amiable Jesus! come, and delay no longer. Come, to purify, sanctify, and inflame my soul. When shall I have the happiness to be truly thine ! When, O infinite Charity! shall I live only by thee and for thee? Come, and work this miracle of mercy, in giving thyself wholly and entirely to thy unworthy creature. O my sovereign Beatitude! disengage from this moment my heart from the slavery of its passions and vices; adorn it with thy virtues, and extinguish in it every other desire but that of loving and pleasing thy divine Majesty. Let others sigh after the false enjoyments of this life; for my part, nothing, without thee, in heaven or on earth, shall ever content the desires which thou thyself hast excited; for what have I in heaven, and besides thee, what do I desire on earth? Let me see thee, love thee, seek thee alone, O God of my heart, my consolation, my life, my happiness, and my all!

An Act of Love.

O DIVINE JESUS! the God of my heart and the life of my soul! as the hart pants after the fountains of water, so does my soul pant after thee, the fountain of life, and the ocean of all good. I am overjoyed at the happy tidings, that I am to go into the house of the Lord; or rather, that our Lord is to come and take up his abode under my roof. O happy moments! when shall I be admit ted to the embraces of the living God? O! come, divine Jesus! and take full possession of my heart for ever. I offer it to thee without reserve, and I desire to consecrate it to thee eternally. I love thee with my whole heart and soul; at least I desire to love thee sovereignly and entirely nothing less than infinite love could induce thee to visit thy unworthy creature. O! teach me to make a suitable return of love, and to serve thee faithfully during the remainder of my life.

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A METHOD OF HEARING MASS

BEFORE COMMUNION.

From the Beginning of Mass to the Gloria in excelsis.

To hear Mass with fruit, and to obtain from that adorable Sacrifice abundant treasures of grace, there is no method more efficacious than to unite ourselves with Jesus Christ, who is at once our Priest, Mediator, and Victim. Separated from him, we are nothing; but even in the eyes of God himself we are truly great by and with his beloved Son. United thus with Jesus Christ, covered as it were with his merits, present yourself before the throne of mercy, saying:

DIVINE 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 new 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 thy minister in adoring thee; I can neither feel 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.

At the Gloria in excelsis you may devoutly join in the prayer of the Church, and at the Dominus vobiscum and following prayers imagine you behold Jesus Christ himself turning, as he did to Magdalen, with the consolatory assurance of your sins having been remitted.

O 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.

At the Epistle and Gospel.

I BELIEVE, O my God! every article proposed by the 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. St. John xix. 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. O what miracles are contained in this sacred and ever adorable 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 inflanied 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.

While the minister of God disposes the bread and wine for the sacrifice, dispose your heart for participating in its abundant fruits.

RECEIVE, O Lord, this spotless host, which thy minister offers thee in the name of thy Church. 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 implore 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