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give me understanding, and excite my affections, that I may, henceforward, in all things, know and do thy will.

Thou art the Lamb of God, the Lamb without spot, who takest away the sins of the world; oh, take away from me whatsoever is hurtful to me, and displeasing to thee, and give me what thou knowest to be pleasing to thee and profitable to me.

O my God and my all, may the sweet flame of thy love consume my soul, that so I may die to the world for the love of thee, who hast vouchsafed to die upon the cross for the love of me.

PRAYER OF ST. THOMAS OF Aquino.

I give thee thanks, O holy Lord, Father Almighty, eternal God, who in thine own mercy hast vouchsafed to nourish me, a sinner and thy unworthy servant, with the precious body and blood of thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I had no claim upon thy goodness: I had no merits, no deserts which I could put forward in mine own behalf. But let not this holy communion, I pray thee, turn to my judgment and condemnation let it rather obtain for me pardon and salvation. Let it cleanse me from all my vices; let it destroy all my concupiscences and evil desires. Let it increase my charity, my patience, my humility, my obedience. Let it defend me from all my enemies, visible and invisible. Let it appease all the evil propensities of my mind

and body; and guide me so straightly to thee, my true and only God, that I may look forward to thee as the happy goal of all my endeavours. Thus lead me, I pray thee, to that unspeakable festival, when thou, and thy Son, and the Holy Ghost, will be to me and all the saints, the complete fulness, the end of hope, the everlasting joy, and the never-changing happiness; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A PRAYER OF ST. BONAVENture.

Inspire, most dear Lord Jesus, I beseech thee, inspire into every recess of my heart and into every tendency of my affections, thy dear and saving love; thy true, thy calm, thy holy and apostolic charity; so that my soul may ever long for thee; may ever raise itself in spirit to thy heavenly abode; may ever desire to be dissolved and to be with thee.

Oh grant that my soul may ever tend towards thee, thou bread of angels! thou refreshment of holy hearts; thou most needful of all daily bread, containing all sweetness and delight. For thee, on whom the angels joy to look, may my heart ever aspire, and my soul ever feel the effects of thy presence! O may it ever long for thee, thou fountain of life, thou fountain of wisdom and knowledge, thou fountain of eternal light-overflowing with the sweets and the riches of the kingdom of heaven. May my soul ever seek thee, ever long for thee, tend towards thee,

and find thee. May it meditate on thee, may it speak of thee, may it do all things to the praise and glory of thy name; with humility and discretion, with delight and affection, with perseverance unto the end.

Oh my God! do thou alone be my hope, my trust, my wealth, my delight, my rest and peace, my pleasure, and my aim. Do thou be my food and my refreshment; my refuge and my assistance; my comfort, my wisdom, and my treasure; in which my mind and my heart may be firmly and immovably fixed, now and for ever. Amen.

AN OFFERING OF SELF.

O Lord Jesus Christ! I humbly beg of thy unspeakable mercy that this sacrament of thy body and blood which I, unworthy, have ventured to receive, may efface my sins, may strengthen me in temptations, may soothe me amongst the dangers of the world, may obtain my pardon, may settle me in thy grace, may be a memorial of thy passion, may be an excitement to my weakness, and may be the viaticum of my pilgrimage. May it guide me while I advance in virtue; may it lead me back when I wander; may it uphold me when I totter; may it uplift me when I fall; may it welcome me when I return; and may it reward my perseverance with heavenly glory. O great God! may the blessed presence of thy body and blood so change my heart that it may feel no other pleasure, that

it may love no other beauty, that it may desire no other consolation, that it may welcome no other delight, that it may heed no other honour, than such as are agreeable to thee; and that it may fear no worldly harshness or persecution but such as may separate it from thee whom it now desires to praise and to bless for ever.

And O my dear Lord and Saviour, who hast here given me thyself, I would gladly make some suitable return to thee for this infinite love; I would gladly make thee some offering in acknowledgment of this rich gift thou hast made me. But alas! thou knowest my poverty; thou knowest I have nothing worthy of thy acceptance; nothing but what, upon a thousand titles, is already thine. But, O my God, such is thy goodness, thou wilt be contented with the little that I can give thee, though it be thine already; thou askest nothing but my heart, and this I here most willingly offer thee: oh, be pleased to accept of it, and make it wholly thine for ever. I offer thee here my whole being-my body, with all its senses, and my soul, with all its powers; that as thou hast at present honoured them both by thy presence, so may they be both thy temple for ever. Oh sanctify and consecrate eternally to thyself this mansion, which thou hast this day chosen for thy abode. I give thee my memory, that it may be for ever recollected in thee; my understanding, that it may be always enlightened and directed by thy truth;

and my will, that it may be ever conformable to thine, and ever burn with love of thee. Oh take me entirely into thy hands, with all that I have and all that I am; and let nothing henceforward, in life or death, ever separate me any more from thee. Amen.

me,

AN OBLATION OF CHRIST.

O Father of mercies and God of all consolation, how hast thou loved us, to whom thou hast given thy only Son once for our ransom, and daily for the food of our souls? What can I, a wretched creature, return to thee for this infinite charity? Verily, nothing else but this same beloved Son of thine, whom thou hast given to and surely thou couldst give me nothing greater, or more worthy of thyself. Him then I offer to thee, O heavenly Father, with whom thou art always well pleased; him whom thou hast lovingly delivered up to death for me, and given me in this most holy sacrament, which we frequent for the everlasting memorial of his death. He is our high priest and victim; he is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world: he is our advocate and intercessor. Look down

me,

then upon him, and for his sake look down upon and upon us all. Remember all his sufferings which he endured here in this mortal life, his bitter anguish, his mortal agony and bloody sweat, all the injuries and affronts, all the blows and stripes, all the bruises and wounds that he

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