A PRAYER IN TIME OF SICKNESS.

Lord Jesus Christ, behold I receive this sickness, with which thou art pleased to visit me, as coming from thy fatherly hand. It is thy will it should be thus with me, and therefore I submit: thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May this sickness be to the honour of thy holy name, and for the good of my soul. For this end I here offer myself with an entire submission to all thy appointment; to suffer whatever thou pleasest, as long as thou pleasest, and in what manner thou pleasest; for I am thy creature, O Lord, who have most ungratefully offended thee; and since my sins have a long time cried aloud to heaven for justice, why shall I now complain if I feel thy hand upon me? No, my God, thou art just in all thy ways; I have truly deserved thy punishment, and therefore I have no reason to complain of thee, but only of my own wicked

ness.

But rebuke not me, O Lord, in thy fury, nor chastise me in thy wrath; and have regard to my weakness. Thou knowest how frail I am; that I am nothing but dust and ashes: deal not with me, therefore, according to my sins, neither punish me according to my iniquities, but according to the multitude of thy most tender mercies, have compassion on me. Oh ! let thy justice be tempered with mercy, and let thy heavenly grace come to my assistance, to support me under this my illness. Confirm my soul with strength from above, that I may bear, with a true Christian patience, all the uneasinesses, pains, disquiets, and difficulties of my sickness, and that I may cheerfully accept them as the just

punishment of my offences; preserve me from all temptations, and be thou my defence against all the assaults of the enemy, that in this illness I may in no way offend thee; and if this is to be my last, I beg of thee so to direct me by thy grace, that I may neither neglect or be deprived of those helps which thou hast, in thy mercy, ordained for the good of my soul, to prepare for its passage into eternity; that being perfectly cleansed from all my sins, I may believe in thee, put my whole trust in thee, love thee above all things, and through the merits of thy death and passion, be admitted into the company of the blessed, where I may praise thee for ever. Amen Short acts of the most necessary virtues, proper to be inculcated in the time of sickness.

Lord, I accept this sickness from thy hands, and entirely resign myself to thy blessed will, whether it be for life or death. Not my will, but thine be done: thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Lord, I submit to all the pains and uneasinesses of this illness; my sins have deserved infinitely more. Thou art just, O Lord, and thy judgment is right.

Lord, I offer up to thee all that I now suffer, or may have yet to suffer, to be united to the sufferings of my Redeemer, and sanctified by his passion.

I adore thee, O my God and my All, as my first beginning and last end! and I desire to pay thee the best homage I am able, and to bow down all the powers of my soul to thee.

Lord, I desire to praise thee for ever, in sick

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ness as well as in health; I desire to join my heart and my voice with the whole church of heaven and earth, in blessing thee for ever.

I give thee thanks, from the bottom of my heart, for all the mercies and blessings bestowed upon me and thy whole church, through Jesus Christ thy Son; and above all, for having loved me from all eternity, and redeemed me with his precious blood. Oh! let not that blood be shed for me in vain.

Lord, I believe all those heavenly truths which thou hast revealed, and which thy holy Catholic Church believes and teaches. Thou art the Sovereign Truth, who neither can deceive nor be deceived; and thou hast promised the Spirit of Truth to guide thy Church into all truth. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, &c. In this faith I resolve, through thy grace, both to live and die. O Lord, strengthen and increase this my faith.

O my God, all my hopes are in thee; and through Jesus Christ, my liedeemer, and through his passion and death, I hope for mercy, grace, and salvation from thee. In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust, O let me never be confounded.

I love thee, O my God, with my whole heart and soul, above all things; at least I desire so to love thee. O come now and take full possession of my whole soul, and teach me to love thee for

ever.

I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. O when will thy kingdom come; O Lord, when wilt thou perfectly reign in all hearts? When shall sin be no more?

I desire to love every neighbour with perfect

charity for the love of thee. I forgive from my heart all that have any ways offended or injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have any ways offended.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy; and according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out all my iniquities.

O that I had never offended so good a God! O that I had never sinned! Happy those souls that have always preserved their baptismal inno

cence.

Lord, be merciful to me a sinner; dear Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me.

I recommend my soul to God, my Creator, who made me out of nothing; to Jesus Christ, my Saviour, who redeemed me with his precious blood; to the Holy Ghost, who sanctified me in baptism. Into thy hands, O Lord, I recommend my spirit.

I renounce, from this moment, and for all eternity, the devil and all his works; and I abhor all his suggestions and temptations. O suffer not, O Lord, this mortal enemy of my soul to have any power over me, either now or at my last hour. O let thy holy angels defend me from all the powers of darkness.

O holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death. O all ye blessed angels and saints of God, pray for me, a poor sinner.

LITANY FOR A HAPPY DEATH.

O Lord Jesus, God of Goodness, and Father of mercies, I approach to thee with a contrite and humble heart: to thee I recommend the last

hour of my life, and the decision of my eternal doom.

When my feet, benumbed with death, shall admonish me that my mortal course is drawing to an end,-merciful Jesus, have mercy on me.

When my eyes, dim and troubled at the approach of death, shall fix themselves on thee, my last and only support,-merciful Jesus, have mercy on me.

When my face, pale and livid, shall inspire the beholders with pity and dismay; when my hair, bathed in the sweat of death and stiffening on my head, shall forbode my approaching end,ciful Jesus, have mercy on me.

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When my ears, soon to be for ever shut to the discourse of men, shall be open to hear the irrevocable decree, which is to cut me off from the number of the living,-merciful Jesus, have mercy on me.

When my imagination, agitated by dreadful spectres, shall be sunk in an abyss of anguish; when my soul, affrighted with the sight of my iniquities and the terrors of thy judgments, shall have to fight against the angel of darkness who will endeavour to conceal thy mercies from my eyes and to plunge me into despair,-merciful Jesus, have mercy on me.

When my poor heart, yielding to the pressure and exhausted by its frequent struggles against the enemies of its salvation, shall feel the pangs of death,-merciful Jesus, have mercy on me.

When the last tear, the forerunner of my dissolution, shall drop from my eyes, receive it as a sacrifice of expiation for my sins; grant that I may expire the victim of penance, and in that