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52
METHOD OF ASSISTING AT MASS.

have been and are infinite. But I am ready to pay thee for all, even to the last farthing. Behold the tribute of my gratitude. The payment which I offer for all thy goodness is this divine blood, this most precious body, this innocent victim, which I present to thee by the hands of thy priest. I am certain that this oblation is sufficient to pay for all the gifts thou hast conferred upon me; this gift of infinite value is an equivalent for all the favours I have ever received, or now receive from thee Ah! ye holy angels, and all ye blessed spirits, help me to thank my God; and in thanksgiving for his great benefits, offer to him not only this Mass, but all the Masses that are now being celebrated throughout the whole world, that his loving goodness may be fully recompensed for all the graces which he has bestowed, and is to bestow upon me now and for eternity. Amen.

Oh! how pleasing to our good God will be such an sficctionate thanksgiving! What satisfaction will be afforded to him by this sole oblution, which, because of its infinite value, has greater efficacy than all other offerings!

In the fourth part, from the Communion to the end of the Mass, ask with great confidence the divine grace, knowing that during that time Jesus is united with you, and prays and supplicates for you. Dilate your heart, then, and ask not things of little value, but great graces: for great indeed is the oblation of the divine Son, which you present to the Father. Say to him with a humble heart:

MY dear God, I acknowledge that I am utterly unworthy of thy favours; I confess my infinite unworthiness, and that, for my manifold and grievous sins, I do not deserve to be heard. But how canst thou refuse to hear thy divine Son, who, on this altar, prays for me, and offers for me his blood and his life? Ah! my most loving God, hear the prayers of this my great advocate, and, for his sake, grant me all the graces which thou knowest to be necessary to secure the great affair of my eternal salvation. I