mind, it is the breath of life infused by Thee, and by my own folly made full of sin and wickedness. I have gone astray from the womb, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

All the good I possess comes from Thee; if my outward man has any advantages above others, it is the effect of Thy bounty, from whence proceeds health and strength, beauty and comeliness, and upon Thy will they depend, to be recalled at a moment. If my mind has the least excellency, it is Thy gift, who didst endue me with reason and grace: all that is my own, is the abuse of Thy favours; and whatever is bad in me, is properly mine.

I am unworthy, O Lord, of all Thy gifts by reason of my vileness and ingratitude. I do not deserve the air I breathe in, because I have infected it as it were with noisome lusts; I do not deserve the bread I eat, because my table has become a snare, and the good creatures Thou hast given me for refreshment have been abused to luxury and sensuality.

O let me consider what I am by nature, frail and weak; what I am by sin, odious and contemptible in Thy sight: and let this knowledge of myself suppress and mortify all proud and vain thoughts; let a sense of my own vileness and unworthiness make me humble myself as it were in dust and ashes.

It is the sincere desire of my soul, O blessed Jesus! it is the firm choice of my will, to be rather a door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

I will not place my pleasure and satisfaction. in the praise of men, because it is an uncertain breath of air, apt to swell me with pride and vanity, and is the effect of civility and charity, rather than of what I deserve. I will in all my actions endeavour to please Thee, though it be attended with ignominy and reproach, and though I thereby become the contempt of the scornful.

O let me bear the injuries and affronts of bad men with patience and meekness, because I have deserved much worse treatment from Thee. Let me receive the reproofs and admonitions of good men with thankfulness, because I stand so much in need of them, and that they are so proper to correct my follies.

O let me never insult over the follies and sins of my fellow-Christians, because I am liable to the same temptations; let me pity and compassionate their misfortunes, because if I am not plunged in the same gulf of misery, it is wholly owing to Thy grace which has preserved me, to Thy almighty hand which has held me up.

How didst Thou condescend, O dear Jesus,

to be born in a stable, to lead a life destitute of all comforts and accommodations, to die upon a cross, and all this for the good of Thy sinful creatures; and shall I think any labour too grievous, any office too mean, whereby I may be able to promote the temporal and eternal happiness of my neighbour?

Without Thee, O Jesus, I can do nothing; inspire me with that humility which Thou hast taught by Thy precepts, and by Thy own example; I will endeavour to imitate Thy state of humiliation here upon earth, that I may partake of those glories Thou now dost possess at the right hand of Thy Father.

Acts of Contrition.

O MOST gracious God, who art the inexhaustible Fountain of all goodness, who art only amiable; || how grievously have I offended Thee! What return have I made for those graces and favours which Thou hast bestowed upon me? What tribute have I paid to Thine infinite perfections? I will declare my iniquity, and be sorry for my

sins.

I will repent, O my God, of my sins as the greatest of evils; and the remembrance of them shall be more grievous and afflicting to me than that of any other evil whatsoever for they are

the offences of a vile creature against Thee, the great Creator, the chiefest and most desirable good; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

I can plead nothing, O Lord, to extenuate the guilt of my sins; I ought to have renounced every thing that is valuable in life, nay, even life itself, rather than to have offended Thee, whose loving-kindness is better than life. But I do now most heartily detest my sins, because they are displeasing to Thee, who art infinite goodness; and I purpose, by the help of Thy grace, to live better for the time to come.

Thou hast graciously declared, O my chiefest Good, that a broken spirit is a sacrifice acceptable to Thee; that Thou wilt not despise a broken and a contrite heart. O my heart, let grief and sorrow rend thee in pieces, who hast hitherto sacrificed thyself to a vain and wicked world.

If the sorrow of this vale of tears could enter into the state of the blessed, even in heaven I would lament the offences committed against the great Lord of heaven and earth; but whilst I am here below I will turn unto Thee, O Lord, with weeping and mourning, and I will choose the greatest sufferings, rather than offend Thee.

I love Thee, O my God; and how much is it the grief of my soul that I have not always loved Thee! that I have not always had a regard to Thy divine precepts! O that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep much, and love much, having much to be forgiven.

As my love increases towards Thee, O dear Jesus, so much the more do I grieve for my sins, which made Thee a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. And I am so much the more resolved, by the help of Thy grace, to abstain from all evil for the time to come, by how much the more I rejoice in every thing that tends to Thy honour and glory,

O, for what empty shadows have I forfeited the favour of the Most High! For what trifling vanities have I incurred the displeasure of my best Benefactor! I have sinned, O Lord; I have sinned against heaven and in Thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called Thy son. But I return with the prodigal; O, let Thy paternal bowels yearn on me, and graciously receive me.

How can I behold Thee, O infinite Goodness, and not love Thee? How can I love Thee, and not grieve for having offended Thee? and not detest my sins, and not resolve to forsake them? O may I always sincerely love