Aspiration. — Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
EXERCISE FOR MONDAY.
Devotion for the Souls in Purgatory.
O GOD of all holiness! infinitely pure and adorable Being! how great must be thy horror of the least stain of sin, since thou punishest so rigorously in the flames of purgatory the venial faults of those whom thou so tenderly lovest. Ah! mercifully enlighten my understanding, that the torments thou inflictest on the least offence in the other world, may teach me the enormity of sin, and penetrate my heart with compassion for those souls who are now enduring inexpressible pains, for such failings as perhaps I too often look on as trivial. My God, though thy justice banishes them from that kingdom where nothing defiled can enter, yet surely thy mercy has not forgotten them; no, thou art too good, too compassionate to abandon the work of thy own hands. Though the season for merit and repentance is now past for them, yet thou hast left them a resource in the prayers of thy servants on earth. Despise not then, O Lord, the supplication which I, thy unworthy child, now make for those who can no longer implore thy mercy for themselves. Remember, O infinite Goodness, that they are all the work of thy hand; redeemed by the precious blood of thy only Son; consider that they are the objects of thy infinite love, who burn with the most ardent desire to be united to thee. Have mercy on them then, O infinite mercy, and for thy own sake stretch forth to their relief those sacred hands by which they were formed; apply to them
