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Prayer
O my afflicted Mother! Queen of Martyrs and of Sorrows, thou didst so bitterly weep
over thy Son, Who died for my salvation; but what will thy tears avail me if I am lost? By the merits, then, of thy Sorrows,
obtain for me true contrition for my sins, and a real amendment of life, together with constant and tender compassion for
the sufferings of Jesus and thy dolors. And if Jesus and thou, being so innocent, have suffered so much for love of me, obtain
that at least I, who am deserving of Hell, may suffer something for your love. "O Lady," will I say with St. Bonaventure,
"if I have offended thee, in justice wound my heart; if I have served thee, I now ask wounds for my reward. It is shameful
to me to see my Lord Jesus wounded, and thee wounded with Him, and myself without a wound." In fine, O my Mother, by the grief
that thou didst experience in seeing thy Son bow down His head and expire on the Cross in the midst of so many torments, I
beseech thee to obtain me a good death. Ah, cease not, O advocate of sinners, to assist my afflicted soul in the midst of
the combat in which it will have to engage on its great passage from time to eternity. And as it is probable that I may then
have lost my speech and strength to invoke thy name and that of Jesus, Who are all my hope, I do so now; I invoke thy Son
and thee to succor me in that last moment; and I say, Jesus and Mary, to Thee I commend my soul. Amen.
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