Page:ThePathToHeaven.djvu/638

 thee I  recommend  the  last  hour  of  my  life,  and  that  judgment which  awaits  me  afterwards.

Merciful Jesus,  have  mercy  on  me.

When my  feet,  benumbed  with  death,  shall  admonish me that  my  course  in  this  life  is  drawing  to  an  end,

Merciful Jesus,  have  mercy  on  me.

When my  hands,  cold  and  trembling,  shall  no  longer  be able  to  clasp the  crucifix,  and  shall  let  it  fall  against  my will  on  my  bed  of  suffering,

Merciful Jesus,  have  mercy  on  me.

When my  eyes,  dim  and  troubled  at  the  approach  of death,  shall  fix  themselves  on  thee,  my  last  and  only support,

Merciful Jesus,  have  mercy  on  me.

When my  lips,  cold  and  trembling,  pronounce  for  the last time  thy  adorable  name,

Merciful Jesus,  have  mercy  on  me.

When my  face,  pale  and  livid,  shall  inspire  the  beholders with  pity  and  dismay;  when  my  hair,  bathed  in the  sweat  of  death,  and  stiffening  on  my  head,  shall  forebode my  approaching  end,

Merciful Jesus,  have  mercy  on  me.

When my  ears,  soon  to. be for  ever  shut  to  the  discourse of  men,  shall  be  open  to  that  irrevocable  decree which is  to  fix  my  doom  for  all  eternity,

Merciful Jesus,  have  mercy  on  me.

When my  imagination,  agitated  by  dreadful  spectres, shall be  sunk  in  an  abyss  of  anguish;  when  my  soul, affrighted with  the  sight  of  my  iniquities  and  the  terrors of thy  judgments,  shall  have  to  fight  against  the  angel  of darkness,  who  will  endeavour  to  conceal  from  my  eyes thy mercies,  and  to  plunge  me  into  despair,

Merciful Jesus,  have  mercy  on  me.

When my  poor  heart,  oppressed  with  suffering  and  exhausted by  its  continual  struggles  with  the  enemies  of  its salvation, shall  feel  the  pangs  of  death,

Merciful Jesus,  have  mercy  on  me.

When "the  last  tear,  the  forerunner  of  my  dissolution, shall  drop  from  my  eyes,  receive  it  as  a  sacrifice  expiation for  my  sins;  grant  that  I  may  expire  the  victim  off penance;  and  in  that dreadful  moment,

Merciful Jesus,  have  mercy  on  me.

When my  friends  and  relations,  encircling  my  bed,  shall