Page:Withgodbookofpra00las.djvu/735

 from His  cross  He  recommended  thee  to  the  care  and protection of  His  beloved  disciple,  St.  John;  take pity, we  beseech  thee,  on  our  poverty  and  necessities;  have  compassion  on  our  anxieties;  assist  and comfort us  in  all  our  infirmities  and  miseries. Thou art the  Mother  of  mercies,  the  sweet  consolatrix  and refuge of  the  desolate  and  afflicted:  look,  therefore, with pity  on  us,  miserable  children  of  Eve,  and  hear our prayer:  for  since,  in  just  punishment  of  our  sins, we are  encompassed  by  evils,  whither  can  we  fly  for more secure  shelter  than  to  thy  maternal  protection? Attend, therefore,  with  an  ear  of  pity,  we  beseech  thee, to our  humble  and  earnest  request. We ask  it  through the mercy  of  Jesus  Christ,  thy  Son,  the  Redeemer of the  world. We ask  it  through  the  anguish  of  mind wherewith thy  beloved  Son,  our  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. We ask  it through  the  threefold  repetition  of  His  prayer  in  the garden, from  whence  afterwards,  with  mournful  tears, thou didst  accompany  Him  to  the  doleful  Stations  of His  sufferings  and  death. We ask  it  through  the welts and  sores  of  His  virginal  flesh,  occasioned  by the  cords  and  whips  wherewith  He  was  bound  and scourged when  stripped  of  His  seamless  garment,  for which His  executioners  afterwards  cast  lots. We ask it  through  the  scoffs  and  ignominies  by  which  He was  insulted,  the  false  accusations  and  unjust  sentence by which  He  was  condemned  to  death,  and  which He bore  with  heavenly  patience. We ask  it  through His bitter  tears  and  sweat  of  blood,  His  silence  and resignation, His  sadness  and  grief  of  heart. We ask it through  the  blood  which  trickled  from  His  royal and sacred  head,  when  struck  with  the  scepter  of  a