Evening Sigh

MOTHER MOST LOVABLE 

 

My most sweet Queen, how pleasant to me is that beautiful name used by those who are devoted to you, "Mater Amabilis," Mother Most Lovable.  Yes, how true it is, O my Lady, that you are exceedingly lovable, for your beauty has won the love of God Himself:  "The King has greatly desired your loveliness." 

St. Bonaventure tells us that to your lovers even your name is so lovely, that when they pronounce it, or hear it pronounced, they are set on fire;  and an intense longing wells up within them to love you still more:  "O sweet, O kind, O most lovable Mary—your name cannot be pronounced without setting us aflame;  nor can it strike upon our hearing without stirring the affections of those who love you." 

O how fitting it is then, most lovely Mother, that I should love you.  But I shall not be satisfied with merely loving you:  I want to be, after God, the first of your lovers on earth;  and later on, the first of your lovers in Heaven.  If this desire is too bold your loveliness alone is responsible, together with the particular love that you have given me;  if you were less lovable then my longing to love you would be less. 

Come, O my Lady, and accept this intense desire of mine.  In proof that you have accepted it, you must yourself obtain for me from God the love I seek.  I seek to love you more because the love I have for you gives great joy to God Himself.  

Evening Sigh—I love you exceedingly, O most lovely Mother.

The Third Person

INDEX

The Son of God was born on earth and became the Son of the Holy Virgin; and He communicated the Holy Ghost by spiration or breathing on the Apostles, and sent Him on the day of Pentecost in the form of a mighty wind (spiritus) as well as of fiery tongues. The Apostle assures you that you are the temple of the Holy Ghost. How great are the privileges and honors heaped upon those who have submitted to the obedience of faith, who strive to live the life of God, and make use of the Holy Sacraments!

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I opened the window to the gentle rain and said my prayers there.

  MORNING PRAYER

Manual for The Children of Mary

 
As soon as you awake, bless yourself with the sign of the Cross & say:

O my God, I give myself wholly to Thee.

Bless me, O Lord; defend and govern me this day and for ever, and after this short and miserable pilgrimage, bring me to everlasting happiness with thee.

O God, my Creator and Redeemer, look graciously on thy servant, the work of thy hands; and mercifully grant that all my thoughts, words, and actions, may be directed to the praise and honor of thy name, and the salvation of my own soul. Amen.  

Place yourself in the presence of God.

Most holy and august Trinity, one God in three Persons, I believe that thou art here present; I adore thee with sentiments of the most profound humility, and render thee, with all my heart, the homage which is due to thy Sovereign Majesty.

Thank God, and offer yourself to Him.

My God, I thank thee most humbly, for all the favours thou hast bestowed upon me; it is thy goodness which has brought me to the beginning of this day, which I desire to employ only in thy service.

I consecrate to thee all my thoughts, words, actions, and sufferings; bless them, O Lord, that they may be animated by thy love, and tend only to promote thy greater glory.

Resolve to avoid sin, and to practice holiness.

Adorable Jesus, Divine Model of that perfection to which we should aspire, I will endeavour this day, after thy example, to be mild, humble, chaste, zealous, patient, charitable, and resigned; and I will strive particularly to avoid those faults to which I am most subject, and which I sincerely desire to correct.  

Beg the necessary grace.

My God, thou knows my weakness; I can do nothing without the assistance of thy holy grace; do not refuse it to me. O my God, but proportion it to my wants; give me sufficient strength to avoid what thou hast forbidden, to practice the good thou expectest of me, and to suffer patiently all the crosses thou mayest be pleased to send me.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name: thy kingdom come: thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.

The Hail Mary.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

The Apostles' Creed

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almightly, Creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell, the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; 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.

Act of Faith

MY God, I most firmly believe in thee, and in all that thou hast revealed to thy holy Catholic Church; because thou art truth itself, who neither canst deceive, nor be deceived. Amen.

Act of Hope

MY God, I most firmly hope in thee, because of all thy promises; and I trust that thou wilt give me eternal life, and all the graces necessary to obtain it, through the merits of my Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Act of Charity

MY God, I love thee with my whole heart and above all things, because thou art the Sovereign Good, and for thy own perfections most worthy of all love; and for thy sake I love my neighbour as myself. Amen.

The "Angelus Domini."

The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary;
And she conceived by the Holy Ghost.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord,

Be it done to me according to thy word.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

And the Word was made flesh,

And dwelt amongst us.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God,
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

HAIL! Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy; our Life, our Sweetness, and our Hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thy merciful eyes towards us; and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement! O loving! O sweet Virgin Mary!

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Our Lady's Litany