Short Acts of Virtue
Which may be leisurely and distinctly suggested to sick persons in time of danger, yet so as not to fatigue them with too much reading.
O my God, I firmly believe whatever thy holy Catholic Church believes and teaches, and with the assistance of thy divine grace, I will die in this belief. Increase, O Lord, and strengthen my faith.
In thee, O Lord, I place my whole confidence. I hope to possess eternal life through thy infinite mercy and the merits of my Saviour Christ Jesus. O let me not be confounded for ever. My God! I love thee with my whole heart and soul, above all things, because thou art infinitely good and worthy of all love.
I love my neighbour, nay, and even my enemies, for the love of thee. O my God, it grieves me to the soul for having so ill-served so good a master. O that my heart could break asunder with sorrow for having offended thee by the sins of my past life! O that I had never offended so good a God! O unhappy day that I neglected to love thee! Too late, too late have I begun to love thee. I confess mine iniquities are many and grievous; but they cannot lessen my confidence in thy mercies, which are infinitely greater than my sins.
I most humbly ask pardon for them. I detest them because they displease thee. O God, be merciful to me a sinner. O grant me a true and sincere contrition, and let not the enemy of my soul have any power over me, either now or at my last hour.
Pardon me, O Jesus. Hear me, O Jesus. Save me, O Jesus. I renounce from this moment, and for all eternity, the devil and all his works. I abhor all his suggestions and temptations. I will, by no means, give admittance or consent to them.
Grant me, O Lord, the most precious gift of final perseverance, that whenever my hour comes, I may die in thy grace. I beg pardon of all those whom I have any way offended, and I sincerely forgive all those who have any way offended or injured me, or who wish me any kind of evil whatsoever.
I recommend my soul to God my Creator, who made me out of nothing; to Jesus Christ my Saviour, who redeemed me with his blood; to the Holy Ghost, who sanctified me in the water of baptism.
Praise, honour, and glory, be to thy name for ever, O my God, for all the graces and benefits which I have received from thy bounty during the whole course of my life.
May thy providence be ever blessed and praised for all the sufferings I have endured: O receive them in satisfaction for my sins. I offer up to thee, O my crucified Redeemer, all that I now suffer, or may have yet to suffer, to be united to, and to be sanctified by thy passion.
I am content to suffer here, in hopes that my momentary pains and sufferings will be soon changed into an eternity of happiness and comfort.
Let the flesh suffer and perish, so that the spirit may be safe. Scourge and afflict my body; and spare my soul for all eternity. Here wound me, here burn me, here cut me asunder; but spare me at my last hour.
My whole confidence, either of living or dying well, is grounded on the infinite merits of my Redeemer’s death and passion, and the blood he hath shed for my sins.
Receive, O eternal Father, his precious merits, in full satisfaction for all my offences. O let me never be separated from thee.
Wound my heart with thy love, that it may relish nothing that is earthly. Take off my thoughts from this mortal life, that all my comfort may be placed in thee alone.
Dispose of my soul that it may be prepared at thy call to go forth and meet thee, and become thy habitation for ever.
To thee I resign my heart, and bequeath my soul. O do not cast me off amongst the reprobate; but make me fit to appear in thy sight.
O happy hour! when shall I behold thee? O sweet Jesus! when shall I appear before thy face? When shall I be disengaged from this earthly habitation, that I may come to the enjoyment of thee? When shall I be released from this prison, this miserable Babylon, this place of banishment, that I may bless thy name, and join with thy angels and saints in thy everlasting praise?
When shall I lay down this cumbrous weight of flesh, and be delivered from this body of death, which I have loved too well?
Thou hast in thy justice decreed that I should die. I most humbly submit to the sentence, and readily accept it in the spirit of penance, in order to honour thee by the sacrifice of my life, and to give a proof of my obedience to thy orders.
I am content to die for thy glory, and to testify that I love thee better than myself.
I am content to die, that I may no longer offend thee, but that I may love thee, possess thee, praise thee, bless thee, and glorify thee for ever in heaven. I am content to die, to expiate by my death and suffering, all the sins which I have committed since I came into the world.
I am ready and willing to be deprived of every thing I have loved upon earth. I renounce all the vanities of the world, and now willingly bid farewell to this vale of tears and miseries.
Heaven is my happier home. Paradise is much more pleasant and agreeable, and death is the path that leads to it.
O happy news of my departure! I hope I shall soon hear the choirs of angels sing forth the immortal praise of my God. To dwell one day in his holy palace, in the company of the blessed, is better than to be a thousand years in the tabernacle of sinners.
Let slow death then hasten on, that dying I may be no longer exposed to the dangerous occasions of sin, but that I may see and enjoy thee, my God, in paradise, and love thee eternally in the regions of bliss and immortality.
O heavenly Jerusalem! O beautiful city of God, my happy home! when shall I arrive in thy sacred tabernacles?
Take courage, my soul. The hour approacheth. Eternity comes on. Thy miseries and sorrows will soon have an end.
Thou art going to the nuptials of the Lamb. Thou art going to the land of the living. Thou art going to a kingdom where the God of all glory displays his grandeur with the greatest magnificence.
O welcome the approaching hour of death, which is to remove thee to a better life, and to translate thee from misery to felicity, from death to immortality.
Jesus Christ was crucified and died for thee. Be ready then to die for him, that thou mayest enjoy him in the kingdom of heaven, which he has promised to those who put their trust and confidence in him. [Here the assistants may show a crucifix to the sick person.] Contemplate him expiring on the painful bed of the cross, without any other pillow to support his head but a crown of thorns. Behold his merciful arms extended to embrace thee. See his sacred side laid open to grant thee admittance to his heart. See his blessed head laid down to give the kiss of peace. See at how dear a rate he has purchased thy salvation. See what he suffered for thy sake. Embrace him with the most tender affection, and with a firm confidence that thou wilt soon see him in heaven, whom thou now beholdest fastened on a cross. Yes, my divine Redeemer, I embrace thee with all the affections of my soul. I depend on thy merits, and take shelter in thy bleeding wounds. I trust thou wilt not suffer me to be for ever miserable, for thou art infinitely good and merciful. Since I have thy blood to plead in my behalf, why should I fear? why should I tremble at the thoughts of death, when I consider that thou hast satisfied for my sins, paid my debts, and laid down thy life for my salvation?
I am not afraid of hell, though I have deserved it, because my dear Jesus has purchased heaven for me.
I hope in his mercy; and all the artifices of the infernal spirits shall never induce me to relinquish my hope.
In spite of them all, I will sing eternal praises to thee, O blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; I will adore thy mercies, and will possess and love thee for ever.
I will now say what, perhaps, I shall not be able to say at my dying moments:—“O Father of mercies, and God of all consolation, into thy most merciful hands I commend my soul, both for time and eternity.”
Now, instead of then, when perhaps I may be deprived of the use of speech and reason, I offer thee, O Lord, my heart, my life, my agony, my pains, my anguish, my distress, and my death, to be united to the blood, sweat and agony of my dear Saviour Jesus Christ.
Now, as well as at the time of my departure, I renounce Satan, and declare my abhorrence of whatever evil thoughts he shall then suggest to me.
O God of my heart, my portion, and my inheritance for ever! I desire to love thee, as the angels of heaven love thee. O how good hast thou been to me, and how ungrateful have I been to thee! I grieve from the bottom of my heart that I ever offended thee, who art infinitely amiable. Forgive me, dear Jesus! forgive me, O Father of mercies.
O my God and my all! my soul doth thirst after thee. When shall I come and appear before thee, O thou fountain of mercy! O who will deliver me from this body of death! I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ; for Christ is my life, and to die will be my gain.
How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord God of Hosts! I love the beauty of thy house, and the place of thy glorious abode. “The eye hath not seen, the ear hath not heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, what things God hath prepared for those who love him.”
What have I more to do with the world? And in heaven, what can I desire but thee only, O Lord? Now dost thou dismiss thy servant in peace.
I am weary of this life. I willingly take my leave of this world, and of all terrestrial objects.
Nothing, O good Jesus! nothing more shall ever separate me from thee.
O holy Mary, mother of God, who didst assist at the death of thy beloved son Jesus, obtain for me the grace of a happy death.
Glorious St. Michael, prince of the heavenly host, intercede for me at the hour of my death, that I may depart this world in the grace and favour of my Creator.
O holy Angel Guardian, to whose care God in his mercy has committed me, stand by me at that dreadful hour; protect me against all the powers of darkness: defend me from all my enemies; and conduct my soul to the mansions of eternal repose.
O all ye blessed angels and saints of God, assist me by your intercession, in this last and dreadful passage.
O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, be thou then to me a powerful redeemer and advocate with the Father.
Let those hands which were nailed to the cross, plead in my behalf, and open to me the gates of heaven.
Be thou a Jesus to me, and save my soul at that awful period. Hide me in thy wounds, and protect me under the shadow of thy wings.
O good Shepherd of souls! do not forsake me, but conduct my soul into eternal rest.
Suffer thy passion and death to stand betwix my soul and thy justice; and let these comfortable words sound then in my ears: “This day thou shalt be with me in paradise.”
O sweet Comforter of desolate and distressed souls let me then experience the multitude of thy tender mercies, when my soul shall be in conflict with the pangs of death.
Be mindful of thy poor creature, whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Remember thou hast bought my soul at a dear rate. O let not thy precious blood be lost on me, or spilt in vain.
O let not my soul perish, which cost thee so great a price.
Thou hast promised, that whosoever shall invoke thy name with faith and confidence, shall be saved: I invoke thy sacred name, O Jesus, with my whole heart, and with all possible respect and devotion: do not then suffer me to be lost for ever.
Help me, O God my Saviour; and for the glory of thy blessed name, deliver me. Look with an eye of pity on this poor piece of clay, and succour me in my distress.
I beseech thee, by thy sufferings on the cross, especially at that hour when thy blessed soul left thy sacred body, to have mercy on my soul at the time of its departure from mine.
Call me to thyself, and receive me into the number of thine elect, that I may praise thee without end.
O Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me.
Give me thy blessing, O most loving Jesus. Lord Jesus, receive my soul.
Receive me Lord Jesus, in thy mercy! receive my soul in peace.
Glory be to the Father, &c.
Post hominem vermis; post vermem fœtor et horror: Sic in non hominem vertitur omnis homo.