SELF-EXAMINATION FOR CONFESSION Hints for making a good Confession Bona Mors ... ... ... ... PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS FOR THE SICK 98 ... 105 ... THE GOLDEN GATE. Part EEE. PREPARATIONS AND DEVOTIONS. PREPARATION FOR HOLY COMMUNION. 1. For Occasional Communicants. [To be used by those who communicate monthly or less frequently.] THE SUNDAY BEFORE. Read the Imitation of Christ, Book IV. (Hodges, price 6d,) or Medita tion I. in the Appendix, or the Instructions on Holy Communion, Part I., p. 19–81. O LORD Jesus Christ, who art a Priest for ever, and who hast said, My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed; I believe that thou art my great High Priest and Thou too art my sacrifice, that Thou art the Christ the son of the living God, who camest into this world and art truly present in the adorable Sacrament of the altar. O Lord, I beseech Thee, visit and cleanse my conscience, that Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ may, when He cometh, find in me a dwelling place prepared for Him, who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth ever one God, world without end. Strengthened with the Bread of life, may I be enabled to live to Thee, knowing that it is not I who live, but Christ who liveth in me. By virtue of the holy Sacrament do Thou purge out all sin and all the fruits of sin, that my corruptible body leavened with Christ's incorruptible Body, my natural body united to His spiritual Body may be raised glorious and incorrupt at the day of the Resurrection of the just. Amen. Text.-"I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of This Bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My Flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."—John vi. 51. THE HE eyes of all wait upon Thee, O Lord, and Thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest Thy hand, and fillest all things living with plenteousness; and Thou wilt not be wanting unto me, unworthy sinner as I am. For Thou, our heavenly Father, knowest that our soul, as well as body, hath need of food that it may live. Therefore, Thou hast provided, that in Thy house, the Church, the bread of grace and of the word, should be broken for us in plenty. There the Living Bread which came down from heaven is set before us all. O precious food! the Eternal Father! O the great love and mercy of Grant, O God, that I may be so nourished by this heavenly Bread, and so strengthened for my journey through this wilderness, the world, that I may walk in the strength of that meat, even unto the mount of God; and this I beg for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. THE MONDAY BEFORE. Read Meditation II. Text.-" They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke v. 31, 32. THOU who art the life of men, behold me dead in trespasses and sins. I come to Thee, O Lord, as Thou dost call me: I come to Thee that I may have life. Thou art the Physician of my soul, Who hast borne stripes Thyself, that all my sickness might be healed. For I am that sick man, O Lord, whom Thou camest from heaven to heal. I come to Thee, therefore, sorely wounded as I am, with so many evil passions, covered with the leprous spots and stains of so many wilful sins; for Thou, Lord, if Thou wilt, canst make me whole. -> And Thou hast given, for the medicine of my soul, the Sacrament of Thy most precious Body and Blood. Have pity on me, therefore, gracious Lord. O Lord, be merciful unto me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee. Amen. Work in me by Thy mighty power, that this communion of the holy Body and Blood of Thy Christ, which in Thy mercy thou hast vouchsafed to Thy sinful creatures, may inspire me with faith that need not be ashamed, and with love unfeigned; may fill me with wisdom, and heal my soul and body; may avert all evil from me, and enable me to perform all Thy commands; that having watched and served Thee while the day lasts, I may stand with a good hope before the judgment seat of Christ; in whose most holy Name I offer now my prayer. Amen. Psalm lxiii. THE TUESDAY BEFORE. Read Meditation III. Text.-"From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, My Name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto My Name, and a pure offering."-Mal. i. II. LORD our heavenly Father, whose wellbeloved Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, did offer up Himself to Thee upon the altar of the cross, |