Читать книгу The Complete Manual of Catholic Piety онлайн
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If you awake in the night, renew the offering of yourself to God, saying:
"My soul hath desired thee in the night."
Isaiah, xxvi. 9.
Into thy hands, O Lord, I recommend my spirit: Lord Jesus, receive my soul, &c.
A Prayer Before Sermon, Spiritual Reading, &c.
O incomprehensible Creator, true fountain of light, and only author of all knowledge, vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to enlighten our understanding with the rays of thy wisdom, and to chase away from our minds all darkness of sin and ignorance. Thou who makest eloquent the tongues of those that want utterance, pour on our lips, and into our hearts, the grace of thy blessing; give us a diligent and obedient spirit, quickness of apprehension, capacity of retaining, and the continual assistance of thy holy grace: that we may apply whatever we hear, read, or meditate on, to thy honour, and the eternal salvation of our own souls: through, &c. Amen.
On The Mass.
Of all the duties prescribed by our holy religion, the Sacrifice of the Mass is that which is most pleasing to God, and most salutary to man. Here it is that Jesus Christ renews the great mystery of our redemption; here doth he make himself our victim in a real, though unbloody sacrifice, and in person applieth to each of us the merits of that blood, which, hanging on a cross, he was pleased to shed for mankind. This should give us the most sublime idea of the Mass, and make us desire to hear it with the utmost reverence and devotion; for to assist at it irreverently, or without putting a proper restraint on our eyes and our whole exterior, is to dishonour religion, and renew, as far as in us lies, the insults he received on Mount Calvary. To avoid then so great an evil, let us always come to this august sacrifice with the most earnest devotion; let us enter into the spirit of Christ; let us offer ourselves up with him, and as he does; let the church, as we enter it, strike us with awe; let our modesty and recollection be uninterrupted from the beginning to the end thereof; let our hearts, thoughts, and imaginations be, as it were, buried in God, and the interests of our souls.