It’s that time of year again. If you’re in high school or above, you know what I’m talking about. Yep. Finals Week. It’s that week when all of the saints that we know start becoming our BFF’s.
It’s Friday. You have your last exam before the school year is over. You’re going over all of the stuff you studied for. The teacher starts handing out the exam. Your heart starts to beat faster and faster. “What if I didn’t study enough?” I don’t know about you guys, but something that happened to me frequently while I was in high school and college was the fact that the exam material would always vary so much from what the homework was. You know what I mean.
Math Homework Chapter 1
5+2=? 7+4=? 6+11=?
Come exam time
You finally get your exam and before you start you decide to do a quick prayer.
“Please ( insert your saint here.) help me with this exam.” Soon enough you find yourself reciting the melody and praying tasbeha. Mock playing the cymbals on your desk (No? Okay then that’s just me).
A friend of mine has one of those watches that you can change the background of. He comes up to me and shows me his new watchface and says “You know it’s finals week when” On the watchface was a picture of Pope Kyrillos.
It’s no coincidence that Pope Kyrillos is the saint to pray to. He himself has written a prayer for this very instance. Here it is…
“Prayer before an Exam” – By HH Pope Cyril VI
My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You for You have taught me to seek refuge in You, in times of need, when You said “Call upon Me in the day of your trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
Now, Oh Lord, I appeal to You to give me wisdom and understanding at this time of exams.
Give me grace to pass this test in peace. Grant me Your profound peace and blessings in the time that I am writing my test.
Lord Jesus, I ask of You to find favor in my teachers’ eyes for You soften their hearts towards me as they mark my papers. Dear Lord, I am a sinner, and I have not pleased You or myself all year, but I ask You not to treat me according to my sins or hardness of heart, but according to Your mercy and sympathy.
Lord, You said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” So, here I am, asking, and on the gate of Your mercy I am knocking. So, do not refuse my prayer, for you have said: “whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.” Answer me, through the intercessions of the Holy Virgin and all Your angels.
Amen.
One thing that I might mention is the fact that doing well on an exam requires each of us to do our part. I can’t walk into an exam saying “Pope K has my back” expecting to do well if I haven’t opened a book and read one chapter. In the same instance, I also need to rely on God and the prayers of the saints. Knowing that I did my part, studied and the rest relies on Him.
Wishing you all good luck on your exams through the prayers of Pope Kyrillos and all the saints
Your brother in Christ,
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P.S. Pray for me
🙂
I Sought + I Found 