THE THIRTY DAYS' PRAYER
TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, IN HONOUR OF THE SACRED PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, BY THE DEVOUT RECITAL OF WHICH, FOR THE ABOVE SPACE OF TIME, WE MAY CONFIDENTLY HOPE TO OBTAIN OUR LAWFUL BEQUEST.
It is particularly recommended as a proper devotion for every day in Lent, and all the Fridays throughout the year.
Ever-glorious and blessed Mary, queen of virgins, mother of mercy, the hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls; through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart, whilst thine only Son Jesus Christ our Lord suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love he had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from his cross he recommended thee to the care and protection of his beloved disciple St. John.; take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of what kind soever. Thou art the mother of mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a poor child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, whither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! than to the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion to my humble and earnest request. I ask it through the mercy of thy dear Son: through that love and condescension wherewith he embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine will, thou gavest thy consent; and whom, after the expiration of nine months, thou broughtest forth from thy chaste womb to visit this world, and bless it with his presence. I ask it through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved
