and consult above all things our own true happiness. O grant, dear Lord! that we may be sensible of thy goodness, and may set to profit thy innumerable mercies. Grant us the prudence of the serpent, and the simplicity of the dove, That in all we do or undertake, we may act with the intention of pleasing thee, And, carefully abstaining from all that might impede our spiritual progress, convert even the ordinary circumstances of life into means of advancing us in the way to heaven. Glory be to the Father, &c. Ant. We are too often troubled about many things, while there is but one thing necessary. Hymn. HAIL, heav'nly Queen! hail, foaming ocean's star! O be our guide; diffuse thy beams afar; Hail, mother of God, above all virgins blest! tear; Our anxious prayers to God the Son present, Whose life and blood for sinful man were spent. Our lives unstained in purity preserve, And ne'er permit our ways from truth to swerve; That when our time has rolled its rapid round, We may with Christ, in heavenly bliss be crowned. Eternal praise to God the Father be, Amen. CHAPTER-Thessal. 5. THE day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night. Therefore let us not sleep as others do: let us watch and be sober. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to the purchasing of salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us; that whether we wake or sleep, we may live together with him. Antiphon at the NUNC DIMITTIS. 3 We have here no permanent city; but are journeying to the heavenly Jerusalem which is the mansion of eternal bliss. V. The son of God became man to purchase it for us, R. And his life is the chart that must direct us to it. Let us pray. O God who hast launched us upon the boisterous sea of this world, and directed our course to thy glorious kingdom; preserve us, we beseech thee, from the dangers that beset us on every side, and grant that, listening always to thy holy inspirations, we may pass uninjured through the storms of trial and temptation; and may at length arrive safely in the haven of eternal salvation; through our Lord, &c. Lord, have mercy on us, &c. page 84. MORNING PRAYERS. IN the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Blessed be the holy and undivided Trinity, now and for evermore. Amen. I adore thee, O sovereign Majesty! I adore thy divine perfections, incomprehensible to men and angels, known by thyself alone, adequately praised by none but thy eternal Word; and fully loved only by thy Holy Spirit. Let us adore the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Eternal Father! I adore thee as my creator; I bow down before that immense love and goodness, that induced thee to look upon me, a mere nothing, and to call me into existence. Eternal Word! I adore thee as my redeemer, who, though equal to thy Father, didst become in the womb of thy mother, like unto us, taking upon thyself the form of a slave, living in poverty, and dying ignominiously, and then didst rise again in glory, the image of thy Father, teaching us that we should live as penitents, and die as criminals, perfectly resigned to the sentence of death, with the assurance of being transferred, by the resurrection, to the glory of the children of God. Divine spirit! I adore thee as the sanctifier of my soul, who destroyest sin in my heart. by the fire of thy holy love, and descendest continually upon this mass of iniquity, to animate it with that vivifying sanctity which thou breathest in the bosom of the Father and the Son, and to make me worthy of participating their glory. Let us render thanks to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. ETERNAL Father! I thank thee for having so bountifully given me my being, for having so patiently suffered me to enjoy it, notwithstanding my many offences, and particularly for having preserved me this night, and granted me this day to serve and honor thy divine Majesty. Son of God! I thank thee for having, by thy |