testimony of thy love for my soul, so I desire to give my life (which according to nature is most dear to me) as the greatest proof I can give that I love thee, and sincerely desire to be where I shall ever love and never more offend thee.

BEHOL

At the Agnus Dei.

CONSIDERATION.

EHOLD Christ in the Blessed Sacrament as your strength, hope, and support, as the pledge of your salvation and of a happy eternity.

COME

AFFECTIONS.

YOME, sweet Saviour! come and take possession of my heart; it is thine by many titles: sustain, comfort, and encourage it against the terrors of death and fears of my salvation. Say to my poor soul at the hour of my death, as thou didst say to thy apostles, "Peace be to you, it is 1; fear not." (Luke xxiv. 36.) No attempt of the enemy could then hurt me. Say but these consoling words and my soul shall be saved. Who am I, dear Lord! that thou shouldst vouchsafe to visit me? How should I dare to approach thee, unless by reminding thee of thy comforting assurance of encouragement to sinners? "They that are whole, need not the physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the just, but sinners, to repentance." (Luke v. 31, 32.) I have great cause to fear when I reflect on what my sins have deserved, but I have yet more reason to hope, when I remember what thou hast done for my salvation. I acknowledge thee for my God and my Saviour, and as such I confide in thee. It is in thy merits that I place all my hopes; fortify me in my passage from this world to eternity. Since thou hast been pleased

to visit me, leave me some token of thy presence; enable me to overcome my passions, particularly that from which I may fear the worst consequences at the hour of my death. Do not refuse me, since it is for thy glory that I beg it. I am conscious that my continued offences deserve that thou shouldst let me die in them, but the blood which thou hast shed to cleanse me from them, cries to the Eternal Father for mercy. "What shall I render to the Lord for all things that he hath rendered to me? I will take the chalice of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord." (Psalm cxv. 12, 13.) What shall I return thee for thyself, which thou hast been pleased to give me? I will give thee my life, which is all that I have. I really desire then to die, if such be thy will. Unite my death to thine, and if thou canst not say to me, as thou didst to Magdalen, "Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much, (Luke vii. 47), say at least to me, as thou didst by thy prophet to repentant Israel, "I am he that blots out thy iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember thy sins." (Is. xliii. 25.) O Eternal Father! thy Son has given himself to me, that I may offer him to thy justice to cancel my debts, and to obtain all I stand in need of. I present him to thee with all the merits of his life and death, begging that I may be discharged from the heavy load of my sins, that I may receive the last sacraments with the necessary dispositions, and be enriched with all that I may require to make my death precious in thy sight. With joy I receive death from thy hands, because it gives me to thee, and because it alone can bestow thee upon me, by a happy exchange. Amen.

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A method of hearing Mass

AS

A PROPITIATORY SACRIFICE FOR SIN,

WHICH MAY BE USED IN PREPARATION FOR CONFESSION.

CONSIDERATION.

WHEN the priest is at the steps of the altar,

moned before the tribunal of God, all covered with the wounds of sin. Excite within yourself the sentiments of the humble publican, acknowledging yourself a sinner, incapable of repairing the injury you have done to God, or satisfying for your sins; then raise your hopes at the sight of Jesus Christ offering himself to satisfy his Eternal Father for you. At the Confiteor.

AFFECTIONS.

Y most dear Saviour! thou art my only hope;

fear and despair, and I place all my trust and confidence in thy sacred merits. How great are my obligations to thee, my dear Redeemer, for vouchsafing thyself to become my surety, and to cancel all my debts? If malice could have equalled so great a goodness, mine had done it, since instead of spending my life in loving and serving so good a God, I have employed it in offending thee. How often have I abused thy goodness, slighted thy friendship, contemned thy love, and offered to creatures the affections of my heart, which should have belonged to thee alone, thus preferring my own will to thine.

Behold here a fit subject for thy pardon, and an

ample field on which to exercise thy mercy. Pardon, O infinite abyss of goodness, pardon the multitude of my offences. From the bottom of my heart I cry to thee that I have sinned, and that my iniquities are countless; but multiplied as they are, thy mercies are still more numerous, and thy loving heart is moved to forgiveness upon our sincere repentance. To the grace of pardon for the past, deign also to add that of amendment for the future. Grant, through the merits of this adorable sacrifice, that I may never more offend thee. But O sweet Lord! if thou, knowing my weakness, foreseest that this will excite my pride, then chastise me with the tenderness of a Father; make use of sufferings, sickness, affronts, injuries, and all the humiliations which thou thinkest fit for my cure; but oh! never suffer me to fall into mortal sin; may this never be the punishment of it. How great, O my God, is thy love! thou hast proved it, not only by once dying for us on the cross, but by daily immolating thyself mystically upon our altars. Bestow on me a gratitude corresponding to thy benefits; give me an upright heart, and a will conformable to thine, that in all my thoughts, words, and actions, I may have no other aim than thy greater glory. O my God and my Father! yet how shall I dare address thee by that tender name of Father, having so grievously offended thee. Sensible of my unworthiness, I would retire from thy presence, had not thy beloved Son shed his blood for my redemption. If my sins provoke thy just anger, that precious blood will move thee to compassion. If thou art deaf to my sighs and tears, thou wilt hearken to the voice of his blood, which cries louder than that of Abel, not for punishment, but for pardon of my crimes. Besides, I know thou wouldst

rather be esteemed the Father of mercies than the God of vengeance; all which makes me hope, that thou wilt not reject a contrite and humble heart, especially when presented by thy own beloved Son, who, as High Priest, is going to immolate himself in my behalf. For his sake, receive me again as thy child. Give me what the depth of my necessities requires, and what the greatness of thy goodness knows how to bestow. Imprint in my heart those dispositions which will render it pleasing in thy sight. Give me a humility as profound as the nothingness whence I sprang, or rather as deep as the abyss into which my sins have cast me.

Renew

in me thy image, defaced by sin; and destroy in me all that is offensive in thy eyes, that I may become a child worthy of such a Father. Let neither pleasure nor fear again withdraw me from the line of duty, or cause me ever to offend thee more.

During the Epistle and Gospel.

CONSIDERATION.

EFLECT, that by sin you have transgressed the

blood, in the indulgence of your own will. Beg grace in future to make the divine law the rule of all your actions.

AFFECTIONS.

MY God! when I listen to thy holy Gospel, do I not hear the sentence of my own condemnation, unless thy infinite mercy avert it? For he who refuses to bear thy sweet yoke, deserves severe punishment. And when have I submitted to the restraints it imposes? Have I not rather criminally followed the perverse inclinations of my heart, and the corrupt maxims of the world, than the holy rules

G