Prayer Before Work or Study (Actiones Nostras)

This short prayer, known from its Latin opening as Actiones nostras, is one of the classic collects of the Church. It asks God to inspire our actions from the start and to help them along to the finish, so that every prayer and work begins with Him and is completed through Him. It has been said for centuries at the beginning of meetings, classes, and the work of the day.

Pray it as you sit down at your desk, start a shift, open your books, or begin a household task. It is a simple way to offer ordinary work to God, in the spirit of St. Joseph the Worker. The traditional English form is below.

The Prayer

Direct, we beseech Thee, O Lord, our actions by Thy holy inspirations, and carry them on by Thy gracious assistance, that every prayer and work of ours may always begin from Thee, and through Thee be happily ended. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sources: Collect Actiones nostras, traditional Roman prayer; English as in A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity (1888) and later manuals, public domain.