February
LENT — PASSION OF OUR LORD — PURIFICATION.
[See also the Seven Dolours, September.]
The Seven Words upon the Cross.[1]
V. O God, bow down to aid me.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
V. Glory be to the Father, &c. R. As it was, &c.
The First Word.
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
V. We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.
O my beloved Jesus, who for the love of me didst agonise on the Cross that thou mightest pay by thy sufferings the debt due to my sins, and didst open thy divine mouth to obtain my pardon from eternal justice, have mercy on all the faithful in their agony, and on myself when I shall be in that extremity, and, by the merits of thy most precious blood shed for our salvation, give us so lively a sorrow for our sins that we may breathe out our souls into the bosom of thine infinite mercy. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in thee, I hope in thee, I love thee, and, I repent of having offended thee by my sins.
The Second Word.
" To-day thou shalt be with me in Paradise."
V. We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.
O my beloved Jesus, who for the love of me didst agonise on the Cross, and with such readiness and bounty didst respond to the faith of the good thief who in the midst of thy humiliation acknowledged thee to be the Son of God: O thou who didst assure him of Paradise, have mercy on all the faithful in their agony, and on me when I shall be in that extremity, and, through the merits of thy most precious blood, revive in our spirits a faith so firm and constant, that it may
- ↑ A perpetual Indulgence of 300 days, applicable to the souls in Purgatory, every time that this exercise is devoutly practised.
