Page:The Catholic prayer book.djvu/565

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LITANY FOR THE DEAD.
547

thy glory, so we humbly offer our prayers for thy afflicted servants, who continually wait and sigh after the day of their deliverance: pardon their sins, supply their unpreparedness, and wipe away the tears from their eyes, that they may see thee, and in thy glorious light eternally rejoice: through Jesus Christ, etc.

O eternal God, who, besides the general precept of charity, hast commanded a particular respect to parents, kindred, and benefactors; grant, we beseech thee, that as they were the instruments by which thy providence bestowed on us our birth, education, and innumerable other blessings, so our prayers may be the means to obtain for them a speedy release from their excessive sufferings, and free admittance to thy infinite joys: through Jesus Christ, etc.

Most wise and merciful Lord, who hast ordained this life as a passage to the future, confining our repentance to the time of our pilgrimage here, and reserving for hereafter the state of punishment and reward, vouchsafe us thy grace, who are yet alive, and still have opportunity of reconciliation with thee, so to watch over all our actions, and correct every least deviation from the true way to heaven, that we be neither surprised with our sins uncancelled, nor with our duties imperfect; but when our bodies go down into the grave, our souls may ascend to thee, and dwell for ever in the mansions of eternal felicity: through Jesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour. Amen.