When the solemn death-bell tolls Thou hast bowed the dying head, When the heart is sad within Thou the shame, the grief, hast known, THE FOURTH WORD 'My God! My God! Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?' Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." V. The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. O Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world; Grant us Thy peace. O Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world; Have mercy upon us. O Christ, hear us. Lord, have mercy upon us. Our Father, etc. V. O Lord, deal not with us according to our sins. R. Neither reward us according to our iniquities. SAVIOUR of the world, Who by Thy cross and Precious Blood hast redeemed us, save us and help us, we humbly beseech Thee, O Lord. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee. Because by Thy Cross and Passion Thou hast redeemed the world. HYMN 530 ESU, whelmed in fears unknown, While no light from heaven is shown: When we vainly seek to pray, Hear us, Holy Jesu. Though no Father seems to hear, Hear us, Holy Jesu. SILENT MEDITATION AND IV RE you alone labouring in the great city? So is He Who is hidden in the Tabernacle. Do you plead day and night for souls? So does Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Have you left your home and the beautiful country to labour for souls in the gloom and the fog of the city ? Jesus left heaven. Do your sacrifices seem of no avail, your labours fruitless? Do your appeals fall on deaf ears and stony hearts? Since He shed His last drop of blood on Calvary, our Divine Lord has pleaded with and for souls, and yet hearts refuse to heed His voice, and souls are lost because they will not heed, but still He pleads and waits. Do friends pass you by and forget you? Thousands daily pass by the church with never a thought that God is there; why, then, should you complain? Courage! Take your crucifix in your hand, kneel before the Tabernacle, and learn that you are not alone in your labours or your prayers, in your sufferings or your tears. BE SILENCE E Thou present with me, O Lord, in every time and place. Let this be my consolation, to be cheerfully willing to do without all human comfort. And, if Thy consolation be wanting, let Thy will and just trial of me be unto me as the greatest comfort. Amen. DIVINE Jesus, alone in so many tabernacles, without a visitor or a worshipper, I offer Thee my lowly heart. May every beating be a prayer of love to Thee. In Thy love Thou art ever watching under the sacramental veils. Thou never sleepest, and Thou art never weary of Thy vigil for sinners. O loving Jesus, O lonely Jesus, may my heart be a lamp, the light of which shall burn and beam for Thee alone in time and in eternity. May Thy will be done in me. Keep me in Thy love; grant me the grace of perseverance. Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit. Jesus, my God and my All! O Jesus, Thou invitest me to contemplate the immense agony of Thy Sacred Heart and its boundless love for sinners! Thou commandest me to watch and pray with Thee. I desire to do so, and I beseech Thee, Who knowest the depths of my misery, to support my weakness and animate my fervour, lest, like the Apostles, I may leave Thee to watch alone in Thy desolation. Amen. GOD, the protector of all that trust in Thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; increase and multiply upon us Thy mercy; that, Thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal that we finally lose not the things eternal. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our Lord. Amen. Our Father, etc. V. Glory be to the Father. MY God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I grieve that I have so often wounded Thee by my sins. Amen. FOURTH PENITENTIAL PSALM Miserere mei, Deus (Ps. 51) H AVE mercy upon me, O God, after Thy great goodness: according to the multitude of Thy mercies do away mine offences. |