Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/59

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 47 mercy on me. I trust not in myself, but in Thy Divine mercy. Thou alone art my hope, and against Thee have I sinned. Thou didst love me enough to die for me ; let me not be lost." ' The faithful are taught to invoke the Blessed Virgin in the following words : ' Queen of Heaven, Mother of mercy, Eefuge of sinners, reconcile me to thy Son, and beg Him to be merciful to me, an un- worthy sinner.' In a pastoral address issued by Surgant in 1502, priests are enjoined to comfort and exhort the sick in the following manner : ' Our dear Lord Jesus has suf- fered and died on the tree of the cross for you, for He wills not the death of a sinner, but rather that he be converted and live. Therefore you should not despair of the mercy of God, but place all your hope in Him. Bear your illness patiently and let your small sufferings be lost in the great pain and passion of Christ. Fear not, but trust in the protection of the Cross in all your necessities. Pray to the glori- ous Virgin Mother of God and to the saints and angels to stay by you in your last end and conduct you to eternal life.' In the ' Selenwurzgertlein ' (the most perfect and also most widely used manual of devotion) occur the following unsurpassed instructions on 'How to learn to die ' — a lesson which ' men should study day by day till they have mastered it. While thy precious soul is still in thy body put thy trust in the merits of Jesus Christ.' The Christian should pray, ' merciful Lord Jesus, I place Thy death between Thy justice and my poor soul.' Ulrich Krafft in like manner says, in his ' Spiritual Combat,' published in