Imatges de pàgina
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thee; grant me to persevere to the end in this love, and so to come one day to that happy place, where 1 may love and enjoy thee for ever.

Have mercy also on my parents, friends and benefactors; and on all those for whom I am any ways bound to pray, that we may all love thee and faithfully serve thee. Have mercy on thy whole church, and on all the clergy and religious, men and women, that all may live up to their calling, and sanctify thy name. Give thy grace and blessing to all princes and magistrates, and to all christian people: convert all unbelievers and sinners > and bring all strayed sheep back to thy fold particularly have mercy on N. and N. &c.

O blessed Virgin, mother of my God and Saviour, recommend all these my petitions to your Son. O all you angels and saints, citizens of heaven, join also your prayers with mine: you ever stand before his throne, and see him face to face, whom I receive here under veils: be ever mindful of me, and obtain from him, and through him, that with you I may

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bless him and love him for ever Amen.

"N. B. That upon the whole day after your communion, you ought to be more than ordinarily retired, and perform more devotions than usual. Particularly watch over yourself, lest by giving way to passion, or any other sin, you suffer yourself. to be robbed of any part of that trea sure you have received; for 'tis a common trick of the devil, on the day that a person has been at communion, to fling some stumbling-block in their way, or draw them aside from their devotions by worldly distractions or diversions ; and therefore christians must be upon their guard upon these occasions, and by retirement, recol lection, and prayer, give time to the grace which they have received, to sink into their souls, and take deep root there. And let them remember that they have received this fresh sup ply of divine grace, to the end that they may improve in every christian virtue, and especially in the love of God, and may serve his divine Ma> jesty with a new vigour and fervour.

Forms

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Forms of the Acts of Virtues necessary› for Salvation.

T is the indispensable duty of every

Ichristian to worship God by faith

hope, charity, and contrition for sip: And therefore whosoever desires to save his soul, must exercise himself in those virtues, by making frequent acts of them. For a help to that exercise short forms of such acts were composed and authorized: And that the faithful might more easily learn them, and be accustomed to them, Pope Benedict XIV much recommended that the Pastors of souls should repeat these! forms from the altar with their people, before or after divine service, every Sunday and Holy-day. And to encou rage the faithful to practise the same in private by themselves, he granted a plenary indulgence to every one, who shall make them devoutly once every day for a month, and shall, on any day within that month, devoutly approach the sacraments of penance and holy communion, and pray for the good of the church, and peace among chris tians. The same favour was also confir.ned

firmed by Pope Clement XIII. And Pope Clement XIV. also granted an indulgence of seven years, and of as many forty days, which grant is to stand good for all future times.

But it must be carefully remembered, that the acts of virtues are the work of the soul through the grace of God; so that it is not enough to repeat the forms with the mouth only, but they must be accompanied with a sincere inward affection of the heart and will, and the sense and meaning of them imprinted on the soul, with serious resolutions and endeavours to practise in life and action, what is expressed in the words.

A Prayer to be said before these Aets,

Almighty eternal God, grant us the increase of faith, hope, and charity and that we may deserve to obtain what thou dost promise, make us love what thou dost command: through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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An Act of Faith..

My God, eternal light and truth, I firmly believe all those sacred. truths, which thy holy Catholic Church believes and teaches; because thou who art the very truth itself, hast revealed them to it. I believe that thou art one God in three distinct persons, the Fater ther, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; that God the Son was made man, and died on the cross for our salvation, rose again from the dead on the third day and ascended into heaven: where sitting on the right hand of God the Father, he sends the holy Ghost to sanctify our souls; and that he will come again at the last day to judge all men; to reward the good with everlasting happiness in heaven, and to punish the wicked with torments in hell for all eternity. This in my. firm belief, and in this holy faith, O my God, I desire and resolve, by thy grace, to live and die.

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