July 26, 2026

(image: St. Thomas Aquinas Writing Before the Crucifix, painting by Antonio Rodriguez)

In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said: Whatever you ask I shall give you.
Give your servant, therefore, a listening heart to judge your people and to distinguish between good and evil. For who is able to give judgment for this vast people of yours?”

The Lord was pleased by Solomon’s request. So God said to him: Because you asked for this—you did not ask for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies—but you asked for discernment to know what is right— I now do as you request. I give you a heart so wise and discerning that there has never been anyone like you until now, nor after you will there be anyone to equal you.

Matthew 13:44-46

Jesus said to the crowds, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”
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For men and women of the Dominican Family and those who associate with us, one thing on which we all agree is that study is our friend. The word study is a big-tent word. For Dominicans, study includes reading broadly, going to school, research and writing, teaching, the art of conversation, scripture reading, visiting museums and going to lectures, following the news, and learning languages.
At the time of our founding in the thirteenth century, we Dominicans participated in the flowering of the medieval universities in Paris, Cologne, and Oxford, contributing to a Christian renaissance in the study of scripture and theology that has had a lasting impact on the Catholic understanding of God and Christian living.
For Dominicans, study is a form of prayer. The story is told of the great Dominican scholar Thomas Aquinas, who, late in his life when he was teaching in Naples, had a mystical vision when praying before a crucifix. God said, “You have written well of me, Thomas. What reward will you receive from me for your labor?” Thomas replied, “Non nisi te, Domine, Nothing but You, Lord.”
In the First Book of Kings today, Solomon prays to God for wisdom to govern rightly, and God gives Solomon a wise and discerning mind. In chapter 13 of Matthew today, Jesus tells us to sell what we have to buy the kingdom treasure hidden in a field. With apostolic zeal, we study to find God who is the pearl of great price. In study and prayer, we seek to know, love, and serve God.
Here, in words written by St. Thomas Aquinas some eight hundred years ago, is a prayer that many Dominicans still pray before study:

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: PRAYER BEFORE STUDY
Come, Holy Spirit, Divine Creator,
true source of light and fountain of wisdom!
Pour forth your brilliance upon my dense intellect,
dissipate the darkness which covers me, that of sin and of ignorance.
Grant me a penetrating mind to understand,
a retentive memory, method and ease in learning,
the lucidity to comprehend, and abundant grace in expressing myself.
Guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress,
and bring it to successful completion.
This I ask through Jesus Christ,
true God and true man,
living and reigning with You and the Father,
forever and ever. Amen.