Daily Prayers: Morning
MORNING
PRAYER
Our
Divine Lord said to St. Mechtilde: When you awake in the morning, let
your first act be to salute My Heart, and to offer Me your own.
I ADORE, praise, and salute Thee, O most sweet Heart of Jesus Christ,
fresh and gladdening as the
breath of spring, from which, as from a fountain of graces, sweeter
than the honeycomb, floweth ever more all good and all delight. I thank
Thee with all the powers of my heart for having preserved me throughout
this night, and for having rendered to God the Father praises and
thanksgivings in my behalf. And now, O my sweet Love, I offer Thee my
wretched and worthless heart as a morning sacrifice; I place it in Thy
most tender Heart, and entrust it to Thy keeping; beseeching Thee
that Thou wouldst deign to pour into it Thy Divine inspirations, and to
enkindle it with Thy holy love. Amen.
RECOMMENDATION TO JESUS
It
was revealed to St. Gertrude that if anyone commends himself to God,
praying to be kept from all sin, God will never forsake him; and even
though he be permitted to fall into some grievous fault, the grace of
God will sustain him like a staff, and enable him to return more easily
to repentance.
O JESUS, full of compassion, I commend to thee my spirit and my soul,
in union with that love wherewith thou didst commend Thine Own to the
Father on the Cross; and I place them in the most sacred wound of Thy
tender Heart, that they may be therein protected from all the snares of
the enemy. Thou knowest, O good Jesus, and I know by my own sad
experience, how weak and frail I am, so that I could not of myself
persevere in good, or resist temptation even for one single hour.
Wherefore I pray Thee, by the reverence due to that union wherein Thy
manhood is united to the adorable Trinity for our glorification, that
Thou wouldst deign to unite my will to Thine, and so to strengthen and
secure it, that it may be unable to rebel against Thee. In union with
Thy most sinless limbs, I commend to Thee all the members of my body,
with all their movements, that they may throughout this day love for
Thy glory alone, for Thy praise and Thy love. Amen.
ASPIRATION TO
JESUS
Jesus
said to St. Mechtilde: Whoever shall breathe a sigh towards Me from the
bottom of his heart when he awakes in the morning, and shall ask Me to
work all his works in him throughout the day, he will draw Me to him;
so that his soul shall have life from Me even as his body has life from
his soul, and he shall do all things through Me and by Me. For never
does a man breathe a sigh of longing aspiration towards Me without
drawing Me nearer to him than I was before.
O MOST loving Jesus, I breathe towards Thee this sigh, drawn from the
depth of my heart, beseeching Thee with all my might that Thou wouldst
deign Thyself to work in me all my works, whether of body or of soul,
to cleanse them all in thy sweetest Heart, and to offer them, in union
with Thine Own most perfect works, to God the Father as an eternal
thanksgiving. Amen.
INTENTION TO
BE FORMED IN THE MORNING
Our Lord revealed to St. Gertrude, that He records
with letters of gold in the book of life all those actions which are
done purely for the love of God, in union with the Passion of Christ,
and for the salvation of all mankind, without thought of our own merit.
And although all good works receive from God an abundant reward, those
which are done simply and purely for His glory are of far higher merit,
and obtain for us a far greater increase of glory.
O LORD, my God, for Thy sake I resolve to perform all my actions,
whether outward or inward, purely for Thy glory, and for the salvation
of the whole world; with such intention and in such manner as Thou dost
desire and enjoin; and in union with that love whereby Thy Son came
down from Heaven, and wrought out the whole work of our salvation,
especially during His Passion. Wherefore I entirely disclaim all merit,
all reward and grace which I might otherwise hope to obtain by these
actions, that I may offer to Thee, my God, a pure sacrifice of praise,
and give Thee a proof of my love.
COVENANT WITH GOD
O ALMIGHTY God, I sanctify, dedicate, and consecrate
to Thee every beating of my heart, and every pulsation of my blood; and
I desire to make this compact with Thee, that their every beating shall
say to Thee: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; and I beseech Thee
to impute this meaning to them, so that they may be before Thy Divine
Majesty as the unceasing echo of that heavenly canticle, which
seraphims sing without ceasing unto Thee. Amen. Amen.
MORE EXTENDED COVENANT TO BE RENEWED
EVERY WEEK
The great efficacy of this covenant may be shown
thus: Were a person to resolve that by every movement he made he wished
to be understood to ratify and approve all the sins that are committed
all over the earth, and to be held a partaker of them, it is easy to
see what guilt he would thus contract. And if such an intention would
have so great influence for evil, why should it not have immense force
and merit for good?
O LORD God, my Creator, all my desire is before Thee, and my groaning
is not hidden from Thee; but inasmuch as the necessities of this life
prevent the constant application of my mind to Thy praise, I make with
Thee this covenant, earnestly desiring that it may remain in force
throughout this week.
Whenever I look up towards Heaven, I desire and intend to rejoice with
Thee in Thine infinite perfections; that Thou art what Thou art,
supremely strong and wise and loving and just.
As often as I open or close my eyes, I desire and intend to approve and
concur in all the holy actions which Thine Only-begotten Son, and all
the Saints in Heaven and just on earth, have ever done, or shall ever
hereafter do, to Thy glory, and desire to be held a partaker in them
all.
As often as I draw my breath, I offer to Thee the Life and Passion and
Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the merits and sufferings of all
the Saints, to Thine eternal glory, for the welfare and peace of all
the whole world, and in satisfaction for the sins of all men.
Whenever I sigh, I intend to detest and abhor every sin, as well my own
sins as those which have ever been committed from the beginning of the
world against the honour of Thy Name. Would that the slight and
worthless offering of my blood might be accepted in satisfaction for
them! Lastly, as often as I move my hand or my foot, so often do I cast
myself with entire resignation upon Thy most holy will, desiring that
Thou wouldst dispose of me in time and in eternity, according to Thine
adorable good pleasure.
And, lest this fivefold covenant should be in any way made void, I seal
it with the seals of Thy five most Sacred Wounds, earnestly desiring
that it may have its full force with Thee, even though in any one of
these actions it be not actually present to my mind.
REMEDY AGAINST DISTRACTIONS
When you are distracted in prayer, commend it to the
Heart of Jesus, to be perfected by Him, as our Lord Himself taught St.
Gertrude. One day, when she was much distracted in prayer, He appeared
to her, and held forth to her His Heart with his own sacred hands,
saying: Behold, I set My Heart before the eyes of thy soul, that thou
mayest commend to it all thine actions, confidently trusting that all
that thou canst not of thyself supply to them will be therein supplied,
so that they may appear perfect and spotless in My sight.
Remember always to say
the Gloria Patri with great devotion. The hermit Honorius relates that
a certain monk who had been accustomed to say his office negligently
appeared to another after his death, and being asked what sufferings he
had to undergo in punishment of his carelessness, he said that all had
been satisfied for and effaced by the reverent devotion with which he
had always said the Gloria Patri.
AN EFFICACIOUS METHOD OF OFFERING OUR
ACTIONS TO GOD
While St. Gertrude was offering a certain action to
God, saying:
O Lord, I offer Thee this work through Thine Only Son, in the power of
the Holy Spirit, to the praise of Thine eternal Majesty; it was
revealed to her that whatever action was thus offered would acquire a
worth and acceptableness to God beyond all human comprehension. For as
all things appear to be green when seen through a green glass, so
whatever is offered to God through His Only-begotten Son cannot be
otherwise than most precious and pleasing in His sight.
That you may understand how useful it is to offer all your works to
God, listen to what our Lord said on one occasion to St. Gertrude: All
thy works are most perfectly pleasing to Me. And as she could not
believe this, He added: If you held in your hand some object which you
had the means and the skill to render perfectly pleasing to everyone,
and if you tenderly loved that object, would you neglect to adorn it?
Even thus, because you are accustomed to offer all your works to Me, I
hold them in My hand; and as I have both the power and the skill, My
love rejoiceth to cleanse and perfect them all, that they may be most
perfectly pleasing in My sight.
PRAYER ON LEAVING CHURCH
O MOST pitiful Jesus, I give thee thanks for every
good gift which Thou hast bestowed on me in this church. And now that I
am about to leave it, I offer Thee, in union with Thine Own most
perfect prayers, all the prayers and other devotions which I have
performed therein; beseeching Thee that Thou wouldst deign to ennoble
and perfect them in Thy Divine Heart, to unite them with every holy
intention and every feeling of devotion which Thou hast ever elicited
from any heart of man, and to offer them to God the Father, for all my
negligences and omissions, as a grateful satisfaction and a most
acceptable sacrifice: and I implore Thee to grant me that most holy
blessing which Thou gavest to Thine Apostles when Thou didst ascend
into Heaven, so that by its force and efficacy I may be enabled to
persevere in Thy grace, and to serve Thee faithfully ever more. Amen.
AT TAKING HOLY WATER
By the sprinkling of Thy Precious Blood, O Lord Jesus
Christ, and by the merit of Thy Passion, wash me from every stain, and
cleanse me from all sin. In the Name of the Father, etc.
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