the Cross, what time Thou didst commend the one to the other, and didst bid them farewell in those touching words: " Behold thy son: behold thy Mother." Visit me, I beseech Thee, with Thy salvation before my death, and make me to hear those words which blessed John heard Thee speak to him from the Cross: " Behold thy mother "; that so, by hearing those words, my soul may be kept safe from fear of the enemy, who goes about like a roaring lion seeking to devour it.
Holy Mary, my most gentle Mistress, most faithful Advocate of all Christians, by all those excellent merits, which made thee so well-pleasing to God; by each of all those motherly services which thou didst so willingly render to thy Son according to the flesh; and by all those bitter tears, which thou didst shed when witnessing His Passion, I beseech thee, to vouchsafe to have pity upon me, thy poor suppliant; to take me, with thy wonted tenderness, into thy motherly care; and to number me among those of thy servants who are the objects of thy special love.
O glorious Virgin Mary, my only hope, come to me, I pray thee; show me thy face when the hour of my departure is at hand; and gently and sweetly turn upon me those pitying eyes of thine, with which thou didst so often look joyously upon the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, and which at His Passion were wet with so many tears. Stand then by my side, O most holy Mother of Jesus, with thy sweet virgin train, and the blessed company of all the saints, even as thou didst faithfully persevere to the end in standing by the Cross of thy dearly-loved Son, when He was about to die; for after thy only Son, my Lord Jesus Christ, I know no other who is so powerful, or so
