Seventh Exercise: Reparation and Preparation for Death

The soul which has been docile to the instructions of its inspired Teacher has now given free scope to the feelings awakened in it by its manifold relations with God. Emulating the holy angels, it has sung with them the praises of God, and poured forth its love in strains so exalted, that did not some sadder notes tell of the weariness and longing of exile, we might deem it already in possession of the sovereign good.

But after having thus established it in confidence, St. Gertrude will not suffer it to waste its time in dreamy contemplation of a blessedness of which earth can know but the foretaste. This soul which God is drawing to himself has been a sinner; it is so still. Before entering upon the enjoyment of a bliss, the mere hope of which thrills through it with such exquisite gladness, it must appear before the most holy God, and be judged by him. At that awful moment its safety and its perseverance have no sure foundation but humility. Its wise and holy guide will not leave it to itself until she has firmly rooted it in compunction of heart, and in a salutary fear of the judgments of God. She continues, then, to guide it, until she has taught it to use this holy fear as a vantage-ground to advance in love, and to make satisfaction for its past sins.

It is then that she teaches it to seek in the Passion of its Saviour the remedy for all its wounds and the satisfaction for all its offences, and to look henceforward on the dread penalty of death only in the light cast upon it by the death of the Redeemer.

The form in which St. Gertrude has cast this last Exercise will perhaps surprise the reader. To render it in some sort more dramatic, she has impersonated those divine perfections, which act more immediately on man in this life: Mercy, Truth, Peace, Wisdom, Self-oblation, Compassion, and Unchangeableness. She takes the seven canonical hours, which Catholic piety has been wont to associate with the Passion of our Lord, from his Agony in the Garden to his Burial, and she cites the soul, with Love as its advocate and defender, before these seven divine perfections successively. She instructs it how to plead its cause; a cause the soul cannot lose, because it is humble and penitent. This species of drama, in which abstract perfections are treated as living persons, was at that tme in great favour in Germany; and indeed it produces a thrilling effect, at the same time that it leads us nearer still to the source of the sublime conceptions and feelings of St. Gertrude.

When you feel yourself drawn to devote a day to make reparation and satisfaction for your sins, collect all your thoughts, and give yourself to meditation at each of the seven canonical hours. The essence of this Exercise will consist in your communion with the divine Love. You will appoint it your representative and advocate with the Father of mercies, to appease his anger, and to implore him to vouchsafe to take from the treasure of the Passion of his Son all that is required to pay all your debts, even to your slightest sin of negligence. Thus you will attain a calm and serene confidence in regard of your last hour, inasmuch as you will have every reason to hope that all your sins are fully remitted.

At the hour of Matins you will begin by reciting the first verse of the hymn,! Amorem sensus.

Author of pardon, deign to extend to us thy tender love; show forth thy loving mercy to us, by cleansing our hearts from all their stains.

Let thy goodness prevaii over judgment, and blot out all our sins with thine own effectual pardon. Though I am al unworthy to lift

1'Thís hymn is found in various German Brevíaries during the Middle Ages.

up my eyes to thee, yet do thou hear my prayer, and satisfy my soul with the vision of thee at the hour of my death, and give me sure hope of eternal rest in thee.

Present yourself now before your heavenly Father, accompanied by Mercy and Love, and begin by addressing the former as follows :

O SWEET Mercy of my God, full of tender pity and compassion, I, a wretched creature, now have recourse to thee in the sorrow and anguish of my heart; for thou art all my hope and all my trust. Never hast thou despised the sorrowful of heart; never hast thou repelled the sinner, how loathsome soever the wounds of his soul; never hast thou cast out him who sought in thee a refuge; never hast thou passed by the poor stricken wounded heart, without having compassion on it. Thou hast always supplied the need of every wretched soul with most maternal kindness. Thou hast ever shown thyself gracious, as thy name imports, to all who implore thine aid. O cast me not away from thee because of my sins, utterly unworthy though I am; cast me not away because of the uselessness in which my life has flowed away.

Despise me not, nor say of me, Why cumbereth she the ground? but rather care for me and help me, as becomes thy name and thine essence. I come before thee, poor and utterly destitute of merit, and implore an alms from thee, that I die not in the chill rigours of my barren life. And truly my hope is that thy munificent hand will bestow on me an alms which shall more than compensate my wasted life. Thou wilt warm beneath the snowy fleece of thy compassion my members, all frozen by reason of my utter nakedness. Thy charity will cover all my sins and satisfy for all my negligences. Open to me thy sure and peaceful abode, that therein I may be sheltered and saved by thy grace. Obtain for me the aid of the tender charity of God, who alone can give health to my soul.

And thou, Love, O Love, look upon my Jesus, thy kingly captive; look upon the diadem of mercy with which he was crowned when thou didst so sternly seize him by the hand of his enemies. Then didst thou seize and appropriate all his possessions, together with his divine person, that thou mightest enrich heaven and earth with his priceless spoils, and satisfy with good things the desire of all that live by means of the treasures of thy glorious prisoner.

With this spoil so costly and so rich, spoil of a captive so renowned and so worthy to be loved, thou canst redeem my lost life, O Love, and give me not sevenfold only, but seventy times sevenfold, the value of my hitherto so useless works. Were the being and the possessions of all men and all angels mine, yet could I not compare with the riches of thy peerless captive; and what is now my worth, being but one poor mortal creature, a vile heap of dust and ashes $

Yet canst thou grant me my petition, O Love, if thou wilt seize me also, and imprison me with my beloved Jesus. ‘Then, sinner as I now am, my contact and my communion with that divine captive would cleanse and sanctify my soul. Then, all useless and unprofitable as I am, should I rise to the dignity of the spiritual man. Then, instead of being the enemy of God, I should become his friend. Cold and. tepid as I now am, my soul would thirst ardently for him. Fruitless and barren as I now am, I should be filled with all virtues in their fairest bloom, with all the sanctity of holy religion. Then would the bosom of thy mercy, O my loving Jesus, be my sweet prison-house, and I should be held bound in thy divine heart. Under the victorious sway of thy divine love I should abide thy captive for ever, united inseparably to thee, living for thee alone, and none should take me from thine arms for all eternity. Amen.

At the hour of Prime you will plead with the divine Truth and with Love. You will beseech them to interpose on your behalf at the judgmentseat, and to propitiate towards you Jesus, who himself will be your judge. And first repeat the second verse of the same hymn, Benigne multum.

O MOST kind and loving Lord, thou knowest that man is fallen, that our flesh is weak, and that we are whelmed and lost in an abyss of misery.

O let thy goodness sweetly prevail, and wash out my sins with thine effectual pardon. Though I am all unworthy to lift up mine eyes to thee, yet do thou hear my prayer, and satisfy my soul with the vision of thee at the hour of my death, and give me sure hope of eternal rest in thee.

O beloved Truth, O calmest equity of my God, how shall I dare appear in thy presence, bowed down as i am beneath the load of my iniquity and the burden of my lost and wasted life, and the crushing weight of all my negligences! I have not been faithful, nor have I traded! with the talent thou didst intrust to me, the priceless treasure of Christian faith and the spiritual life. I ought to have committed thy money to the bankers of thy charity, that I might thence draw the abundant interest of perfection, and so give thee back thine own with usury. And not only have I spent thy precious talent, but I have wasted it, squandered it utterly away. I am an evil and a slothful servant; whither shall I gof To whom shall I betake myself, or whither shall I flee from thy presence ¢

O Truth, beside thee on thy throne sit justice and equity; thou judgest all things in number, weight, and measure;? all that thou dost examine is weighed in justest, nicest balance. Woe, woe unto me, if, when I come before thee, I had no advocate to plead my cause! O Love, stand thou forth on my behalf, answer for me, sue out my pardon.

1 St. Matt. xxv. 2 Wisd, xi, 21.

If thou undertake my cause, I know that I still have hope of life.

I know what I will do. I will take the chalice of salvation, even the chalice of my Jesus. I will lay it upon the empty scale of the balance of Truth. So shall I supply all that is lacking, and outweigh all my sins. That chalice will raise up again the ruins of my hope, for therewith I shall infinitely overbalance all my unworthiness.

O Love, lend me awhile my Jesus, thy kingly captive, whose bowels of mercy yearn unceasingly over sinners. This is the hour at which thou didst drag him away before the tribunal of the judge, where all the sins of the whole world were to be charged upon him, and mine above them all, though he was without spot or blemish, nor deserved other reproach than for his love to me. Yes, O Love, O sweetest Love, give me, give me to-day that most innocent and most beloved Jesus, condemned for love of me, for me delivered over to death, that he may go with me to judgment. O entrust him now to me as the hostage of thy faithfulness; for him have I chosen to be my advocate in this my sore strait.

O beloved Truth, I could not, dare not stand before thee without my Jesus; but with him as my companion and advocate I will come with joy and gladness. Sit, then, on thy judgment-seat, O Truth. Lift thy voice, and pronounce on me what sentence shall seem good to thee. For I no longer fear; thy face, so grave and stern, can no longer confound me; for beside me is he who is all my hope and all my trust. And what sentence canst thou pronounce against me, now that I have with me my true and faithful Jesus, who hath taken on himself all my misery, and pledged himself to obtain from thee a solemn decree of pardon ¢

O my sweet Jesus, loving pledge and surety for my redemption, come thou with me to judgment; there let us stand together. Judge me, for the right is thine; but remember, thou art also my advocate. In order that I be fully acquitted, thou hast but to recount what thou didst become for love of me, the good thou hast decreed to do unto me, the price wherewith thou hast purchased me. Thou hast taken my nature to this very end, that I might not perish. Thou hast borne the burden of my sins, thou hast died for me, that I might not die an eternal death. Thou hast willed to make me rich in merit, and so hast thou given me all. Judge me, then, at the hour of my death according to that innocence and that purity which thou didst bestow on me in thee when thou didst pay all my debts, when thou wast thyself judged and condemned in my stead; that, all poor and destitute as I am in myself, I might have all and abound.

At the hour of Tierce you will place yourself in presence of the divine Peace and of Love, beseeching them to consecrate your understanding and all your feelings to the Lord, that at the hour of your death you may be found completely reconciled with God. First say the third verse of the same hymn, Causa tibi.

Y whole course is known to thee, to thee who seest my soul without subterfuge or veil; disperse and drive far from me all the illusions of a vain, deceitful world.

Yield, O God, to the impulse of thy goodness, and blot out all my sins with thine own effectual pardon. Though I am all unworthy to lift up my eyes to thee, yet do thou hear my prayer, and satisfy my soul with the vision of thee at the hour of my death, and give me sure hope of eternal rest in thee.

O Peace of God, thou dost pass all understanding; thou art unutterably sweet and fair and full of charms. Wheresoever thou dost penetrate, reign untroubled calm and full security. Thou alone canst stay the wrath of the sovereign Master. Thou dost compass round the throne of the great King, and thy tule is gloriously bright with goodness and with mercy. Come then, and take my cause in hand, the cause of a wretch most guilty and most forlorn. Take me beneath the shelter of thy wings; there shall I be sheltered from the woes I dread by reason of my great and countless negligences.

Already the creditor is at the door, reclaiming from me the trust of life, exacting a return proportioned to the time which has been given me. If I parley with him, I am undone, for I have not wherewithal to pay what I owe. O loving Jesus, thou art my Peace; why dost thou keep silence? Speak, O speak for me. Say that word of love, I will ransom her. Thou art the refuge of the outcast and wretched; thou passest by none without a look of love; never hast thou sent away any that have fled to thee, without first reconciling them with God. O pass not by me, wretched and forlorn, without showing forth thy charity upon me. Appease the wrath of God against me; receive me into the bosom of thy love; give me to drink the pure fresh water of holy hope, that my soul may live. O God of charity, deign now to cool my parched tongue; come and strengthen my soul, which is ready to faint with despair.

O Love, Love, at this hour my Jesus was scourged for me, and crowned with thorns, and treated with contumely and scorn. Yes, at this hour thou didst take Jesus my King, the one only King whom my heart acknowledges, and thou madest him the reproach of men; thou didst make him without form or comeliness, abject and as a leper, so that Judea tefused to recognise him for her king, and that I might have him all mine own. Give me, then, that innocent and beloved Jesus, who is mine, who has with such infinite superabundance restored that which he had not taken; give him to me, that he may be the succour and the stay of my soul. Let me place him on my heart; the bitterness of his griefs will bring my soul to life again, and the cruel scourging which thou didst inflict on him, that it might be reckoned to me as my merit, will supply all my defects and pay all my debts.

And thou, O divine Peace, be thou the dear tie which binds me everlastingly to Jesus. Be thou the unshaken pillar which shall make me one heart and one soul with Jesus. Bound to thee, O sweetest Peace, I will endure with joy the scourging and the wounds which Love inflicts on me; and by thee and in thee I shall abide for ever one with my Jesus.

O Peace divine, suffer me to ask of these yet another grace. Vouchsafe to open for me that alabaster vase of love entrusted to thy keeping, the exquisite perfume whereof shall arouse my torpid soul. Vouchsafe to anoint my members with the blood which flows from the head of my Jesus, with the smart of all his sacred limbs. The unutterable fragrance of that most precious blood and smart shall shake from my soul all softness and torpor, even as the earth which lies fast bound and barren beneath the rigours of winter awakes and decks itself with flowers at the sweet breath of spring.

O my sweet Jesus, may the sufferings thou didst endure in all thine adorable limbs be the reparation for all my sins, the satisfaction for all my negligencies. Thou hast poured out thy whole soul for me; grant that I may find all Ilack in thee. Amen.

At the hour of Sext commune with the divine Wisdom and with Love. You will beseech of them to renew you wholly, and to defend you at the hour of your death from all the snares of the enemy, by the might of the cross of Jesus Christ. Recite the fourth verse of the same hymn, Externi huc.

WE are but strangers and pilgrims here below, and moan forlorn in exile; thou who art our haven and our home, bring us with thee to the abode of life.

Give full scope to thy goodness, O my God, and blot out all my sins with thine own effectual pardon. Though I am all unworthy to lift up my eyes to thee, yet do thou hear my prayer, and satisfy my soul with the vision of thee at the hour of my death, and give me sure hope of eternal rest in thee.

O admirable Wisdom of my God, how mighty and how piercing is thy voice ! Thou callest unto thee all that desire and seek thee. Thou makest thy dwelling with the humble, and lovest them that love thee, and judgest the cause of the poor; thy tender mercies are over all thy works, and thou hatest nothing that thou hast made. Thou seemest as though thou sawest not the sins of men, and then with patient mercy awaitest their return to penitence. Open to me too the fount of life; give me to drink the cup of pardon, and teach me what I must do to be well-pleasing in thine eyes all the residue of my days.

O Wisdom, thou bearest in thy right hand the august mark of eternity; all the designs which thou hast formed thou hast brought to pass. Thou alone canst do everything; thou abidest in thyself; and thou renewest all things. O do thou renew me also and sanctify me, that thou mayest dwell in my soul. Thine it is to make us friends of God; O bestow on me his friendship. Grant that I may desire thee in the night, and watch early unto thee at break of day;! and be thou found of me, and do thou possess me wholly, and make me long for thee.

With what prudence dost thou order all thy ways ! with what foresight didst thou act when, having decreed to save mankind, thou didst turn to the King of glory! Thou didst then set before him the benefits and blessings of peace; thou didst then dwell on the grandeur and the glory of the prince when he sacrifices himself for love of his people; then didst thou prevail with him to take our burden on himself in love, and to bear our sins in his own body on the tree. Never hath the malice of the devil prevailed to frustrate thy majestic works, O thou resplendent Wisdom of God; neither hath the perverse ignorance of man ever turned aside thy merciful decrees. The greatness of our sins has been powerless against the multitude of thy mercies, the immensity of thy love, the plenitude of thy goodness. Thy kingly might hath swept away every obstacle from before thee, and thou reachest from end to end mightily, and orderest all things sweetly.?

O Wisdom, thou art the irresistible might of the divine majesty; deign to triumph over me, thy worthless creature. Consume with the breath of thy mouth, which is the Holy

1 Isa, xxvi, 9, 2 1 Pet, íi, 24. 3 Wisd. viii, 1,

Spirit, whatever in me obstructs thy sovereign will. Give me strength to resist all temptations. Bestow upon me that mighty love which will make me die to myself and live alone in thee, and in thee vanquish all mine enemies. Under thy guidance I shall not be wrecked on the quicksands of this life. Thou wilt cover me with thy charity as with a mantle, with thy tenderness as with a garment; and thou wilt seal with me the compact of thine eternal love.

But, O Wisdom, what strange wovk doest thou? Why dost thou lay thy hand upon my Jesus? Thou despoilest the King of glory; thou makest him a reproach and ascorn. Thou bindest to the wood of shame him who is the ransom of the whole world. In this impenetrable mystery thou weighest and ponderest all, and dost mete out, in number, weight, and measure, the payment of the debt accumulated by the sins of men. Thou raisest from earth and nailest to the cross him who is the life of all that live, that by his death he may draw all men unto himself, and give them new and eternal life.

O Love, how surpassing is thy skill in the means thou hast devised to stay our universal ruin! With what a remedy dost thou heal our ghastly wound! O Love, all the resources of thy skill are iavished upon those who were lost. Thou dost condemn the innocent, that the guilty may be spared. Thou sheddest the blood of the most pure, that thou mayst appease the anger of God, and give us wretched sinners

168 , REPARATION access to the mercies of the Father whom we have outraged and offended. O Love, thou art skilled to heal our diseases. Thou hast taken upon thee the cause of our peace; thou art unto us the voice and the interpreter of the mercy of our God. By thine own ingenious wisdom thou hast been our help in our extremest need, and thou hast stayed and rolled back the tide of our universal woe with the sweet device of thy goodness. Thou hast found out the ineffable secret of our salvation, and hast made it known unto us who were lost.

But I turn to thee once again, O Wisdom. Is not the hidden treasure of mercy full to overflowing now¢ O look on me, who stand now in all my wretchedness at the door of thy charity. Deign to fill the mantle of my poverty, wherewith I am covered,! with the fulness of thy choicest blessings. I hold forth to thee the empty vessel of my desires; unlock to me all thy treasures. Teach my heart thy unspotted counsels, thy lightsome commandments, thy true judgments.? Make me mindful of thy commandments, that I may fulfil them evermore.

O my Jesus, deal not with me according to my sins, neither reward me according to my iniquities. And since thou hast truly reconciled me to God by thy blood, repair by the virtue and power of thy precious cross all the losses of my worthless life.

O Love, thou who dost possess wisdom, come and cover all my iniquities; come and

1 Ruth iii, 15, 2 Ps, xviii. 8, supply all my defects and negligences, through the merits of my Jesus, who hath given himselt up unto thee, to be dealt with according to thy will.

At the hour of None commune with the divine Self-oblation and with Love, beseeching them to change your whole state and condition from evil to good, and to unite your death to that of the divine Lamb, that under his protection you may escape all perils at the moment of leaving this world. First recite the fifth verse of the same hymn, Dives pauper.

HOU, then, wast rich, yet for our sakes thou didst become poor; for us thou didst suffer on the cross; wash us in the water which flowed forth from thy pierced side, and cleanse us from the stains of our past life.

Let thy goodness prevail over judgment, O Lord, and blot out all my sins with thine effectual pardon. Though I am all unworthy to lift up my eyes to thee, yet do thou hear my prayer; satisfy my soul with the vision of thee at the hour of my death, and give me sure hope of eternal rest in thee.

O Self-oblation of'my God, how ravishing is thy beauty! O glowing Love, thou art stronger than death; thou renewest the whole creation; thou art the salvation and the redemption of the world. How sweet are the words which drop from thy lips, and how soothing thy converse! Familiarity with thee brings neither satiety nor weariness, but true unending joys. Deign, then, to enter into the vile hovel of my heart, and there rest awhile with me. There let me hear thy gentle voice, and I shall no more remember, as I hang on thy lips, my tribulation and my anguish. Be thou my companion all along the way I must go, and then all good things will be mine in thee.

O glorious Self-oblation of my God, behold me, a poor frail child of earth, sore buffeted by the memory of my unfaithfulness as by a furious tempest, my conscience appalled and quaking at the voice of thunder with which my sins cry for vengeance; yet I come to make my refuge under the wings of thy compassion, for well I know that I have no other hope, no other rest, than in thee alone. O receive me even as a mother receives to her bosom the child she had lost. For thine is that impenetrable device for our salvation which bowed in death the head of the Son of the Most High. When thou hadst taken upon thee to come down to the rescue of us thy wretched and resourceless creatures, thou didst not spare the everlasting Son of God. O Charity, O Selfoblation, thou hast so dealt with the holy Son of the Virgin Mother that thou hast rendered him the hope of them to whom nothing was left but black despair. Thy disinterested goodness draws all hearts to trust in thee, nor hast thou ever neglected or disregarded any of the thousands who have come to thee.

O divine Love, I am a poor forsaken creature; open to me a sure refuge in thee, wherein I may lay my heart, torn by thousand fears and cares. Deign to share with me the sorrows and the weariness of my exile, raise up my drooping soul, soothe the anguish of my tormented heart. Say unto me: J will never forget thee. Say but this one word, O Love. Call me to that blessed abode where in thy great mercy thou wilt exchange all my evil for all thy good. It is thou, O Love, O divine Self-oblation, who dost hold my Jesus fastened to the cross, and under thy hand he bows his sacred head and dies for very love.

But what doest thou, O heavenly spirit of Self-oblation? And to whom dost thou turn for aid? "Thou knowest no rest till thou hast succoured us in our misery; the love from which thou springest is boundless, everlasting. 'Thou parchest him with thirst who is the very fount of life. It is not enough for his love to die once for us; he delivers himself to death with an impetuous eagerness, and would die again for every separate sinner. Thus hast thou willed to lavish the most peerless treasure of heaven, that thus thou mightest ransom lost mankind.

And thou, O Love, thou fastenest on the heart of my Jesus, so that in his loving surrender of himself for us, it is all pierced through and torn. O Love, it is enough. Seest thou not that my Jesus nailed to the cross hath given up the ghost? Life has forsaken his most blessed body. He is dead, truly dead, that I might have abundant life. He is dead, that the Father might adopt me as his beloved daughter. He is dead, to open unto me the gates of everlasting life.

O death of Jesus, death most dear, thou art mine inheritance of bliss. O let my soul find its refuge and shelter in thee, O death. For thou bringest forth fruit of life eternal; let me be buried and lost beneath the torrent of life that is ever gushing forth from thee. Thou, O death, art life eternal; beneath thy solemn shadow I dare to hope. O saving death, my soul longs to dwell amidst the good things thou hast purchased for it. O precious death, what wealth hast thou bestowed on me! Absorb all my whole life in thee, and let mine own death be merged and lost in thee.

O mighty death, render mine calm and sure. O death which bringest life, let me dissolve away in thee. O death, bestow on me one feeble spark of that eternal life, and let it burn in me for ever. O glorious and most fruitful death, death on which hangeth all my salvation, thou art the sure covenant of love whereby I have been redeemed, the inviolable pledge of my reconciliation to God. O triumphant death, from thee shines forth a love incomparable in earth or heaven.

O death, thou work of goodness, thou art a source of sweet trust to my heart. O death, which dost lavish on us all thy love, thou containest all things that are good; be thou my guardian, that my own death may be sweetly one with thee. O merciful death, thou art my blessedness, my redemption, and my riches; let my life and death be dissolved in thee.

O death, so full of sweetness, be thou near to aid me when my own death shall come. In

' that dread moment compass me round with thy merits. Be for me a sure way, that I fall not into the snare as I step forth from this world. Receive my soul then, and store it up with the goodly treasure thou hast gathered. May my life ebb away in thee, so that in thee I may at length find rest. O may I die in thee, and find in thee sweet and tranquil sleep. Then, O most loving death, thou wilt keep me thine for ever, as thine own possession.

But, O Love, to thee I owe that death of Jesus by which I have obtained salvation. It is thou who hast won for me this rich inheritance, and thy munificent goodness hath bound me to thy service for ever. What shall I render to thee for benefits so manifold and so vast ¢ What praises, what thanksgivings, can I offer worthy of thee? O my redemption, what proportion is there between thee and a miserable creature like me ? Wherefore I will offer all my whole soul, my soul which thou hast redeemed, and will give thee all my heart's deepest love. Take possession of my life; gather me wholly up ‘into thee; make me one with thee.

O Love, thy self-oblation, worthy of a God, has opened unto me the door of the most tender heart of my Jesus. O Heart, full of sweetness; O Heart, overflowing with compassion; O Heart, superabounding with love; O Heart, whose gentle mercy droppeth as the dew; O Heart, dearest object of my love, deign to absorb my heart in thee. Thou who art to me more precious than most precious pearls, call me to the banquet of life. Pour out for me the wine of thy consolations, all unworthy as I am; raise up in thy divine charity the mouldering ruins of my soul, and enrich my utter misery with thy boundless wealth.

O Love, take this divine heart, this censer wherein burneth such fragrant incense, this victim so august; offer it for me upon the golden altar whereon was sealed the reconciliation of man to God; offer it to supply all that has been lacking me day by day throughout the whole course of my barren, wasted life. O Love, plunge my heart into the floods which well forth evermore from that loving heart; bury all mine iniquities and my negligencies in the depths of its divine mercy. Enlighten my understanding, purify my heart by this tomb of Jesus. Detach my heart from all that is carnal and earthly; render it unshackled and unclogged, that when the hour of my death shall come, I may be enabled by thee to lay it without spot or blemish in the hands of my God.

O Heart, beloved above all things, my heart crieth unto thee. O forget me not; let the sweetness of thy charity revive the courage of this guilty, craven heart. And truly there is need that thy choicest mercy interpose for me; for, alas ! evil abounds within me, and of good I find no trace. By the merits of thy precious death, O my Jesus, of that death which availed to pay the universal debt, forgive me all that I have done against thee. Restore to mein thee all that I have forfeited and lost; draw me to thyself with such effectual power that thy love may change my whole being with a word, that I may find favour in thine eyes, and that I may obtain that mercy which thou hast merited for me by dying on the cross for love of me. Grant me, O my Jesus, to love thee in all things and above all things, to cling to thee for ever, and to trust in thee with a boundless trust. Grant me to render to thy death its due homage, by giving me to taste without delay, at the moment of my death, the sweetest fruit of my redemption, the infinite merit of thine own death, with all the efficacy of blessing which thou didst desire for me, when, tormented with thirst for my salvation, thou didst give up the ghost, having redeemed my soul with thy most precious blood.

O Love, may thy farewell be sweet to me at the hour of my death, and my rest in thy peace be full of delights. Amen.

Take with you Compassion and Love, and thus present yourself before God, charging them to answer to God at the end of your life for all your debts and all your imperfections. First say the sixth verse of the same hymn, Felix que sitit. a ET blessed is charity; for she can quench her thirst in thee, O fountain of life. Thrice blessed are the eyes admitted to behold thee face to face.

Show forth now thy great goodness, O my God, and blot out all my sins with thine effectual pardon. Although I am all unworthy to lift up my eyes to thee, yet do thou hear my prayer; satisfy my soul with the vision of thee at the hour of my death, and give me the sure hope of eternal rest in thee.

O divine Compassion, how exquisite is thy sweetness! O munificence of my God, how dear art thou tome! Thou openest thine arms to all; thou art the father of the fatherless, and the refuge of the poor.

What shall I do, O divine Compassion ? Whither shall I flee from this intolerable cold ¢ The tepidity of my heart has at length ended in a frost in which all the furrows of my soul lie bound. O let me find a shelter near to thee; there shall I recover from the confusion of my soul's nakedness; beneath thy wings I shall find warmth and life; under their shadow I shall hope for ever.

O Compassion of my God, forsake me not in my desolation and anguish; turn not thy face away from my cries and groans. Listen to my prayer in thy yearning love. Open to me thy bosom, that I may rest therein awhile, and pour out all my soul to thee. I know beforehand that thou wilt receive me kindly, for thou never despisest those who are desolate, afflicted, and tried. O how lovingly dost thou welcome those who suffer! How sweet are thy perfumes to the sick and fainting soul !

Thou raisest up those who are bruised in their fall; thou settest free them that are bound.

Thou despisest none who suffer tribulation; in thy maternal love thou dost soothe all their pangs and sorrows. Those who are driven nigh unto despair call forth thy most tender cares, and thou relievest every misery and woe. O lend thine ear unto the voice of my indigence; suffer me to commune with thee, and to drink in thy dear and precious counsels.

My sins affright me, my omissions cover me with shame; my life is one long failure, and fills me with alarm. I dread that most strict account which Jesus, the great and mighty man of the parable,* will exact from me. For if he require the talent he intrusted to me, the precious days of my life; and if he demand the produce of the great gift of understanding wherewith he has enriobled me, I know not what I shall answer; I shall stand speechless + I shall have no word to reply which will be worthy of his infinite and most indulgent love.

What shall I do? whither shall I turn I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. O divine Compassion, let me hear thy voice; give me, I implore thee, some good counsel full of sweetness, which may revive my soul. Tell me what I must do in this my great strait. Thy name expresses the goodness from which thou springest, and thou knowest what is best for me to do. Forgive me, come to my help; be not unto me as a stranger in this my tribulation. Let thine heart be touched at my poverty and my wretchedness; take pity on

1 St, Luke xvi. 2.

me, and say unto me, All my treasures are thine.

O divine Compassion, hast thou not at thy disposal wealth so boundless and so precious that heaven and earth cannot contain them ¢ It is thou who didst constrain my Jesus to give his soul for mine, his life for mine; and that because thou didst will that all thine should be mine, and to pour out all thine abundance into the lap of my poverty. O vouchsafe to bid my hungry soul partake of thy substance; bid me live of thy riches. Care thou for me, feed my soul; and I shall no longer fear to faint and come short in the service of my Lord. Under thy protection I will calmly await the moment when I shall return to my God, and give back my spirit to him who gave it. O Compassion, O goodness, O sweet munificence of my God, thou hast at thy disposal a treasure whose magnificence calls forth the adoring wonder of heaven and earth, peerless and incomparable. Day by day dost thou offer unto God the Father upon the altar a sacrifice, a burnt-offering, a sweet incense of merit ineffable, and dost blot out all my sins and debts. Thou dost offer to the Father his own Son, the object of his eternal love and complacency; and by this offering thou dost turn away his anger and reconcile him to me.

Come then, do thou now renew my life by the application of this divine mystery, so mighty to supply all my imperfections and repair all my faults. Deign to give me back a hundredfold all that I have lost, that my soul may sing for joy in thee. Do thou renew my youth in thee like the eagle’s, and may my life henceforth be consecrated to thee; jet all my powers with all their energy be expended in thy service, and my whole being glorify thee.

O Jesus, blot out all mine iniquities in thy great compassion; cover all my sins with the mantle of thy charity; supply all my defects in thy goodness; let my soul recover, through thy love, that liberty which thou gavest me at the cost of thine own most precious blood, when thou, the innocent and the spotless one, didst deign to die for me. Conform me in all things to thy will; transform my whole life in thee. Make me altogether such as thou wouldst have me to be; so that when I quit this life, the cloud of my body may part, and give me to behold with rapture thy face of love.

At Compline your communing will be with Perseverance and with Love. Pray that you may exchange your own miserable life for the most worthy life of Jesus, so that at the hour of your death he may find you perfect and complete in holiness and in the requirements of the religious life. First recite the seventh verse of the same hymn, Grandis est tibi. EL glory, O my Lord, is infinite; thy dazzling splendours call forth the praises of all those whose heart hath taken its flight towards thee.

O let thy goodness consummate its perfect work, and blot out all my sins with thine effectual pardon. Though I am all unworthy to lift up my eyes to thee, yet do thou hear my prayer; satisfy my soul with the vision of thee at the hour of my death, and give me sure hope of eternal rest in thee.

O most patient and persevering charity of my Lord Jesus, who hath loved us even unto death, thou alone dost wear the crown ; to thee the victory is due, to thee the triumph and the loud acclaim. Thy thoughtful foresight and thine unsleeping care are a homage to the King of kings, which fills all heaven with adoring wonder.

O Perseverance of the soul in charity, what ineffable sweetness, what ravishing melody hath thy voice! How beauteous and how charming is thy fairest face! Thou canst gather even in the wilderness choicest fruit, and compel it to give forth the sweet and manifold fragrance of virtue. The God of heaven looketh on thy face with complacency; he hath desired thy beauty, and himself hath sung thy praise. His look is to thee unfailing strength; in thee he taketh his rest as in his bridal chamber, and none troubleth his repose. O help me, then, from the morning watches, thou who art the soul's true noon; keep my soul in thee, and dispel all cloud and mist which might bewilder or mislead it.

O Perseverance in charity, thou art the perfection of all virtues, and the soul's true health. The heaviest burdens thou dost render light, and the toil of virtue becometh sweetly refreshing when thou hast once formed and strengthened it into habit. Thou perfect Love of God, in thee dwelleth all sweetness and all suavity. Thou art the true peace, the calm security which none can ever trouble, Thou art the crown and the consummation of all good, the perfect fulfilment of the divine commandments. Thou art the high Sabbath of all sabbaths; for in thee doth the divine wisdom test, and the divine love complete its work.

O Perseverance in charity, thou hast perfected and completed the mission which his loving compassion had constrained my Jesus to undertake. Thou hast finished the work of our redemption, and called to the blessedness of adoption them that were lost. Through thee my Jesus ended all his agony, and slept at length in peace; in thee he resteth now from his mighty work; under thy shadow doth he sweetly slumber; beneath thy seal he slept the loving sleep of the tomb.

O persevering Love, with what unslumbering care dost thou watch in his sepulchre him who is my soul’s priceless price, dearer than gold and more precious than the topaz; who alone can repair all my omissions and defects and heal all my imperfections. Take my poor heart and hide it there, where thou dost watch over my choicest treasure, that my heart may dwell wholly in the cleft of the rock where my beloved resteth.

O living Charity, O undaunted Perseverance of my Lord Jesus, from the very depth of my heart do Icry unto thee; be thou my representative and my advocate. Speak thou in my behalf, that my Jesus, my King and my God, who hath finished the work which the Father gave him to do, may grant me, vile worm of earth as I am, a pure heart, a firm unwavering will, to serve him diligently and faithfully unto the end, and perseverance to bear the yoke of his commandments. Then, O mighty Love, wilt thou be my hundredfold reward in this life, and after death my glorious recompense; for the fulness of my joy is in thee alone.

Vouchsafe me a tender compunction of heart, a spirit of so humble penitence, that I may be ever striving to render my sins fewer, the defects and imperfections of my works less glaring. Then shall I reaeive, as the reward of my perseverance, that blessed crumb which falleth from the Master’s table, the full unclouded view of the face of my Jesus; then shall my soul be satisfied with everlasting gladness, when the glory of my Jesus appeareth.

O Love, thou art constant, strong, invincible; teach me constancy in loving Jesus, and unfaltering perseverance in serving him. O grant that I may be awake and ready when the Master cometh, whether in the first or the second watch. Keep me from slumber and from drowsiness when the great cry shall be heard at midnight; through thy care, escorted by thee, may I enter in to the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Fill my lamp with the oil of - charity; light it at the flame of love; may it

1 St. Luke xii, 31, give a bright and unwavering light in all the works of a living faith; and bring me to the sweet delights of everlasting life.

O my sweetest Jesus, my most beloved Spouse, come, arouse in thee my sluggish soul. By thy death give me back that life which is for thee alone. Stablish and confirm me in a life worthy of the precious blood wherewith thou hast redeemed me. Give me a mind which may discern thy sweetness, a heart which may feel thee, a soul which may understand all thy will, a virtue which may fulfil all thy good pleasure, and a firm unshaken perseverance to the end. At the hour of my death do thou open to me without delay the door of thy most loving heart, and grant that nothing in me may retard or obstruct my entrance into the secret sanctuary of thy love, . where I shall enjoy thee and possess thee ever-. more mine own, thou true joy of my heart. Amen.

The same day on which you thus make reparation for your sins, you will beseech our Lord, at noon, to admit you to the shady garden of his divine heart. There you will, like Naaman, wash seven times in Jordan—that is to say, in the merits of the life and Passion of Jesus—that you may . thus be cleansed from every stain, and be all fair and without spot at the hour of your death, and be introduced to the sanctuary of his love. | Q JESUS, thou who comest from the land of angels, my life and my salvation, thou art all majestic in thy beauty; but, alas, my o soul, that work of thy hands which thou lovest, is plunged in blindness and thick darkness. Deign, then, to be my healing and my light, O my beloved. Wash out all the stains of my sinful eyes with the purifying tears thy beauteous eyes have shed; so that at my last hour I may clearly behold with the purged eye of my soul thy beloved countenance in the light of the most holy Trinity. Thou art the one desire of my heart; O plunge me soon into the abyss of thy delights.

O Jesus, my beloved hope, my true and most merciful Spouse, who never despisest the sighings of the wretched, mine ears are sealed in deafness through my own most grievous fault. O thou source of mercy, open mine ears to hear thee, that my whole life henceforward may be spent in obeying thee. O my well-beloved, by the tender compassion that renders thy most blessed ears attentive to our cry, cleanse away all the iniquities of my sinful ears, that at the hour of my death I may not fear to hear an adverse sentence; but when thy sweetest voice shall echo through the heavens to call me unto thee, may my hearing be a gladness and a bliss. For thee alone doth my soul wait; O take me quickly home and unite me to thyself, thou unfading charm of my soul, thou one only love of my heart. Thou whose countenance is so fair and thy heart so tender, why is my soul exiled far | | from thee ¢ |

O God of my heart, distractions rule and | sway my heart; deign to collect it and fix it | on thee. O my well-beloved, by the purity of intention that ever reigned over thy most holy thoughts, by the glowing love of thy pierced heart, cleanse thou all the perverse thoughts of my guilty heart. Let thy bitter Passion be my soft shade at the hour of my death, and thy heart which love hath broken be my everlasting habitation. O thou one only love of my heart, I love thee far above all thy creatures; let me not linger far from thee. O Jesus, only Son of our heavenly Father, our most merciful Master, who never leavest in their desolation the sons thou hast adopted; I have sinned against thee exceedingly with my tongue; O let my mouth be filled with thy praise, for thou art my glory and my joy. By the power and the life which dwell in the sweet words of thine ever-blessed mouth, blot out, O my well-beloved, all the sins of my polluted mouth. Bestow on me the kiss of thy peace; so shall I pass with joy from this life to the life that is to come; for the kiss of thy mouth alone can soothe and console my heart. O thou my fairest love, pierce my heart with thine arrows, so that I may fall, wounded unto death, into the abyss of love of which thou art the source. O Jesus, who dost all things so wisely and so well, who hast devised means to repair in such magnificence the work of thy ` hands which I have defaced and destroyed, I see, alas, that my works are nothing but imperfection, in nothing conformed to thy law. O thou, my only refuge and my strength, come quickly to sanctify all my works in me, and grant me the aid and co-operation of thy lifegiving love.

O thou my well-beloved, by the perfection which thou didst stamp upon all thy works, by thy sacred hands nailed to the cross, I implore thee to forgive all the sins of my guilty hands, that at the hour of my death I may be able to cast myself without delay into thy loving embrace. Thou art my true Spouse chosen amongst ten thousand; acknowledge me then for thine own, not for my merit, but of thine own essential goodness. O Jesus, thou who art ever in the bloom of thy youth, whose beauty surpasseth all, and whose converse doth ravish and exalt the soul, I have wandered from the narrow way. O do thou, my beloved guide, direct all my steps according unto thine own good pleasure.

O my well-beloved, by the weariness thy sacred feet endured on earth, and by the wound of the nails wherewith they were pierced on the cross, blot out all the sins of my guilty feet. O thou faithful protector of my pilgrimage, sustain my tottering steps, that I may come with joy into thy wondrous tabernacle, into the house of my God. ‘Thou art the one prize for which I have run my race; give me an ever-active love, so that my feet may never stumble nor halt, but that I may renew my strength, and press forward unwearyingly along - that way, of which thou art the glorious end. | O Jesus, O great God, full of sweetness and - of goodness, the gifts thou dost lavish on me | are infinite as thyself. O living God, thy | glowing love has a sweet attractive force which draws to thy bosom all that thine almighty hand hath made. Alas, my whole life was wasted and gone, withered and buried in death. Revive it in thyself, O God of my life. O make it bloom again, and bring forth fruit worthy of thee.

© my well-beloved, by the majestic innocence of thine own life, by its holiness and purity, wash out all the defilements of my polluted life. Let my life be no more in me; draw it wholly up into thee, so that at the hour of my death I may be established in thee, O my true life. Thou art my one transcending good, the one beloved refuge of my soul. O give me to languish with love of thee, to die with longing to behold thy face, to praise thee in transports of eternal gladness, and to consume away for evertnore in the glowing fires of thy love. Amen.

When evening has come, you will gather with your Beloved a garland of flowers, beseeching him to give you his blessing, and to crown you with all virtues as with a wreath.

MY beloved Jesus, let thy soul bless me this day. May thy sovereign Godhead bless me; may thine all-perfect manhood bless me; may thy kingly munificence leave on me such evident tokens of thy benediction that I may feel myself all transformed by an unconquerable love, and cleave inseparably unto thee. Make me perfect in thy love.

Make me well-pleasing in thy sight, in humbleness of mind, in fraternal charity, in chaste simplicity, in finished modesty, in purity of heart, in constant watchfulness over my senses, in holiness of life, in prompt obedience, in sweet unwearied patience, in exact obedience to my spiritual rule, in voluntary poverty, in holy meekness, in the prudent thoughtfulness of all my actions. in joy of heart, in whole and perfect truth, in an upright conscience, in holy perseverance, in constancy of faith, in firmness of hope, in fulness of charity, in all the blessed crown and consummation of thy love in me. Change the thorny thicket of my heart into a paradise of virtues, a garden filled with all perfections, a field which the Lord hath blessed,' fruitful of peace, of piety. and of holiness.

O my beloved Jesus, do thou be with me always, so that my heart may ever dwell with thee and abide in thee; and may the blessed tie of thy love remain unbroken and unweakened in me evermore. Vouchsafe to bless me in the moment when I shall go hence, that my soul, disenthralled from the flesh, may flee away and be at rest in thee. Amen.