happiness than to receive Thee worthily, nor a greater misery than to receive Thee unworthily. All this I most steadfastly believe, because it is what Thou hast taught us by Thy Word and by Thy Church.

4. Act of Humility.

BUT, O my God, how shall I dare to approach

unto Thee-so wretched a worm to 'so infinite a Majesty-so unclean a sinner to such infinite purity and holiness? My soul is wholly covered with leprosy, and how shall I presume to embrace Thee? I tremble at the sentence of Thine Apostle, that he that receiveth unworthily receiveth his own damnation; for I cannot but acknowledge myself infinitely unworthy;

nor

should I dare ever to come to Thee, were I not called by Thy most loving invitation, and encouraged by Thine infinite goodness and mercy. In this mercy, which is above all Thy works, I put my whole trust; and in this confidence alone I presume to draw nigh unto Thee.

O

5. Act of Contrition.

LORD, I detest with my whole heart all the sins by which I have ever offended Thy divine Majesty, from the first moment that I was capable of sinning to this very hour. I desire to lay them all at Thy feet, to be cancelled by Thy precious Blood. All my sins displease me now exceedingly, because they have offended Thine infinite goodness. By Thy grace I will never commit them any more; I am sorry for them, and I will be sorry for them as long as I live, and, according to the best of my power, will do penance for them.

Forgive me, dear Lord, for Thy mercy's sake; pardon me all that is past; and be Thou my Keeper for the time to come, that I may never more offend Thee.

6. Act of Divine Love.

MY Jesus, the God of my heart and the Life of my soul, as the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so doth my soul pant after Thee, the Fountain of life and the Ocean of all good. I am overjoyed at the hearing of these happy tidings, that I may go into the house of the Lord; or rather that the Lord is to come into my house, and take up His abode with me. O happy moments, when I shall be admitted to embrace the living God, for Whom my poor soul' languisheth with love. Come, dear Jesus, and take full possession of my heart for ever; I offer it to Thee without reserve. I desire to consecrate it eternally to Thee. I love Thee with my whole soul and above all things; at least I desire so to love Thee. It is nothing less than infinite love that bringeth Thee to me, teach me to make a suitable return of love.

BUT,

7. Prayer for Grace.

UT, O my God, Thou knowest my great poverty and misery, and that of myself I can do nothing; Thou knowest how unworthy I am of this infinite favour, and Thou alone canst make me worthy. Since Thou art so good as to call me thus to Thyself, add this one bounty more to all the rest, to prepare me for Thyself. Cleanse my soul from its stains, clothe it with the wedding garment of charity, adorn it with all virtues, and make it a fit abode for Thee. Drive sin and the devil far from

this dwelling which Thou art here pleased to choose for Thyself, and make me one according to Thine own Heart; that this heavenly visit which Thou designest for my salvation may not, by my unworthiness, be perverted to my damnation. Never let me be guilty of Thy Body and Blood by an unworthy communion; for the sake of this same precious Blood, which Thou hast shed for me, deliver me from so great an evil : rather let me die a thousand deaths than, thus dare to crucify Thee again.

8. Petition for the Prayers of the Blessed
Virgin and the Saints.

MY Jesus, grant that all Thy blessed Angels and Saints, and, above all, Thy glorious Mother, the ever-Virgin Mary, who, face to face, behold Thee, Whom I here receive beneath the Sacramental veils, may bestow upon me the assistance of their prayers and intercessions, that I may in such manner receive Thee here, in this place of exile, that I may hereafter, with them, enjoy Thine unveiled fulness in our true native country, world without end. Amen.

Prayer of S. Thomas Aquinas.

ALMIGHTY, Everlasting God, behold I draw

near to the Sacrament of Thine OnlyBegotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; I come like a sick man to the Physician of life; unclean, to the Fountain of mercy; blind, to the Light of eternal brightness; poor and needy, to the Lord of heaven and earth. I pray Thee, therefore, that out of the greatness of Thy boundless fulness Thou wouldest vouchsafe to cure my sickness, to wash my filthiness, to give light to my blindness, to make

rich my poverty, to clothe my nakedness, that I may receive the Bread of Angels, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, with such reverence and humility, with such contrition and devotion, with such purity and faith, with such purpose and intention, as may forward the salvation of my soul. Grant, I pray Thee, that I may receive, not only the Sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood, but also the substance and power of the Sacrament. O most gracious God, grant me so to receive the Body of Thine Only-Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, which He took of the Virgin Mary, that I may be worthy to be made one with His mystical Body and reckoned among His Members. O most loving Father, grant that may at length behold with open face Thy beloved Son, Whom I purpose now to receive veiled in my pilgrimage, Who ever liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

From the Prayer of St. Ambrose.

KING of virgins, Lover of purity and chastity, extinguish in my body, by the heavenly. dew of Thy blessing, whatever may kindle evil desire; that so one even purity of mind and body 'may abide in me. Mortify in my members every sting of the flesh and every wanton emotion; and give me with Thy other gifts which please Thee, true and persevering chastity; that I may, with chaste body and pure heart, offer unto Thee the Sacrifice of praise. For with what contrition of heart and fountain of tears, with what reverence and awe, with what purity of mind and body, should that divine and heavenly Sacrifice be cele brated, wherein Thy Flesh is indeed taken, and

Thy Blood is indeed drunk; wherein things lowest and highest, earthly and divine, are united ; where is the presence of Thy holy Angels; and where Thou art, in a wonderful and unspeakable manner, both Sacrifice and Priest.

O most sweet Bread, heal the palate of my heart, that I may taste the sweetness of Thy love; heal it of all infirmities, that I may find sweetness in nothing out of Thee. O most pure Bread, Who hast in Thyself all delight and all savour, Who ever refreshest me, and never failest in Thyself, let my heart feed on Thee, and let my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savour. Angels feed on Thee fully; let pilgrim man feed on Thee after his measure, that he may never fail in the way, being refreshed with such sustenance on his journey.

The

Holy Bread, living Bread, pure Bread, Who camest down from heaven, and givest life unto the world, come into my heart and cleanse me from all defilement of flesh and spirit. Enter into my soul; heal and cleanse me within and without. Be the protection and continual health of soul and body. Drive far from me those who lay wait for me, let my enemies remove far away from the presence of Thy power; so that, fenced within and without by Thee, I may, by a straight way, arrive at Thy kingdom, where not, as now, in Mysteries, but face to face I shall behold Thee, when Thou shalt have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father, and shalt be God, all in all. Then shalt Thou satisfy me with Thyself, by a marvellous fulness, so that I shall neither hunger nor thirst any more; Who livest and reignest with the same God the Father and the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.