the tongues of little children, fashion my words and pour upon my lips the grace of Your benediction. Grant me penetration to understand, capacity to retain, method and facility in study, subtlety in interpretation and abundant grace of expression.

Order the beginning, direct the progress and perfect the achievement of my work, You who are true God and Man and lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…

Blessed Thomas, pray for us; that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

SUPPLEMENTAL PODCASTS AND VIDEOS:
What is Truth? | Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P.
Truth as Transcendental: Ontological Foundations | Dr. Edward Feser
Quid est Veritas? Truth and Moral Relativism by Dr. Jennifer Frey
Aquinas on the Three Wisdoms: Philosophical, Theological, and Mystical | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
Theology: the Judge of All Human Knowledge | Prof. Gregory Lanave
Aquinas 101 Live: Wisdom and Metaphysics | Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P.
Thomistic Epistemology (Aquinas 101)
Five Ways to Prove God Exists (Aquinas 101)

DAY 5: St. Thomas, Aflame with Love for the Blessed Sacrament

St. Thomas Aquinas Novena Day 5

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (Jn. 6:53).

NOVENA PRAYER: Ineffable Creator, Who out of the treasures of Your wisdom has appointed three hierarchies of Angels and set them in admirable order high above the heavens and has disposed the different portions of the universe in such marvelous array, You Who are called the True Source of Light and super-eminent Principle of Wisdom, be pleased to cast a beam of Your radiance upon the darkness of my mind and dispel from me the double darkness of sin and ignorance in which I have been born.

You Who makes eloquent the tongues of little children, fashion my words and pour upon my lips the grace of Your benediction. Grant me penetration to understand, capacity to retain, method and facility in study, subtlety in interpretation and abundant grace of expression.

Order the beginning, direct the progress and perfect the achievement of my work, You who are true God and Man and lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…

Blessed Thomas, pray for us; that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.


SUPPLEMENTAL PODCASTS AND VIDEOS
:
The Eucharist | 8 Lectures by Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P.
The Antidote to Death: St. Thomas Aquinas on the Eucharist | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
The Medicine of Immortality - Aquinas on the Eucharist and the Spiritual Life (7 Lectures)
The Eucharist (Aquinas 101)
Transubstantiation (Aquinas 101)
The Sacrifice of the Mass (Aquinas 101)


DAY 6: St. Thomas, Brimming with Charity

St. Thomas Aquinas Novena Day 6

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right” (1 Cor. 13:4-6).

NOVENA PRAYER: Ineffable Creator, Who out of the treasures of Your wisdom has appointed three hierarchies of Angels and set them in admirable order high above the heavens and has disposed the different portions of the universe in such marvelous array, You Who are called the True Source of Light and super-eminent Principle of Wisdom, be pleased to cast a beam of Your radiance upon the darkness of my mind and dispel from me the double darkness of sin and ignorance in which I have been born.

You Who makes eloquent the tongues of little children, fashion my words and pour upon my lips the grace of Your benediction. Grant me penetration to understand, capacity to retain, method and facility in study, subtlety in interpretation and abundant grace of expression.

Order the beginning, direct the progress and perfect the achievement of my work, You who are true God and Man and lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…

Blessed Thomas, pray for us; that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

SUPPLEMENTAL PODCASTS AND VIDEOS:
Charity as a Virtue | Fr. Ephrem Reese, O.P.
St. Thomas & the Meaning of Love: Human and Divine Friendship | Fr. Gregory Pine O.P.
Aquinas and Religious Pluralism: How to Engage without Sacrificing Truth | Prof. Thomas Hibbs
The Heart of True Love: Part I | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
The Heart of True Love: Part II | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
Charity (Aquinas 101)


DAY 7: St. Thomas, Defender of the Church

St. Thomas Aquinas Novena Day 7

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: “...the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).

NOVENA PRAYER: Ineffable Creator, Who out of the treasures of Your wisdom has appointed three hierarchies of Angels and set them in admirable order high above the heavens and has disposed the different portions of the universe in such marvelous array, You Who are called the True Source of Light and super-eminent Principle of Wisdom, be pleased to cast a beam of Your radiance upon the darkness of my mind and dispel from me the double darkness of sin and ignorance in which I have been born.

You Who makes eloquent the tongues of little children, fashion my words and pour upon my lips the grace of Your benediction. Grant me penetration to understand, capacity to retain, method and facility in study, subtlety in interpretation and abundant grace of expression.

Order the beginning, direct the progress and perfect the achievement of my work, You who are true God and Man and lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…

Blessed Thomas, pray for us; that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

SUPPLEMENTAL PODCASTS AND VIDEOS:
St. Thomas Aquinas: Our Common Doctor for Theology Today | Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.
From Shadows to Reality: Reading the Old Testament as a Catholic | Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P.
The Holy Spirit in the Church and the Eucharist | Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P.
Sacraments, Grace and Ethics: The Church at Work | Fr. Romanus Cessario, O.P.


DAY 8: St. Thomas, Master of Prayer

St. Thomas Aquinas Novena Day 8

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2).

NOVENA PRAYER: Ineffable Creator, Who out of the treasures of Your wisdom has appointed three hierarchies of Angels and set them in admirable order high above the heavens and has disposed the different portions of the universe in such marvelous array, You Who are called the True Source of Light and super-eminent Principle of Wisdom, be pleased to cast a beam of Your radiance upon the darkness of my mind and dispel from me the double darkness of sin and ignorance in which I have been born.

You Who makes eloquent the tongues of little children, fashion my words and pour upon my lips the grace of Your benediction. Grant me penetration to understand, capacity to retain, method and facility in study, subtlety in interpretation and abundant grace of expression.

Order the beginning, direct the progress and perfect the achievement of my work, You who are true God and Man and lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…

Blessed Thomas, pray for us; that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.


SUPPLEMENTAL PODCASTS AND VIDEOS
:
Aquinas on Mystical Union with God | Fr. Bernhard Blankenhorn, O.P.
Aquinas as a Mystical Theologian | Fr. Bernhard Blankenhorn, O.P.
Introduction to Mental Prayer | Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P.
Prayer, Holiness, and the Intellectual Life | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
Prayer, Study, and the Mind's Ascent to God | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.


DAY 9: St. Thomas, Patron of Students

St. Thomas Aquinas Novena Day 9

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: “...in every way you were enriched in [Christ Jesus] with all speech and all knowledge” (1 Cor. 1:5).

NOVENA PRAYER: Ineffable Creator, Who out of the treasures of Your wisdom has appointed three hierarchies of Angels and set them in admirable order high above the heavens and has disposed the different portions of the universe in such marvelous array, You Who are called the True Source of Light and super-eminent Principle of Wisdom, be pleased to cast a beam of Your radiance upon the darkness of my mind and dispel from me the double darkness of sin and ignorance in which I have been born.

You Who makes eloquent the tongues of little children, fashion my words and pour upon my lips the grace of Your benediction. Grant me penetration to understand, capacity to retain, method and facility in study, subtlety in interpretation and abundant grace of expression.

Order the beginning, direct the progress and perfect the achievement of my work, You who are true God and Man and lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…

Blessed Thomas, pray for us; that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

SUPPLEMENTAL PODCASTS AND VIDEOS:
St. Thomas & the Intellectual Life | Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.
The Vocation of the Student | Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.
The Vocation of the Catholic Intellectual: Faith, Reason, and Service | Prof. Christopher Kaczor
Happiness of the Catholic Intellectual: Balance, Focus, and Priorities | Prof. Christopher Kaczor
Aquinas 101 Live: How to Think like St. Thomas | Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.
The Intellectual Virtues (Aquinas 101)