Have mercy, &c. Our Father. Hail Mary.
The Fourteenth Petition.
Jesus! (repeated ten times) grant me grace to fix my mind on thee, especially whilst I converse with thee in time of prayer. Check the wanderings of my fanciful brain, put a stop to the desires of my fickle heart, and suppress the power of my spiritual enemies, who at that time endeavour to withdraw my mind from heavenly thoughts to vain imaginations. Thus shall I joyfully look on thee as my deliverer from all evil, and thank thee as my benefactor for all the good I have received, or hope to obtain. I shall be convinced that thou art my chief good, and that all other things were ordained by thee only as the means of engaging me to fix my affections on thee alone; that by persevering till death in thy love and service, I might be eternally happy. Let all my thoughts, O beloved of my soul! be absorbed in thee, that my eyes being shut to all vain and sinful objects, may become worthy to behold thee face to face in thy everlasting glory.
Have mercy, &c. Our Father. Hail Mary.
The Fifteenth Petition.
Jesus! (repeated ten times) grant me the grace to order my life with reference to my eternal welfare, sincerely intending, and wisely referring all the operations of my soul and body towards obtaining the reward of thy infinite bliss and eternal felicity. For what else is this world but a school for the tutoring of souls created for eternal happiness in the next? And how are they educated but by an anxious desire of enjoying God, their only end? Break my froward spirit, O Jesus! by the reins of humility and obedience. Grant me grace to depart hence with the most sovereign contempt of this world, and with a heart overflowing with joy at the thoughts of going to thee. Let the memory of thy passion make me cheerfully undergo every temptation or suffering in this state of probation, for love of thee; whilst my soul, in the mean time, languishes after that life of consummate bliss and immortal glory, which thou hast prepared for thy servants in heaven. O Jesus! let me frequently and attentively consider, that whatsoever I may gain, If I lose thee, all is lost; and that whatever I may lose, if I obtain thee, all is gained.
Have mercy on all sinners, &c, as in page 493.