of thy children on earth, behold thy prodigal but repentant child, who returns to thee penetrated with regret for ever having sought to shake off that yoke which thou thyself has pronounced to be sweet and light. (Matt. xi. 30.) Pardon me, O my divine Benefactor, for thou knowest the clay of which I am formed; thou rememberest that I am but dust. (Psalm c. 11, 14.) Forget my criminal abuse of thy mercies, for the sake of him in whose name I dare to address thee as my Father, my Friend, and only happiness. Oh, give me thy divine spirit, that spirit of love and adoption, which will cause me to have recourse to thee in all my necessities. Give me a docile, obedient, and submissive heart, that thy supremely just and adorable will may be the rule of all my actions. But above all, O divine Lord, give me the bread of life, the food of immortality — give me him in whom thou wert always well pleased (Matt. iii. 17): that, being instructed by thy wisdom and thy word, I may never deviate from the respect and love due from a child to the best and most indulgent of fathers.
FROM THE AGNUS DEI TO THE COMMUNION.
LAMB of God, who takest away the sins of the world, let me not be excluded from a share in thy universal mercies* Cleanse and purify my soul; adorn it, I entreat thee, with those virtues which will render me less unworthy of participating in the food of angels.
O adorable Jesus, I am, it is true, wretched and unworthy; but hast thou not avowed thyself the die Father of the poor? and shall not that endearing title encourage me to recur to thee, as to my Father, and the best of friends? Yes, my God, I will go to
