deprived thee of life. Lord! what have I done in consenting to sin? I have crucified thee anew, and taken away thy life. After such enormities, I might justly despair, did I not hear thee on the cross praying for those who crucified thee, which prayer cannot but be heard, and obtain its demand, the pardon of my sins. Add to this favour, I beseech thee, the grace of true contrition for my past offences, and a firm resolution of returning to them no more. I here offer myself to suffer for thy sake whatever thou shalt be pleased to appoint. But oh ! grant me thy love and thy grace, through the merits of this adorable sacrifice, that all I do and suffer may be united to thy sacred merits, without which my deeds and all my endeavours would be of no avail.
At the Agnus Dei.
CONSIDERATION.
BE persuaded that you cannot better atone and satisfy for your sins, than by offering Christ and his sacred merits (which you possess in the holy communion) both to his Eternal Father, and to himself. The holy communion is the best preservative against sin. Therefore, whenever you offer the Holy Sacrifice for the remission of your sins, fail not to communicate at least spiritually.
AFFECTIONS.
COME, my most amiable Jesus, come, for it is chiefly for sinners that thou descendest from heaven; come then to me who am the most unworthy of them all. But before thou enterest, purify the temple of my heart which has been defiled by sin and profaned by the idol, self-love. Break and destroy that enemy of thine, and since nothing is impossible to thee, transform a poor sinner into a saint, by
