PRAYERS
BY ST. ALPHONSUS
LIGUORI
A Sinner's Prayer
O my most sweet Mother, how shall I die, poor sinner that I am? Even
now the thought of that important moment when I must expire, and appear
before the judgment-seat of God, and the remembrance that I have myself
so often written my condemnation by consenting to sin, makes me
tremble. I am confounded, and fear much for my eternal salvation. O
Mary, in the blood of Jesus, and in thy intercession, is all my hope.
Thou art the Queen of Heaven, the mistress of the universe; in short,
thou art the Mother of God. Thou art great, but thy greatness does not
prevent, nay, even it inclines thee to greater compassion towards us in
our miseries. Worldly friends when raised to dignity disdain to notice
their former friends who may have fallen into distress. Thy noble and
loving heart does not act thus, for the greater the miseries it beholds
the greater are its efforts to relieve. Thou, when called upon, dost
immediately assist; nay, more, thou dost anticipate our prayers by thy
favors; thou consolest us in our afflictions; thou dissipatest the
storms by which we are tossed about; thou overcomest all enemies; thou,
in fine, never losest an occasion to promote our welfare. May that
Divine hand which has united in thee such majesty and such tenderness,
such greatness and so much love, be forever blessed! I thank my Lord
for it, and congratulate myself in having so great an advantage; for
truly in thy felicity do I place my own, and I consider thy lot as
mine. O comfortress of the afflicted, console a poor creature who
recommends himself to thee. The remorse of a conscience overburdened
with sins fills me with affliction. I am in doubt as to whether I have
sufficiently grieved for them. I see that all my actions are sullied
and defective; Hell awaits my death in order to accuse me; the outraged
justice of God demands satisfaction. My Mother, what will become of me?
If thou dost not help me, I am lost. What sayest thou, wilt thou assist
me? O compassionate Virgin, console me; obtain for me true sorrow for
my sins; obtain for me strength to amend, and to be faithful to God
during the rest of my life. And finally, when I am in the last agonies
of death, O Mary, my hope, abandon me not; then, more than ever, help
and encourage me, that I may not despair at the sight of my sins, which
the evil one will then place before me. My Lady, forgive my temerity;
come thyself to comfort me with thy presence in that last struggle.
This favor thou hast granted to many, grant it also to me. If my
boldness is great, thy goodness is greater; for it goes in search of
the most miserable to console them. On this I rely. For thy eternal
glory, let it be said that thou hast snatched a wretched creature from
Hell, to which he was already condemned, and that thou hast led him to
thy kingdom. Oh, yes. sweet Mother, I hope to have the consolation of
remaining always at thy feet in heaven. thanking and blessing and
loving thee eternally. O Mary, I shall expect thee at my last hour;
deprive me not of this consolation. Fiat, fiat. Amen, amen.
Prayer for Past Ingratitude
O compassionate Mother, most sacred Virgin, behold at thy feet the
traitor, who, by paying with ingratitude the graces received from God
through thy means, has betrayed both thee and Him. But I must tell
thee, O most blessed Lady, that my misery, far from taking away my
confidence, increases it; for I see that thy compassion is great in
proportion to the greatness of my misery. Show thyself, O Mary, full of
liberality towards me; for thus thou art towards all who invoke thy
aid. All that I ask is that thou shouldst cast thine eyes of compassion
on me, and pity me. If thy heart is thus far moved, it cannot do
otherwise than protect me; and if thou protectest me, what can I fear?
No, I fear nothing, I do not fear my sins, for thou canst provide a
remedy; I do not fear devils, for thou art more powerful than the whole
of Hell; I do not even fear thy Son, though justly irritated against
me, for at a word of thine He will be appeased. 1 only fear lest, in my
temptations, and by my own fault, I may cease to recommend myself to
thee, and thus be lost. But I now promise thee that I will always have
recourse to thee; oh, help me to fulfill my promise. Lose not the
opportunity which now presents itself of gratifying thy ardent desire
to succor such poor wretches as myself. In thee, O Mother of God, I
have unbounded confidence. From thee I hope for grace to bewail my sins
as I ought, and from thee I hope for strength never again to fall into
them. If I am sick, thou, O heavenly physician, canst heal me. If my
sins have weakened me, thy help will strengthen me. O Mary, I hope all
from thee; for thou art all-powerful with God. Amen. |
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