Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. Holy Mary, Holy Mother of God, Holy Virgin of virgins, Mother of Christ, Mother of divine grace, Mother most chaste, Mother most amiable, Cause of our joy, Vessel of singular devotion, Tower of David, Tower of ivory, House of gold, Ark of the covenant, Health of the weak, Pray for us. C Comforter of the afflicted, Queen of patriarchs, Queen of virgins, Queen of all saints, Queen conceived without original sin, Pray for us. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world: Spare us, O Lord. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world: Graciously hear us, O Lord. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world: Have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Our Father, etc. V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. R. That we may be inade worthy of the promises of Christ. LET US PRAY. POUR forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may, by his passion and cross, be brought to the glory of his resurrection: through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. us. V. May the divine assistance always remain with R. Amen. V. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. R. Amen. TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. GLORIOUS Virgin Mary, I commit my soul trust this for ever, but more especially at the hour of my death. I recommend to thy merciful charity all my hopes, my consolation, my distress, and misery; my life and the end thereof: that through thy most holy intercession, all my works may be directed according to the will of thy blessed Son. Amen. PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH. BLESSED Joseph, father and guide of Jesus Bhrist in his childhood and youth, who didst lead him safely in his flight through the desert, and in all the ways of his childhood, be also my companion and guide in this pilgrimage of life, and never permit me to turn aside from the way of God's commandments; be my refuge in adversity, my support in temptation, my solace in affliction, until at length I arrive at the land of the living, where with thee and Mary, thy most holy Spouse, and all the Saints, I may rejoice for ever in Jesus my Lord. Amen. A PRAYER TO YOUR GUARDIAN ANGEL. ANGEL of God, to whose holy care I am committed by the supreme clemency, enlighten, defend, and protect me this night, from all sin and danger. Amen. THE BLESSING. GOD the Father, bless me; Jesus Christ, defend and keep me; the virtue of the Holy Ghost enlighten and sanctify me this night and forever. Amen. Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. Lord Jesus, receive my soul. Bevotions at Holy Mass. "From the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation; for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of Hosts."---Malach. i. 11. INSTRUCTION. Of all the blessings and treasures which Jesus Christ has bequeathed to his holy Church, the august Sacrifice of the Mass is the greatest, most precious, and holiest. The Holy Mass is the sacrifice of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, which is offered to the heavenly Father on our altars under the species or appearances of bread and wine. It was instituted by our blessed Lord himself, in order to represent and continue that sacrifice which he made on the cross of Calvary. The sacrifice on the cross was made in a manifest and bloody manner: the Sacrifice of the Mass is made in a mystic and unbloody manner. It is made in a mystic manner; that is to say, when Christ is offered in the Mass, we cannot see him with our eyes as the Jews saw him on the cross, his body and his wounds, and his blood, but all we can see is that humble appearance of bread and wine under which he hides himself now from our sight. It is made in an unbloody manner; that is to say, in the Mass our Lord does not die again, his life is not taken as formerly by the shedding of his blood. Although he is really present on the altar, and he is there as a living victim, his death is only represented. Since his resurrection, he is our living Lord, and cannot die again. "Christ being risen from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." Jesus Christ, dying once on the cross, offered himself up for us to his heavenly Father: "He has blotted out our sins by his blood that was shed for us, and by his painful death," and thus he has reconciled us to the Father. But in order to leave us a perpetual memorial of this his great love, at that last supper which he partook with his disciples, he took bread in his holy hands, and after giving thanks to God, broke it, and gave it to them to eat, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in commemoration of me." Also he took the chalice, and said, "This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you."-St. Luke, xxii. 19, 20. By these words, "Do this in commemoration of me," Jesus gave to his Apostles, and their successors, the Bishops and Priests of the Church, the power to change the bread and the wine into his most holy body and blood. The Priest blesses the bread and wine as Christ did, he speaks over them the same words of consecration which Christ spoke; and thus the bread and wine are changed now on the altar, as they were at the last supper, into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. As Jesus Christ sacrificed himself on the cross to his heavenly Father for our sins, so here on the altar, he offers himself up to the same heavenly Father, by the hands of the Priest. After the consecration, which the Priest makes by saying over the bread and wine the same words which Jesus Christ said at the last supper, there is no longer any bread and wine on the altar, but the true and living Jesus Christ, at the same time God and man, really present, although hidden under the appearance of bread and wine. The Priest offers up Jesus Christ to his heavenly |