HOLY AND EARNEST ASPIRATIONS,
Most useful during the agony of death.
O eternal Father! I am that most unworthy servant whom thou hast so loved as to give for him thy only-begotten Son. In this hour deal mercifully with thy servant, that his precious Blood may not be lost in me. For what profit have I in the Blood of my Redeemer, if I go down into corruption?
O Christ Jesus! I am that lost sheep which thou leftest the ninety and nine in the wilderness to seek with so much toil, and bring back upon thy shoulders. Thou art the Good Shepherd who hast laid down thy life for thy sheep. Oh, seek thy servant, for I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost! Let not him who even now goes about like a lion, roaring and seeking whom he may devour, snatch me away! Deliver me, O Lord, out of the mouth of the lion, &c.
O Jesus, I am that unhappy man who, in going down from Jerusalem, fell among robbers, and, after receiving many wounds, have been left half dead. But thou art my Physician, and that true Samaritan who hast been moved with compassion towards me, and hast bound up my wounds, nay, and hast even prepared for me a medicine of thy own Blood and wounds. Thou art he who hast borne our infirmities, and by whose bruises we are healed. Have mercy on me, O Lord, in this my last hour! O Lord, make haste to help me ere my soul die and perish for ever I O Jesus, I am that unhappy sinner, and one that is guilty of many crimes. But thou art my Advocate with the Father, and the Propitiation for my sins. For thou wiliest not the death of the sinner, but his life. It was to save sinners that thou earnest into this world. Show mercy to me, therefore, in this last hour of my life! Be my Mediator and Advocate with the Father! O good Jesu, be merciful to me a sinner, kc. Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit, kc.
CHAPTER XV.
Prayers and Memorable Words.
OF SAINTS IN THEIR DYING MOMENTS.
When Saint Eligius, Bishop of Noyon, had embraced his friends with tears, and bid them farewell, he prayed for
