by our Divine Redeemer upon Calvary, and perpetuated through love for us on our altars. We thus in a most perfect manner acknowledge God’s supreme power over us, and our total dependence on him, and we may hope that in return, through his mercy, our death may be pleasing in his sight.
From the beginning of Mass to the Offertory.
CONSIDERATION.
REFLECT, that in consequence of Adam’s sin, God ordained that he and his posterity should die. If this evil is due to us on account of original sin, how much more do we deserve the punishment no account of our own sins.
AFFECTIONS.
SINCE death, my God, is the punishment thou hast ordained for sin, I submit in the spirit of penance to the decrees of thy justice. I accept, with an humble and submissive heart, all the pains, humiliations, and privations which accompany it, in satisfaction for my sins, for which I am truly sorry. O pardon me, my God, I beseech thee. How great is my ingratitude to thy divine Majesty, who didst draw me out of nothing, and give me all that I have; after all thy blessings I have disowned thy sovereignty over me, by refusing to subject myself to thy law. I have slighted thy justice, and offended thee deliberately, though thou couldst at each moment have punished me: I have dishonored thy sanctity by the sinfulness of my life, and have slighted thy goodness which adopted me as thy child, by refusing to honour and obey thee as my Father. Thou didst proffer me a share in thy happiness, and in the eternal enjoyment of thy glory,
