thee, as the merciful advocate and tender Mother of all Christians; most earnestly desiring that I could collect in my heart alone, all the tender and respectful sentiments which ever animated thy most devoted servants. But to supply for my deficiencies, I offer thee the filial tenderness with which Jesus Christ loved thee, and the respect and obedience with which, as thy dear Son, he deigned to honour thee. O Mother of Mercy! who wert never known to reject any one that had recourse to thee, receive me as thy child, for the sake of Him who confided me to thy care in his agony on the cross. Permit me to choose thee for my glorious Patroness, my dear Mother, and the object next to God, of my respect, gratitude, and love. Ah! do not refuse to receive me under thy maternal care, and to grant me a place in thy amiable heart. Let me have the honour and happiness of being ranked from my youth among thy most devoted children; that by loving and serving thee, I may learn to serve and love God perfectly; and by endeavouring to imitate thee, I may imitate Jesus Christ, whose most perfect image thou art. Accept, then, the oblation I now make to thee of my heart, that thou mayst present it to Jesus Christ, in union with the early sacrifice thou didst make of thy pure heart in the Temple. O mercifully deign, most powerful Virgin, to obtain for me grace to make an early and perfect sacrifice of my heart and whole being to Him, for whose love and service alone I was created. Teach me by thy early flight from the world, to dread and despise the world, and to profit of the advantage of my present situation, that thereby I may be prepared to meet the temptations and dangers to which I may be exposed. Obtain for me an abundant share in the
