Prayer at the Offertory, Lavabo, and Preface
O my soul! run to thy suffering Lord, and at his feet pour out thyself in thanksgiving, and in all the ecstasies of love and praise. It is thy God that suffers, that he may redeem a slave, a poor sinful worm of the earth. When I behold thee, O dear Jesus, stripped naked, fastened to the pillar, cruelly scourged, torn, and mangled, I see the immensity of thy love for us, and the greatness of our sins against thee. I see in thy wounds, the slavery into which we are degraded, and the punishment due to our crimes. Our sins bound thy hands, and every stroke thou didst receive was the effect of our iniquities. I offer thee my heart and soul, to be eternally consecrated to thy divine service, and to be washed and purified in the purple streams that gushed forth from every pore of thy sacred body. I throw myself into the arms of thy infinite mercy, with a firm resolution to die rather than renew thy passion, by relapsing into any mortal sin. No, dear Redeemer, I never will prefer Barabbas to thee; I never will set thee in competition with the world, or its delusive charms, sinful pleasures, or sordid interests. O amiable Jesus, thou shalt be my choice for ever. I will strike no more nails into thy hands by my evil deeds. I will add no more thorns to thy painful crown by my sinful thoughts. I will no more pierce thy sacred side by any unlawful desires. I will not scourge thy holy flesh by curses or blasphemies, nor crucify thee over again by any fresh crime. I am determined, with thy assistance, to put off the old man with all his acts, by a candid and naked confession of all my past sins. O grant that I may never appear naked of virtue in thy sight; but may be clad with the white robe of innocence when I shall be presented before thy awful tribunal. Pierce my heart with the thorns of penance and compunction here, that I may, through thy merits, be crowned with glory hereafter. Grant that whenever I am under any affliction, meet with any adversity, disgrace or contempt, or feel any part of the thorny crown on my head, I may rejoice in bearing such a resemblance of thy sufferings, and show by my patience and humility whose disciple I am. Give me grace to submit with cheerfulness to the rod of thy paternal correction; and support my natural weakness, that I may not sink under the weight of any cross with which it shall please thy Divine Providence to visit me. Disengage my heart from all earthly affections. Raise and elevate my soul to thee, that I may always live and converse in heaven, where thou, my only treasure, art. I now presume to join my unworthy voice with the heavenly choirs of all thy angels and saints, who are incessantly singing eternal praises to thee:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; Heaven and Earth are full of thy glory: Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosannah in the highest, &c.