grieved Thee; may I love Thee for suffering and dying for sinners, who caused all Thy griefs: O may I always love Thee! O may I never grieve Thee more! 5. All praise and glory be to Thee, LORD JESUS, Who didst taste of death, and take away the sting of death; Who didst rise again, and give us the victory. 6. Glory be to Thee, LORD JESUS, Who didst ascend to heaven, and there pleadest for us sinners. Let my affections rise to Thee, and return to the earth no more. 7. Glory be to Thee, LORD JESUS, Who from Thy throne at GOD's right hand wilt come to judge the living and the dead: may I ever be mindful of the strict account I have to give. 8. All love, all glory be to Thee, O Blessed Spirit, the Giver of life: may I never grieve Thee, and may Thy Presence never depart from me. 9. O my GOD, keep me always in the fold of the Catholic Church, that so I may never be taken away from Thee, but with Thy saints may praise and love Thee. 10. All love and glory be to Thee, O GOD, Who dost pardon sinners that repent. GOD be merciful to me a sinner. 11. Glory be to Thee, O GOD, Who dost now raise sin ners from the death of sin Who wilt raise the bodies of Thy saints and give them glory. 12. O Thou great Author and Finisher of our faith: increase in me all Christian graces, and make me to be numbered with Thy saints in glory everlasting. 4.-HOPE. After faith the next virtue that a Christian needs is hope. Hope is a gift of GOD. It is built on the promises of CHRIST, on His merits, and on the mercy of GOD, Who will give us the help we need. We are not to hope or trust in ourselves, or in our own good works. We cannot do anything good, except by the grace of CHRIST working with us. Do not sin by presumption, or think that GOD will pardon you, whether you do good or evil. Do not sin by despair, or think that God has given you up, and will not save you. If you have hope in GOD, it will lead you to 5.-PRAYER. All real Christians pray. It is a very sad thing for anyone who calls himself a Christian to live without prayer. When you pray, think well of what you are going to do. Think of your own weakness and sin. Think of GOD'S power and goodness. Kneel The Address. | JESUS CHRIST. In the first three prayers we ask for grace that God's Name may be honoured, that all may know and serve Him as their King, and that all may give up their own wills, and do His will. Then we say four prayers for ourselves. First, we ask for the food that keeps soul and body in life. Sin kills the Soul, but we go on to pray that GOD would in mercy forgive us, help us in temptation, Our Father, Which art in and keep us from evil. Lastly, Heaven. Seven Petitions. 1. Hallowed be Thy Name. 2. Thy Kingdom come. 3. Thy will be done in Earth, as it is in Heaven. 4. Give us this day our daily bread. 5. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us: 6. And lead us not into temptation; 7. But deliver us from evil: The End. For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, For ever and ever. Amen. This prayer was given to us by our Saviour JESUS CHRIST. We must use it when we pray; and all our prayers ought to be like it. We speak to GOD as our heavenly Father, because He is the Father of our LORD and Saviour we give glory to GOD, Who lets us pray to Him; and say "Amen," which here, and at the end of all other prayers, means, "So be it!" or, "May GOD grant what we ask!" 7.-DEVOTIONS ON THE LORD'S PRAYER. Our Father Which in Heaven art; LORD, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come: Thy will be done in Earth and Heaven the same. Give us our daily bread for soul and body day by day; As we forgive our debtors, so forgive our debts we pray. Into temptation lead us not; from evil keep us free; For Thine the Kingdom, Power, and Glory are eternally. [See Note before the 12 Prayers in Chapter 3.] 13. O Father Almighty, let my soul rise up to Thee, when I pray, in heavenly thoughts and desires and love. Draw my heart away from earth, when I speak to Thee in hea ven. 14. O LORD GOD, may Thy Name be confessed, Thy greatness and goodness be adored for ever in our hearts, our mouths, and our lives. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. 15. O my GoD, let it be Thy good pleasure to put an end to sin and sorrow, pain and death; that all who wait for Thy salvation may for ever love and praise Thee in Thy kingdom of glory. 16. LORD, Thy will and Thy laws are holy, just, and good. Give me grace, like the blessed spirits above, to will what Thou willest, to will because Thou willest, to will as Thou willest, and to will when Thou willest. 17. Give me, O heavenly Father, my daily bread, and with it give me Thy blessing. Above all, give me the Bread of Life, the Bread that came down from heaven, the Body and Blood of Thy most Blessed Son, to feed me unto life eternal. 18. For Thine own mercies' sake, and for the merits of the Son of Thy love, forgive me, O my Father, and forgive all penitent sinners. Glory be to | Thee, O LORD, Who, to teach us charity, hast made our forgiveness of others the condition of obtaining Thine. 19. LORD, Thou knowest how weak I am, and how ready my deceitful heart is to yield to the tempter; O be merciful to me, save and help and deliver me; keep me ever on my guard; and give me the victory at last. 20. O Father of mercy, save me from the evil that tempts me, from the evil of sin, the evil of punishment, the evil one, the evil world, my own evil heart, and all things that may lead me to do what displeases Thee. 21. To Thee, O LORD GOD, do I pray, for Thine is the kingdom over all; on Thee do I rest, for Thine is the power to help and bless me; to Thee I offer up my praises, for Thine is the glory for ever and ever. Amen. 8.-CHARITY. There are three great Christian virtues-Faith, Hope, and Charity; but, S. Paul tells us that "the greatest of these is Charity." When we believe all that GOD has taught us, our faith leads us to hope in His mercy. When we have faith and hope we love God, Who is so great and good. And JESUS CHRIST has said, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." O that I, with Faith and Hope, And with Love surrounded, In the dreadful Judgment Day May not be confounded! 9. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. The First Table. I. Thou shalt have none other gods but Me. II. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them: for I the LORD thy GOD am a jealous GOD, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me, and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love Me, and keep My commandments. III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the LORD thy GOD in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. IV. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all that thou hast to do; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy GOD. In it thou shalt do no manner of work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maidservant, thy cattle, and the | stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the LORD blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. The Second Table. V. Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long in the land, which the LORD thy GOD giveth thee. VI. Thou shalt do no mur der. VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. VIII. Thou shalt not steal. IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou bour's wife, nor his servant, shalt not covet thy neighnor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his. These Ten Commandments of GOD teach us two things— our duty towards GOD, and our duty towards our neighbour. The first four teach us to love GOD above all for His own sake. The last six teach us to love all men as ourselves for GOD's sake, and to do unto all men as we would they should do unto us. Our duty towards GOD is to believe in Him as the only true GOD, to worship Him aright, to honour His Holy Name and His Word, and to serve Him truly all the days of our life. Our duty towards our neighbour is to give due honour to all men, to hurt nobody by evil thought or word or deed, to keep our bodies pure, to be honest in all our dealings, to speak kindly and truly of all, and to desire nothing wrong. By keeping these Commandments we do our duty, not only to GOD and man, but also to ourselves. When we sin against any of these Commandments we must humbly ask GOD to have mercy upon us, and to lead our hearts to keep His laws. 10.-DEVOTIONS ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 1. Thou shalt have no more GODS but Me. 2. Before no idol bow thy knee. 3. Take not the Name of GOD in vain; 4. Nor dare GOD'S Holy Day profane. 5. Give both thy parents honour due. 6. Take heed that thou no murder do. 7. Be pure in thought, and word, and deed; 8. Nor steal, whatever be thy need. 9. Make not a wilful lie, nor love it. 10. What is Thy neighbour's do not covet. LORD, make me understand Thy Law, Show what my faults have been; And from Thy Gospel let me draw Pardon for all my sin. Amen. |