make, is so express and sincere, that on my part I know nothing wanting to its perfection; but if in the sight of Almighty God (who searches the reins, and knows better what is in my heart than myself) it be any ways imperfect, I beseech him in his mercy to supply the defect thereof, so effectually as that I may truly say with that holy father and blessed martyr St. Cyprian, Martyrdom may be wanting to my mind, but my mind never to martyrdom. A Prayer to God the Father." O GOD, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of patriarchs and prophets, God of apostles and martyrs," God of virgins and of all believers; we beseech thee to have mercy upon us, thou who didst send thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to redeem us: thy Son born of the Virgin Mary, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, by the annunciation of angels to deliver us from eternal death. I beseech thee, O Lord, have compassion on thy servant; judge me not according to my works; for I have been disobedient to thy commandments; but thou who lovest repentance, have mercy on me, who before thy face make confession of all my sins, and, for the love of thy holy name, wipe away all my of fences. Make me abide in thy holy Catholic Church with an undefiled faith, a pure heart, firm devotion, a continual love of thee, and perseverance in good works to my life's end. Deliver me from the eternal pains and torments thou hast prepared for the wicked: grant this for the sake of our blessed Saviour, by whom, and in whom, be ascribed to thee all honour, power, and glory, for ever and ever. A Prayer in Honour of our Lord's Amen. Passion. T I BESEECH thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, that thy precious death may be my resurrection and life; thy sacred wounds, my remedy and cure; and thy most holy body and blood, my meat and drink. May thy blessed Passion bring me to everlasting glory; and let it be the joy, study, and desire, as it is the health and safety of my soul, to meditate on these thy mercies, both now and for ever. Amen. THE GOLDEN LITANY, LORD, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us. God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven -and earth, Have mercy upon us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy upon us. God the Holy Ghost, Sanctifier of mankind, Have mercy upon us. O sacred Trinity of Persons in unity of Essence, Have mercy upon us. Thro thy power in creating heaven, earth, and all things therein contained, Thro' thy goodness in making man to thy own image and likeness, Thro' thy mercy in redeeming man after his? fall, Thro' thy unspeakable love in making choice of the Virgin Mary for thy Mother, Thro' the ineffable mystery of thine incarnation, whereby thou vouchsafedst to unite thy divine person to our frail nature, Thro' thine immaculate conception, and thy nine months' imprisonment in the sacred Virgin's womb, Thro' thy blessed birth in a poor stable at Bethlehem, Have mercy upon us. Thro' the hunger, cold, and other inconveni-S ences which thy tender body endured, beinglaid in a crib between an ox and an ass, Thro' thy painful circumcision the eighth day after thy birth, when thou didst begin to shed thy precious blood for our sakes, Thro' thy blessed name Jesus, which was then given thee, Thro' the mystical offering of gold, frankin cense, and myrrh, presented unto thee by the three kings, whom, by a miraculous star, thou didst conduct out of the East, to adore thee in thy cradle, Thro' the oblation of thyself to thy Eternal Father in the temple, where thou wast acknowledged by Simeon and Anna, redeemed by thy poor Virgin Mother with a pair of pigeons, Thro' thy flight into Egypt for the avoiding King Herod's cruelty, and by all thou didst suffer there with thy mother and St. Joseph, Thro' thy return from thence to Nazareth, and the humble obedience thou didst there render to thy parents, Thro' thy being lost by thy parents in Jerusalem, where after three days thou wast found by them sitting amidst the doctors, Thro' the secret and hidden life thou didst lead in Nazareth with holy Mary and Joseph, from the twelfth year of thy age to the thirtieth, Thro' thy humble receiving of Baptism at the hands of John, in the river Jordan, Thro' thy forty days' fasting in the desert, and the three temptations of the devil, which thou didst there endure and overcome,. Thro' thy first miracle of turning water into wine at the marriage-feast of Cana. Thro' the zeal thou showedst for the honour of thy eternal Father, in casting the buyers and sellers out of the temple, Thro' thy humble condescending to discourse with the Samaritan woman, sitting at the fountain, Thro' thy exceeding great charity in healing the young man of Caphernaum, Simon Peter's mother-in-law, and a multitude of infirm persons, Thro' the power thou showedst in appeasing the tempest at sea, walking on the water, and enabling Peter to do the same, Thro' thy efficacious calling of Peter and Andrew, James and John, from their boats, and Matthew from the receipt of custom, to follow thee, 1 Thro' thy choosing twelve apostles, to whom thou madest that divine sermon on the, mount, which contains the pattern of a perfect christian life, Thro' the mercy thou showedst the penitent I Magdalen, thy preferring her before the Pharisees, and pardoning her sins, Thro' thy sending thy twelve apostles to preach the gospel to the people, Thro' thy miraculous feeding five thousand persons with five loaves of bread, and four l' thousand with seven loaves, Thro' thy appointment of Peter to be the rock on which thou wouldst build thy Church, for his having confessed thee to be Christ the Son of the living God, Thro' thy glorious transfiguration upon mount Thabor, in the presence of thy disciples, Peter, James, and John, Thro' thy teaching us the force and virtue of prayer, and giving us an exact form thereof: in the divine Pater Noster, Thro' the inflamed desire thou hadst to re deem mankind, Thro' thy meek and humble riding on an ass into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Thro' thy humbly washing the feet of thy disciples, and even those of Judas the traitor, Thro' thy unspeakable love shown in the insti tution of the sacrifice and sacrament of thy most precious body and blood, Thro' the prayer thou repeatedst twice in the garden, when in thy most bitter agony a sweat of blood trickled down thy body, Thro' thy condescending to receive a kiss from the wicked Judas, Thro' thy being apprehended, bound, and brought before the tribunals of Annas and Caiaphas, Thro' the blows, buffets, and opprobrious usage thou didst patiently endure all that night, Thro' thy being presented to the Pagan Judge Pontius Pilate, in the quality of a notorious criminal, Thro' thy being sent by him to King Herod, and the scorn wherewith thou wast treated by himself and his guards, Thro' that most cruel and contumelious whipping which thou enduredst at the pillar, Thro' the barbarous clamours of the people, Have mercy upon us. |