it in the practice of indignation against myself, in striving earnestly for a deeper knowledge of Thee. I desire sorrowfully to lay before Thee all my miserable defects and crying sins, all my need of pardon. I desire to show Thee my weakness, to deliver it to be made perfect in Thy strength. I desire to judge and condemn myself that I be not judged and condemned by Thee, to correct myself that Thou mayest spare me, to abhor myself that Thou mayest pity me, to die to the world that I may rise with Thee.

O Lord, I desire to acknowledge Thee before men now, that Thou mayest fulfil Thy promise of acknowledging me before angels hereafter. Amen.

Wherefore, O Lord, I beseech Thee, help me to meditate upon Thy Life and Thy Death, to make most grateful return of love to Thee, in serious and systematic obedience, in diligent imitation of Thy holy self-denial, Thy wonderful unselfishness. Help me to search my heart, to discover and root out my corrupt inclinations, to empty myself of my vanity. Help me to strive against my infirmities, to fight vigorously against my temptations, especially. . . . Amen.

Give me, therefore, I beseech Thee, facilities for retirement, and the skill of profitable meditation. Give me health for such abstinence that the flesh may be subdued to the spirit. Deliver me from distractions of vain company, from disturbance of body and mind, from everything which may impede me in my Lenten duty. Give me opportunities of active charity, of relieving the poor, of comforting the afflicted. And when I am brought into contact with vice or frivolity, use me, O Lord, as Thy instrument

to check and discourage it. Make me to honour Thee henceforth as much as I have dishonoured Thee heretofore. Make me to please Thee as much as I have displeased Thee. Amen.

Oh that Thou wouldst deign to make me a signal channel of Thy Almighty working! that from the depths of my feebleness some glory may accrue to the strength of Thy goodness. Amen.

Let my

Bless the means of grace to me. private devotions so fit and dispose me for Thy ordinances of public worship that these may be profitable to me. And especially, I pray Thy blessing upon my preparation for the Holy Sacrament of Thy Body and Blood, that having chastised myself by voluntary humiliation, I may come forth to Thy Table so cleansed and restored by Thy Spirit, that I may be counted worthy to make memorial of Thee, and to receive Thee afresh into my heart, there to dwell in me, and be one with me for ever and ever, O blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise."

Act of Renewal of Baptismal Vows.

MERCIFUL God, Who hast regenerated

O me by Thy Holy Spirit, Who hast re

ceived me for Thine own child, and incorporated me into Thy Holy Church; I desire now to renew unto Thee the solemn promise and vow that was made in my name at my baptism.

I renounce the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all cove

tous desires of the same, and the carnal desires of the flesh, so that I will not follow nor be led by them.

I steadfastly believe in God the Father, etc.

I will obediently keep God's holy will and commandments, and will walk in the same all the days of my life.

And humbly I beseech Thee to grant that I, being dead unto sin and living unto righteousness, and being buried with Christ in His Death, may crucify the old man, and utterly abolish the whole body of sin; and that, as I have been made partaker of His Death, I may also be partaker of His Resurrection; so that finally, with the residue of Thy Holy Church, I may be an inheritor of Thine everlasting kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I

Acts of Self-Oblation.

No. I.

DESIRE, O my God, entirely to resign my will unto Thy Will. I desire to give myself to Thy service, to be one with Thee, inseparably and everlastingly. I pray that the old man, which is at enmity with Thee, may be crucified and mortified, dead and buried, utterly purged out from me, and that the new man may grow up into perfect conformity to my Lord and Saviour, and Redeemer and Master. I humbly propose to do whatever Thou wilt set before me to be done, contentedly and diligently, trusting to Thy strength, and to Thy compassion and indulgence, in not being extreme to mark what is done amiss; and I absolutely resign all selfseeking, all vainglory, all personal satisfaction in my work.

I offer it all to Thee, O Lord, as

my poor and pitiful contribution to Thy supreme glory, in union with the oblation of my Lord, Thy Son Jesus Christ. And I beseech Thee, O Lord, to accept it for His sake only, to exalt and sanctify my energies, to refine my motives, and to give me power for Thy work, by Thy Holy Spirit, all the days of my life. Amen.

No. 2.

LORD, I desire earnestly to acquiesce in Thy blessed will, and to yield to it my desires—yea, even my own plans for the happiness of those about me, and for doing good to men. Make me simply content to work out Thy purposes in the dark, trusting all successful results to Thee, and fixing my hopes entirely in the next world, both for myself and them. Lord, I desire to follow the course which Thou shalt mark out, whether of independence or of obedience to others. Remove from me my obstinacy and self-will, and make me now wholly intent on worshipping and serving Thee in the communion of Saints, as I trust we may worship and serve Thee hereafter; through the merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

I

No. 3.

PRESENT and offer unto Thee, O Lord, myself and all that is mine, my words and my actions, my silence and my rest. Only do Thou sustain and lead me! Move Thou my hand and my tongue, my heart and my mind, to whatever is honest, and faithful, and well-pleasing to Thee, and withdraw me from everything from which I ought to abstain; for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

No. 4.

LORD Jesus, Whom only I desire to serve, Who acceptest every offering of love, Thou knowest that I love Thee. Accept the offering which I bring to Thee now of my service rendered (or intended) to Thy poor on

Accept its fatigue, its self-denial, its inconveniences. Unite it with Thine own holy labours and sufferings. I would that it were better, and cost me more, and were more thoroughly done for Thy love. But pardon its defects, receive it, and perfume it with Thy intercession. Present it for me, in memorial of Thyself, and to the glory of the Father, Who with Thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, ever one God, for ever. Amen.

I

No. 5.

GIVE myself unto Thee, O Father, as an unworthy sacrifice. I would fain fuse my sacrifice into the united sacrifice of the Catholic Church. I call to mind with humble reverence and admiration the Offering which Thy blessed Son made to Thee in His Incarnation, and above all in His Death. I call to mind His love for Thee in glorifying Thee by saving and infinitely exalting us human beings. I call to mind His love for me in redeeming me, in electing me, in regenerating me. I desire to make memorial to Thee of Him, and of His love, by imitating His self-devotion, as a member of His Body.

For this purpose I now give myself unto Thee in this Eucharistic sacrifice. I give all my heart, all my powers of thought, of speech, of action. I most humbly repudiate all vainglory in what Thy strength has enabled me to do to Thy honour.