Page:The Catholic prayer book.djvu/215

[This page is missing in the source scan. The text is from The paradise of the Christian soul by Jacob Merlo Horistus. The translation on this page is taken from pages 229-231 of |The path to Heaven, a complete collection of all the public and private devotions in general use, published by BURNS LAMBERT AND OATES, 1833, which includes copies of these same prayers.]

ACTS OF DEVOTION, PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING AFTER COMMUNION.

O Lord Jesus Christ, my Creator and my Redeemer, my God and my All, whence is this to me that my Lord, and so great a Lord, whom heaven and earth cannot contain, should come unto this poor dwelling, this house of clay of my earthly habitation! Oh, that I could entertain thee as I ought! Thy loving kindness invites me to thy embraces; and I would willingly say, with the spouse in the Canticles, "I have found him whom my soul loveth; I have held him and will never let him go." But the awe of so great a majesty checks me, and the sense of my great unworthiness and innumerable sins keeps me back. Would that I could embrace thy feet! that, like Magdalen, I could wash them with my tears.

Bow down thyself, with all thy powers, O my soul, to adore the sovereign Majesty Which hath vouchsafed to come to visit thee; pay him the best homage thou art able, as to thy first beginning, and thy last end; and perfectly annihilate thyself in the presence of this eternal, immense, infinite Deity. Then pour thyself forth in his presence in praises and thanksgiving; and invite all heaven and earth to join with thee in magnifying their Lord and thine, for his mercy and bounty to thee.

What return shall I make to thee, O Lord, for all thou hast done for me? Behold, when I had no being at all, thou didst create me; and when I was gone astray, and lost in my sins, thou didst redeem me, by dying for me. All that I have, all that I am, is thy gift; and now, after all thy other favours, thou hast given me thyself: blessed be thy name for ever! Thou art great, O Lord, and exceedingly to be praised; great are thy works, and of thy wisdom there is no end; but thy tender mercies, thy bounty and goodness to me, are above all thy works: these I desire to confess and extol for ever. Bless, then, thy Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within thee praise and magnify his name. Bless thy Lord, O my soul, and see thou never forget all that he hath done for thee. O all ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord, praise and glorify him for ever. O all ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord, praise and glorify his holy name. Bless the Lord, all ye saints, and let the whole Church of heaven and earth join in praising and giving him thanks for all his mercies and graces to me; and so, in some measure, supply for what is due from me. But as all this still falls short of what I owe thee for thy infinite love, I offer to thee, O eternal Father, the same Son of thine whom thou hast given me, and his thanksgiving, which is infinite in value. Look not, then, upon my insensibility and ingratitude, but upon the face of thy Christ, and with him, and through him, receive this offering of my poor self, which I desire to make to thee.

N.B. Here also may be recited the Canticle of the Three Children, the Te Deum, and some Psalms and Hymns of Praise.

AN OBLATION AFTER COMMUNION

O Father of mercies and God of all consolation how hast thou loved us to whom thou hast given thy only begotten Son once for our