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xxiv Pontiffs by whom they were conceded, after having verified them with the greatest exactness. Marvel not, dear reader, that in this last edition you find not, as you have heretofore found in other editions of this collection, the historical account of the origin of certain devotions to which afterwards Indulgences were annexed, since, as I have had to add for your benefit the last grants made by the kind care of our present holy Pontiff Pius IX., I was afraid lest, by making the Raccolta too bulky, I should prevent some from using it so frequently as they otherwise would, as very often occurs in the case of large books intended for daily use. This is the reason also why you will find that in mentioning the grant, brief, or rescript, I have left out the words "for ever," since, in order to obviate the necessity of this constant repetition, it is enough for you to be told once for all, that all Indulgences in the present Raccolta were granted by the goodness of Sovereign Pontiffs for ever; and I have therefore contented myself with inserting these words only where such grants were once made for a certain term. Moreover, without repeating the words, "these Indulgences are applicable to the Holy Souls in Purgatory," or "these prayers may be said in any language, provided the version be correct, and approved by the S. C. of Indulgences," I think it enough to say, once for all, that our holy Father Pius IX. made these two concessions in favour of all Indulgences in this book, by a decree of the said S. C. of Indulgences, dated Sept 30, 1852.

And now I will beg you, dear reader, to select out of this Raccolta for your own use those prayers and pious works which God moves you to adopt, or which your own devotion points out to you as most adapted to your state; and I entreat you also to use them with perseverance for your own spiritual welfare, and in suffrage for holy souls in purgatory, renewing every morning the intention of gaining those Indulgences to which you may be entitled by the prayers or good works which you do that day, according to the advice of Blessed Leonard in his Sacred Manual, § xxii. Thus cleansing more and more your soul from sin, you may hope with confidence after death that you will soon arrive at the enjoyment and love of God for ever in Paradise. May that blessing be to thee, reader, and to me also!