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partake of this wheat of the elect, and of this wine producing virgins, I may be entirely changed in heart and mind. The inveteracy of no disease can resist thy all-healing power; if thou commandest, all maladies must obey. Say then to my soul, as thou didst to the leper, “ Volo: mundare,” “Be thou made clean." (Matt. viii. 3.) That word will restore me to health; for as thy word alone created me, so thy word can again repair me. But in mercy root out self-love from my soul, it being the cause of all my evils. I know thou art more anxious to grant my petitions, than I am to obtain them. Do then what

thou so much desirest. Grant me, dear Jesus, thy love, and a true zeal for thy glory. Shew me what thou desirest of me, and I will willingly pass the remainder of my life in accomplishing it. But if thou thinkest fit to punish me for my sins, grant that it may be so as to correct, and not to harden' me; to bring me to thee, and not to drive me from thee.

A METHOD OF

Hearing Mass before Communion.

FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE MASS TO THE GLORIA IN EXCELSIS.

D'

IVINE Jesus, Mediator of the New Testament, who didst ascend into heaven, to appear in the presence of God for us (Heb. ix. 24), yet daily descendest on our altars to renew that sacrifice by which we were all redeemed, mercifully penetrate my heart with a just sense of the happiness and the advantage of assisting at a sacrifice by which I can abundantly satisfy the justice of God, honour his

divine majesty, acknowledge his infinite mercies, and obtain the graces necessary for serving him on earth and enjoying him in heaven. Permit me, O divine Jesus, to ascend this true Calvary with thee, that my whole soul may do homage to the greatness of thy majesty; that my heart, with all its affections, may acknowledge thy infinite love; that my memory may dwell on the admirable mysteries here renewed; and that the sacrifice of my whole being may accompany that which thou art about to offer. Alas! I am unworthy to join with the minister in adoring thee; I can neither realize the extent of thy blessings, nor acknowledge them as I ardently desire to do; but, O Lord, be thou with me, that by thee and with thee I may worthily assist at these tremendous mysteries.

FROM THE GLORIA IN EXCELSIS TO THE EPISTLE.

SAVIOUR of my soul, how sweet is the hope that thou hast absolved me from my transgressions; that thy sacred blood has washed them away; and that thou art about to seal my pardon by the most precious gift thou canst possibly bestow! O divine Lord, let this encouraging hope be realized; say to my soul that thou art her salvation. With the fervent penitent of the Gospel, I cast myself at thy sacred feet; let me hear with her, from thy own adorable lips, the consolatory sentence of peace and mercy; let me experience with her the conviction that thou hast accepted my repentance and granted .me pardon. Alas! I well know that I have neither her humility nor her contrition, her fervour nor her love to offer; but, O my God, I venture to say, that my hopes are established on still surer grounds than would be those virtues, were I happy enough to possess them. If many sins were pardoned her

because she loved thee much, still greater crimes will be remitted to me, because thou hast infinitely loved me, a wretched creature. O adorable Jesus, in thy love and mercy I firmly trust; deign, then, to do for me what is altogether above my strength and capacity; purify my soul, and prepare it for the reception of thy life-giving sacrament.

I

AT THE EPISTLE AND GOSPEL.

BELIEVE, O my God, every article proposed by thy holy Catholic Church to my belief; and through thy grace I am disposed to die rather than relinquish the precious gift of faith, which elevates me to the adoption of the sons of God, and makes me heir and joint-heir with Jesus Christ. (Rom. viii. 15-17.) I believe: O divine Lord, penetrate my heart and soul with the entire import of these short but comprehensive words, and let them produce one of those prodigies of grace and conversion which so often followed from similar confessions. I believe all thou hast revealed, without exception or reserve; for thou hast the words of eternal life, and thou art likewise the way and the truth. (John xiv. 6.) On thy unerring word I also most firmly believe that thou art really present in the august sacrament of which I am about to participate. Oh, what miracles are contained in this sacred and everadorable mystery! Incomprehensible as they are, I believe them all; I adore thy omnipotence, which is a sufficient pledge of their possibility; and thy boundless love proves to me, in an endearing manner, that they are real. Were my faith as animated as I hope it is sincere, my heart would be inflamed at the near approach of its heavenly guest, and every movement of my body and soul would be a transport

of gratitude and ardent love. Come, then, O Lord; thou art the God in whom I firmly believe. Come, for thou art the support and term of my hope, and thou art, by excellence, the adorable object of my most fervent love. Come, enliven and increase in my soul the divine virtues infused therein on my admission into the bosom of thy Church. Come, and purify my baptismal robe, that I may present myself before thee with a nuptial garment, and may not deserve to be excluded from the marriage feast.

AT THE OFFERTORY.

RECEnter offers the in the name of thy Church.

ECEIVE, O Lord, this spotless host, which thy

Receive, eternal Majesty, this oblation of bread and wine, which will soon become the body and blood of Jesus Christ, who-to render thee, in the name of weak mortals, the adoration thou meritest-vouchsafed to clothe himself with our miseries; to become susceptible of death; and to immolate himself daily on our altars as the precious victim of our salvation. O Omnipotent Lord, behold me at thy feet, loaded with miseries, and charged with innumerable debts, which would overwhelm me, were I not provided by thyself with a treasure of infinite value to acknowledge thy mercies, to satisfy thy justice, and to obtain for myself and others the graces thou desirest to bestow. Animated with the most lively confidence in the merits of my Redeemer, I offer thee once more his sufferings and death; and I make this offering for the great ends for which he instituted this adorable mystery. I offer thee this sacred Victim to adore thee as my God; to testify my love for thee, my sovereign Benefactor; to thank thee for the blessings thou hast bestowed on all mankind; to

mplore thy mercy on behalf of all those in the dreadful state of mortal sin; and to obtain the deliverance of the suffering souls in purgatory. To this offering I unite an unreserved oblation of my whole being; and I desire to do so with the most generous and ardent love. I conjure thee, O my God, by the perfect oblation of my divine Saviour on the altar of the cross, to pardon my past ingratitude, and to grant me the inestimable grace of preservation from all mortal sin. But, O my sovereign Benefactor, how shall I thank thee for the precious gift of thy body and blood, which thus enables me to satisfy my obligation? This gift, which the homage of angels and men would be insufficient to acknowledge, can only be repaid by itself. I then offer thee my Redeemer himself, as a sacrifice of praise, and pay my vows to thee (Psalm cxv. 18), in union with him in whom from all eternity thou wert well pleased.

AT THE PREFACE.

PERMIT not, O Lord, that my mind should wander

from the consideration of the adorable mysteries now celebrating on this altar. Enlighten my understanding-inflame and animate every affection of my heart-that I may be attentive to these miracles of mercy and love. Oh, give me to understand the breadth, and length, and height, and depth (Eph. iii. 18) of that love which will soon veil thy glories under the humiliating forms of bread and wine! Oh, that my heart were penetrated with ardent love, that I might be enabled to acknowledge less unworthily thy infinite greatness and boundless mercies! trate in spirit before that throne of glory where the cherubim and seraphim, with all the heavenly host, adore thy awful Majesty, I conjure thee to receive

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