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tertia die resurrexit a mortuis: ascendit ad cœlos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis: inde venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos.

Credo in Spiritum Sanctum, sanctam Ecclesiam Catholicam, Sanctorum communionem, remissionem peccatorum, carnis resurrectionem, vitam æternam.

Amen.

the dead; he ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Catholic Church; the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

After having thus made the Profession of your Faith, unite with Holy Church, who hails, each morning, the rising of the day-star, who is her Jesus, who is the Light of the World, and the Sun of Justice. To this end, you may recite the following beautiful Hymn, composed by St. Ambrose :

HYMN.

Splendor Paternæ gloriæ, De luce lucem proferens, Lux lucis, et fons luminis, Diem dies illuminans.

Verusque sol illabere, Micans nitore perpeti : Jubarque Sancti Spiritus Infunde nostris sensibus.

Votis vocemus et Patrem, Patrem perennis gloriæ, Patrem potentis gratiæ, Culpam releget lubricam.

Confirmet actus strenuos, Dentes retundat invidi:

O Brightness of the Father's glory! bringing Light from the Light! Thou Light of Light, and Fount of Light, and Day that illuminest the day!

O thou true Sun! pour forth thy rays on us, shining upon us with unfading splendour! O Radiance of the Holy Ghost, be thou infused into our senses and powers.

Give us, also, to invoke the Father, the Father of eternal glory, the Father of mighty grace, that he would drive from us sin and its allurements.

May he give energy to our deeds and strengthen them;

1 St. John viii. 12.

may he break the teeth of the envious serpent; may he support us when we rudely fall, and give us the grace to act.

May he govern and rule our mind, in a chaste and faithful body; may our faith be fervent in warmth, void of the poisons of error.

May Christ be our food, and Faith our drink; may we, in gladness, quaff the sober inebriation of the Spirit.

May this day be one of joy; modesty its dawn, Faith its noon; and no night to dim the mind.

The aurora is swift advancing; O may the full Aurora come, the whole Son in the Father, and the whole Father in his Word!

To God the Father, and to his Only Son, and to the Paraclete Spirit, be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Casus secundet asperos, Donet gerendi gratiam.

Mentem gubernet et re-
gat,
Casto, fideli corpore;
Fides calore ferveat,
Fraudis venena nesciat.
Christusque nobis sit ci-
bus,
Potusque noster sit fides:
Læti libamus sobriam
Ebrietatem Spiritus.

Lætus dies hic transeat,
Pudor sit ut diluculum,
Fides velut meridies,
Crepusculum mens nesciat.
Aurora cursus provehit,
Aurora totus prodeat,
In Patre totus Filius,
Et totus in Verbo Pater.

Deo Patri sit gloria, Ejusque soli Filio, Cum Spiritu Paraclito, Et nunc, et in perpetuum. Amen.

After having thus paid your homage to your divine Mediator, next make an humble confession of your sins, reciting, for this purpose, the general formula made use of by the Church.

THE CONFESSION OF SINS.

I confess to Almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John Baptist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the Saints, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed;

VOL. X.

Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, beatæ Mariæ semper Virgini, beato Michaeli Archangelo, beato Joanni Baptistæ, sanctis Apostolis Petro et Paulo, et omnibus Sanctis, quia peccavi nimis, cogitatione, verbo et opere:

C

mea culpa, mea culpa, mea through my fault, through my maxima culpa.

Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Virginem, beatum Michaelem Archangelum, beatum Joannem Baptistam, sanctos Apostolos Petrum et Paulum, et omnes Sanctos, orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum. Misereatur nostri omnipotens Deus, et dimissis peccatis nostris, perducat nos ad vitam æternam. Amen.

Indulgentiam, absolutionem et remissionem peccatorum nostrorum tribuat nobis omnipotens et misericors Dominus. Amen.

fault, through my most grievous fault.

Therefore I beseech the blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints, to pray to our Lord God for me.

May Almighty God have mercy on us, and, our sins being forgiven, bring us to life everlasting. Amen.

May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon, absolution, and remission of our sins. Amen.

This is the proper time for making your Meditation, as, no doubt, you practise this holy exercise. It may be the case, with some souls, that their assiduous application to the mysteries of the Holy Liturgy has produced upon them, this among other effects,-that it has opened to them the way of Prayer properly so called. Let, then, each one commune with God, under the influence of the Holy Spirit. During this long period, which never lasts less than six months, the Christian is free to choose the subject of his communings with God, for he has been enlightened, as to all things, by the words and works of his Lord, who came down from heaven to earth that he might teach us all truth. So that, whether he stay to ponder over the mysteries which have been revealed to him, according to the attraction which he feels for them; or fix his attention upon the perfections of that divine Model, in whom there are, so resplendently, all the marks of the Second Adam come down from heaven; 1

11 Cor. xv. 47.

1

or our Lord point out to him those miseries and imperfections which are in him, and keep him still so far from his Model; all will tend to enlighten him, to inflame him, and to unite him with his God. When a soul is continually being influenced by her contact with the Church through the Liturgy, it is impossible for the spirit of Prayer not to grow within her, and, either imperceptibly, or suddenly, produce in her a transformation into Him who, being God, has united himself to our nature, in order that, through him, we might be united with God.

Your Meditation or Prayer ended, or deferred, on account of your not having leisure to make it at this hour of the morning, you will next address this prayer to God, begging him to grant you the grace to avoid, during this day, every kind of sin, and to perform all manner of good works. Say, then, this prayer of the Church, for her prayers are the best:

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During the day, you would do well to use the instructions and prayers, which you will find in these volumes, both for the Proper of the Time, and the Proper of the Saints. In the Evening, you may use the following prayers.

NIGHT PRAYERS.

After having made the sign of the Cross, adore that Sovereign Lord, who now offers you repose after the labours of the day. Beg his protection on these hours of sleep and night; and, to this end, you may recite this beautiful hymn of St. Ambrose, which was so great a favourite with St. Augustine, his disciple.1

Deus, Creator omnium Polique rector, vestiens Diem decoro lumine, Noctem soporis gratia,

Artus solutos ut quies Reddat laboris usui, Mentesque fessas allevet, Luctusque solvat anxios;

HYMN.

Grates, peracto jam die, Et noctis exortu, preces, Voti reos ut adjuves, Hymnum canentes, solvi

mus.

Te cordis ima concinant,
Te vox sonora concrepet,
Te diligat castus amor,
Te mens adoret sobria.

O God, Creator of all things, and Ruler of the heavens, 'tis thou that clothed day with beautiful light, and night with the boon of sleep.

'Tis sleep that restores our wearied limbs to the toil of work. Sleep gives repose to the mind when tired, and takes away the anxious-making grief.

The day is spent, and night is come; we offer thee our thanks and prayers, singing our hymn, that thou mayst help us, thy servants.

May our inmost heart sing thy praise, and tuneful voices sound forth thy name; may our chaste affection love, and our sober mind adore, thee.

1 Confessions, Bk. ix. ch. 12.

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