Baily Devotions. INSTRUCTIONS AND DEVOTIONS FOR MORNING. As soon as you awake, make the sign of the cross, saying: Glory be to the Father, who hath created me. me. Blessed be the holy and undivided Trinity now and for ever. Amen. On rising from your bed, say, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I arise. May he bless, preserve, and govern me, and bring me to everlasting life. Amen. While you are dressing, occupy yourself with pious thoughts and meditations, on some point in the life or passion of your Saviour, on God's mercies, on your own. sins, on the temptations of the world, on the shortness of life, on eternity, &c.; or say some psalm or hymn.. See Index. As soon as you are dressed, prepare to say your morning prayers. There is no duty of greater importance than this; none has greater influence upon our lives. According as it is well or ill performed will be the character of the day; and our life is made up of days. Before you begin your prayers, therefore, recollect yourself, and compose your mind. Think who you are, and what He is whom you are about to address; and endeavour to clothe yourself with those sentiments of humility, reverence, and awe, which become you on such an occasion, and at such a time. Then, kneeling down in the quietest and most retired spot you can find, if possible in some room or part of the room devoted to the purpose, begin your prayers. Our prayers and devotions must consist of acts of adoration, praise, and thanksgiving to God for his mercies, of confession of our sins, resolution of amendment, oblation of ourselves to God's service, prayers for pardon and grace, and prayers in behalf of others, &c. All forms of prayer are composed, more or less, of these parts, though not always in the same order. Each person is at liberty to please himself both as to the form and arrangement of his prayers. Some forms are useful if not necessary for all. We shall give several of those forms which have been most approved, and are most used, to suit the different tastes of different minds, and to afford to all the advantage of occasional variety. A greater variety may be gained by adding at choice one or more of the "Occa sional Prayers." Morning Prayer. Make the sign of the cross; saying, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Blessed be the holy and undivided Trinity now and for ever. Amen. Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of thy love. Send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth. O God, who on this day didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit; grant us in the same Spirit to relish what is right, and ever to rejoice in his consolation. Through Jesus Christ, &c. Amen. 1. An Act of Faith in the Presence of God. O my God! I firmly believe that thou art here present, and perfectly seest me, and observest all my actions, all my thoughts, and the most secret motions of my heart. I acknowledge that I am not worthy to come into thy presence, nor to lift up my eyes unto thee, because I have so often sinned against thee. But thy goodness and mercy invite me to come unto thee. Assist me, therefore, with thy Holy Spirit, and teach me to pray to thee as I ought, Our Father, &c. Hail, Mary, &c. I believe, &c. 2. An Act of Adoration and Thanksgiving. O eternal God! Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; the beginning and end of all things; in whom we live, and move, and have our being: prostrate before thee in body and soul, I adore thee with the most profound humility. I praise and bless thee, and give thee thanks for all the benefits which thou hast conferred upon me; that thou hast created me out of nothing, made me after thine own image and likeness, redeemed me with the precious blood of thy Son, and sanctified me with thy Holy Spirit. I thank thee that thou hast called me into thy Church, assisted me by thy grace, so often admitted me to thy sacraments, borne with my ingratitude so long, watched over me by thy special providence; blessed me, notwithstanding my sins and utter unworthiness, with the continuance of thy gracious protection; and for all the innumerable blessings which I owe to thy undeserved bounty. Particularly this morning, I thank thee for having preserved me during the night past, and for bringing me in safety to the beginning of another day. O my God, how good art thou unto me! What return can I make unto thee for all that thou hast done unto me? I will bless thy holy name, and serve thee truly all the days of my life. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within me praise his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all that he hath done for thee. Here call to mind the chief sins of your past life, and make resolutions against the temptations and dangerous occasions you may probably meet with this day. 3. An Act of Contrition, with good Resolutions. O my God, how little have I served thee in time past! how greatly have I sinned against thee! Isac knowledge my iniquity, and my sin is always before me. But I repent, O Lord, I repent. I am heartily sorry that I have lost that time in offending thee which thou gavest me to be employed in thy service, in advancing the good of my own soul, and obtaining everlasting life. I detest all the sins which I have committed against thy divine Majesty, and I resolve never to commit them any more. I am sorry, above all things, that I have offended thee, because thou art infinitely good, and sin is infinitely displeasing to thee. I love thee with my whole heart, at least I desire so to do; and I firmly pur pose, by the help of thy grace, to serve thee more faithfully for the time to come. Receive, I beseech thee, the offering I now make to thee of the remainder of my life. I renew the vows and promises made in my baptism. I renounce the devil, and all his works; the world, and all its pomps. I now begin, and will endeavour to spend this day according to thy holy will, performing all my actions so that they may be pleasing unto thee. I will take particular care to avoid the failings I am so apt to commit, and to exercise the virtues most agreeable to my state and em ployment. I offer to thee, O my God, the life and death of thy only Son; and with them these my affections and resolutions, my thoughts, words, deeds, and sufferings of this day, and of all my life, in honour of thy adorable Majesty; in thanksgiving for all thy benefits, in satisfaction for my sins, and to obtain the assistance of thy grace; that, persevering to the end in doing thy holy will, I may love and enjoy thee for ever in thy glory.. 5. A Petition. Thou knowest, O God, how weak and unable I am to do good. Leave me not to myself, but take me under thy protection, and give me grace faithfully to comply with these holy resolutions. Enlighten my understandng with a lively faith, raise up my will to a firm hope, and inflame it with an ardent charity. Strengthen my weakness, and cure the corruption of my heart; grant that, overcoming my enemies, both visible and invisible, I may make good use of thy grace; -and vouchsafe to add to these blessings the inestimable gift of final perse verance. V. Unto thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my voice. R. And early in the morning my prayer shall come before thee. V. Let my mouth be ever filled with thy praises. R. That I may sing of thy glory, and all the day long of thy greatness. V. Turn away thy face, O Lord, from my sins. V. Create in me a clean heart, O God. R. To keep us without sin. V. Have mercy upon us, O Lord. V. Let thy mercy be upon us, O Lord. P. And let my cry come unto thee. A Collect. Lord God Almighty, who hast brought us to the beginning of this day, let thy powerful grace so conduct us through it, that we may not fall into any sin, but that all our thoughts, words, and works may be guided by the rules of thy heavenly justice, and tend to the observance of thy holy law, through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, for ever and ever. Amen. O Lord God, King of heaven and earth, vouchsafe |