Page:MeditationsOnTheMysteriesOfOurHolyV1.djvu/241

 deep in sentiments of the fear of God, and detestation of my sins, accompanying them with a great confidence in God's mercy that He will deliver me from this extreme misery; and so will I beg it of our Lord, saying to Him:

Colloquy. — I confess, O my God, that I am that miserable sinner who, " in the land of the saints hath done" innumerable "wicked things;" for which I deserve "not" to "see" Thy " glory," nor to be admitted into the company of those who enjoy it. I am sorry for those sins by which I have merited so great a punishment. Pardon them, O Lord, through Thy mercy, that the work of Thy hands be not destroyed, nor fail in that end for which it was created! Let me not help to people hell, nor to be fuel for that neverending fire! Suffer me not to fall into a state in which I should curse and abhor Thee; for who shall confess to Thee in hell? No, no, O Lord, it must not be so, for I must for ever love and bless Thee; and. after this life, Thou must place me in the other, where I may love and praise Thee, world without end! Amen.

1. To obtain perfect purity of soul, which is the constant end of the purgative way, there are ordained certain forms of prayer prescribed in the ninth chapter of the introduction of this book, of which the first contains, for matter of meditation, the seven capital or principal vices, commonly called the seven deadly sins; the ten commandments of the law of God; and the three faculties and five senses of man. And it is very profitable to know more particularly the