It is truly just, and reasonable, and salutary, to return Thee thanks at all times, and in all places, O almighty Father, eternal God. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord, and through His merits, we hope for a glorious resurrection; so that if the sentence of death alarm and deject, the promise of immortality consoles and animates us; for to Thy faithful servants death is only a passage from this life to a better. Therefore we unite with all the blessed citizens of the heavenly country in singing a hymn to Thy glory, and saying without ceasing: Holy, [pg 472] holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth: heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; His blood pleads for pardon, and His voice rises ever to the throne of mercy in behalf of His miserable creatures. Amen.
Canon.
O Father almighty, Whose kind providence extendeth to all creation, cast an eye of pity on the souls that ardently love Thee, and whose greatest suffering is to be separated from Thee. Remember, O Lord, that they are the work of Thy hands, and that they have been purchased by the infinite merits of Thy Son, Jesus Christ. Oh, will not the sound of that sweet name move Thee to pity and forgiveness? We offer in their behalf, the precious blood which streamed from the sacred side of our dying Redeemer on the cross; we offer Thee the powerful intercession of the most blessed Mother of Jesus and Queen of martyrs; we offer Thee the prayers of St. Joseph, St. Peter, St. Paul, and all the saints, together with the earnest supplications of Thy Church on earth; and we beseech Thee to take pity on the souls Thou lovest so tenderly. Show them Thy glory, receive them into Thy heart, and inundate them with that torrent of bliss, of which Thou art the inexhaustible fountain. Amen.
Elevation.
O sacred Host! Victim of man's salvation! be propitious to us and hear our prayers. Precious blood of Jesus, shed to wash away the sins of mankind, sanctify our soul, and plead for mercy for the souls in purgatory! Amen.
Pater Noster.
O divine Jesus! at Whose name every knee doth bend, in heaven, on earth, and in hell! Sovereign Judge of the living and the dead! may Thy name be honored by the deliverance of the souls for whom we pray. May the gates of heaven be open to receive them, and may Thy will, which desires the salvation of all men, be this day perfectly done in their regard. Grant that, after having been fed on the bread of sorrow, they may be fed with the living bread of heaven in the possession of Thyself. We implore Thy forgiveness of the sins of our parents, friends, and benefactors, particularly of the sins to which we unhappily have been accessory. Preserve us from those avenging flames, which we have but too well merited by our repeated abuse of grace, our tepidity in Thy service, and our negligence in resisting temptation. Deliver us from sin, the greatest of all evils, and enable us to feel and understand that it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Amen.
Agnus Dei.
Lamb of God, Who by death didst trample on the devil, about to seize his helpless prey, have mercy on the souls in purgatory! Lamb of God, Who wast offered as a sacrifice of expiation, that by Thy death we might be rescued from the slavery of sin, have mercy on the souls in purgatory! Lamb of God, Who wast immolated for love of us that we might pass from the region of malediction to the true land of promise, grant eternal rest to the souls in purgatory! Amen.
Communion.