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A Limerick by St. Thomas Aquinas?



Sit vitiorum meorum evacuatio

Concupiscentae et libidinis exterminatio,

Caritatis et patientiae,

Humilitatis et obedientiae,

Omniumque virtutum augmentatio.


—St. Thomas Aquinas, Breviary


To my badness I would give the boot,

With concupiscent lust at the root,

Learn patience and love,

Humble all the above . . .

I'm a quite unassuming old beaut.


—translated by P. Tornarius



Msgr. Ronald Knox identified this prayer as “a possible prelimerick” in 1925.

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