Within these few years, under every Pope successively, some or other of our sacred Images, especially of the more ancient, have made themselves illustrious, and have acquired A PECULIAR WORSHIP AND VENERATION, by the exhibition of fresh miracles; as it is notorious to all, who dwell in this city. [47d]
3. Let us finally attend to the actual liturgical practice of the Romanists themselves, as the best explanation of the tenets received and inculcated by their Clergy: for, clearly, as men are taught to believe and to act, so will their authorised public prayers be constructed.
(1.) Hail, O cross, our only hope in this time of passion: increase righteousness to the pious, and grant pardon to the guilty. [48a]
(2.) Holy Mary, succour the miserable, assist the pusillanimous, comfort the mournful. [48b]
(3.) O singular Virgin, mild among all, make us, being delivered from our sins, mild and chaste. Grant us purity of life; prepare for us a safe journey: that, seeing Jesus, we may always jointly rejoice. [48c]
(4.) Mary, mother of grace, mother of mercy, do thou protect us from the enemy, and receive us in the hour of death. Unloose their bonds to the guilty: give light to the blind: drive away our evils: demand all good things. Shew thyself to be a mother. Let him, who for us endured to be thy son, receive our prayers through thee. [48d]
(5.) O George, illustrious martyr, praise and glory become thee.—We beseech thee, in our inmost heart, that, with all the faithful, we may be joined to the citizens of heaven, being washed from our impurities. [48e]
(6.) O martyr Christopher, for the honour of the Saviour, make us in mind worthy of the honour of the Deity. According to the promise of Christ, for what thou askest thou obtainest, grant unto thy sorrowful people the gifts, which in dying thou besoughtest. [48f]
(7.) O ye eleven thousand glorious girls, lilies of virginity, roses of martyrdom, defend me in life by granting me your assistance: and shew yourselves in death, by bringing the last comfort. [48g]
(8.) O holy Mary; our sovereign queen, as God the Father, by his omnipotence, has made thee most powerful; so assist us, at the hour of death, by defending us against all power that is contrary to thine. Hail, Mary! O holy Mary, our sovereign queen, as God the Son has endowed thee with so much knowledge and charity that it enlightens all heaven; so, in the hour of death, illustrate and strengthen our souls with the knowledge of the true faith, that they may not be perverted by error or pernicious ignorance. Hail, Mary! O holy Virgin, our sovereign queen, as the Holy Ghost has plentifully poured forth into thee the love of God; so instil into us, at the hour of death, the sweetness of divine love, that all bitterness at that time may become acceptable and pleasant to us. Hail, Mary! [49a]