Page:The Catholic prayer book.djvu/424

 whilst from  his  cross  he  recommended  thee  to  the care and  protection  of  his  beloved  disciple,  St.  John — take pity,  I beseech  thee,  on  my,  poverty  and necessities; have  compassion  on  my  anxieties  and cares; assist and  comfort  me  in  all  my  infirmities  and miseries. Thou art  the  mother  of  mercies,  the  sweet consolatrix and  refuge  of  the  needy  and  the  orphan, of the  desolate  and  the  afflicted. Look, therefore, with pity  on  a miserable,  forlorn  child  of  Eve,  and hear my  prayer; for  since,  in  just  punishment  of  my sins,  I am  encompassed  with  evils,  and  oppressed with anguish  of  spirit,  whither  can  I fly  for  more secure shelter,  O amiable  mother  of  my  Lord  and Saviour Jesus  Christ,  than  to  thy  maternal  protection? Attend, therefore,  I beseech  thee,  with pity and  compassion,  to  my  humble  and  earnest request. I ask it  through  the  infinite  merits  of  thy dear Son;  through  that  love  and  condescension wherewith he  assumed  our  nature,  when,  in  compliance with  the  divine  will,  thou  gavest  thy  consent; and whom,  after  the  expiration  of  nine  months,  thou didst bring  forth  from  the  chaste  enclosure  of  thy womb, to  redeem  the  world  and  to  bless  it  with  his presence. I ask it  through  that  anguish  of  mind wherewith thy  beloved  Son,  my  dear  Saviour,  was overwhelmed on  Mount  Olivet,  when  he  besought his eternal  Father  to  remove  from  him,  if  possible, the bitter  chalice  of  his  future  passion. I ask it through  the  threefold  repetition  of  his  prayer  in  the garden, from  whence  afterwards,  with  dolorous  steps and mournful  tears,  thou  didst  accompany  him  to  the doleful theatre  of  his  sufferings. I ask it  through the stripes  and  wounds  of  his  virginal  flesh,  occasioned by the  cords  and  whips  wherewith  he  was  bound  and scourged, when  stripped  of  his  seamless  garment,  for