Prayers to Saint Alcuin of York

O Blessed Alcuin, humble deacon and faithful teacher,

who formed minds with patience

and tended the light of learning in dark times,

you taught rulers with humility and pupils with care,

seeking no glory for yourself

but the preservation of truth.

Stand with all teachers who labour in their vocation.

When hearts seem unmoved and our words fall on stone,

teach us your patience,

that we may sow seeds

even when we cannot see the harvest.

When the work is exhausting and we doubt our calling,

remind us that you taught for decades

without fame or recognition,

content to be remembered only as humble levita,

while others carried forward what you had planted.

When knowledge feels like burden instead of gift,

restore in us your love of learning
—not learning for its own sake,

but learning in service of Truth.

Teach us to bind wisdom to virtue,

to form souls and not merely inform minds,

to see each student as a soul entrusted to our care,

not a task to complete.

When we teach in times of confusion,

when truth is questioned and tradition set aside,

when weeds are presented as wheat and wheat is called weeds,

be our candle in the darkness,

reminding us that you preserved learning and faith

through patient teaching, faithful copying, and steadfast prayer,

and teach us to trust that the work of faithfulness

is never wasted, even when its fruit belongs to another time.

Help us remember that teaching
is not performance but formation,

that our monument will not be fame

but the minds we have shaped,

the truth we have preserved,

and the students who carry forward
what we have given them.

Pray for us,

that we may teach not for our own glory,

but to serve the Gospel and form disciples,

labouring faithfully whether we see fruit or not,

trusting that God uses even our smallest efforts

to build His kingdom.

Blessed Alcuin, lover of wisdom,

pray for us.

Amen.