WE SHOULD OFFER OURSELVES AND ALL THAT WE HAVE TO
GOD, PRAYING FOR ALL
THE DISCIPLE
ALL things in heaven and on earth, O Lord, are Yours. I long to
give myself to You as a voluntary offering to remain forever Yours.
With a sincere heart I offer myself this day to You, O Lord, to Your
eternal service, to Your homage, and as a sacrifice of everlasting
praise. Receive me with this holy offering of Your precious Body which
also I make to You this day, in the presence of angels invisibly
attending, for my salvation and that of all Your people.
O Lord, upon Your altar of expiation, I offer You all the sins
and offenses I have committed in Your presence and in the presence of
Your holy angels, from the day when I first could sin until this hour,
that You may burn and consume them all in the fire of Your love, that
You may wipe away their every stain, cleanse my conscience of every
fault, and restore to me Your grace which I lost in sin by granting
full pardon for all and receiving me mercifully with the kiss of
peace.
What can I do for all my sins but humbly confess and lament
them, and implore Your mercy without ceasing? In Your mercy, I implore
You, hear me when I stand before You, my God. All my sins are most
displeasing to me. I wish never to commit them again. I am sorry for
them and will be sorry as long as I live. I am ready to do penance and
make satisfaction to the utmost of my power.
Forgive me, O God, forgive me my sins for Your Holy Name. Save
my soul which You have redeemed by Your most precious Blood. See, I
place myself at Your mercy. I commit myself to Your hands. Deal with
me according to Your goodness, not according to my malicious and evil
ways.
I offer to You also all the good I have, small and imperfect
though it be, that You may make it more pure and more holy, that You
may be pleased with it, render it acceptable to Yourself, and perfect
it more and more, and finally that You may lead me, an indolent and
worthless creature, to a good and happy end.
I offer You also all the holy desires of Your devoted servants,
the needs of my parents, friends, brothers, sisters, and all who are
dear to me; of all who for Your sake have been kind to me or to
others; of all who have wished and asked my prayers and Masses for
them and theirs, whether they yet live in the flesh or are now
departed from this world, that they may all experience the help of
Your grace, the strength of Your consolation, protection from dangers,
deliverance from punishment to come, and that, free from all evils,
they may gladly give abundant thanks to You.
I offer You also these prayers and the Sacrifice of
Propitiation for those especially who have in any way injured,
saddened, or slandered me, inflicted loss or pain upon me, and also
for all those whom I have at any time saddened, disturbed, offended,
and abused by word or deed, willfully or in ignorance. May it please
You to forgive us all alike our sins and offenses against one another.
Take away from our hearts, O Lord, all suspicion, anger, wrath,
contention, and whatever may injure charity and lessen brotherly love.
Have mercy, O Lord, have mercy on those who ask Your mercy, give grace
to those who need it, and make us such that we may be worthy to enjoy
Your favor and gain eternal life. |
That we ought to offer ourselves and all that is
ours to God, and to pray for all
The Voice of the Disciple
Lord, all that is in the heaven and in the earth
is Thine.(1) I desire to offer myself up unto thee as a freewill
offering, and to continue Thine for ever. Lord, in the uprightness of
mine heart I willingly offer(2) myself to Thee to-day to be Thy
servant for ever, in humble submission and for a sacrifice of
perpetual praise. Receive me with this holy Communion of Thy precious
Body, which I celebrate before Thee this day in the presence of the
Angels invisibly surrounding, that it may be for the salvation of me
and of all Thy people.
2. Lord, I lay before Thee at this celebration
all my sins and offences which I have committed before Thee and Thy
holy Angels, from the day whereon I was first able to sin even unto
this hour; that Thou mayest consume and burn them every one with the
fire of Thy charity, and mayest do away all the stains of my sins, and
cleanse my conscience from all offence, and restore me to Thy favour
which by sinning I have lost, fully forgiving me all, and mercifully
admitting me to the kiss of peace.
3. What can I do concerning my sins, save humbly
to confess and lament them and unceasingly to beseech Thy
propitiation? I beseech Thee, be propitious unto me and hear me, when
I stand before Thee, O my God. All my sins displease me grievously: I
will never more commit them; but I grieve for them and will grieve so
long as I live, steadfastly purposing to repent me truly, and to make
restitution as far as I can. Forgive, O God, forgive me my sins for
Thy holy Name's sake; save my soul, which Thou hast redeemed with Thy
precious blood. Behold I commit myself to Thy mercy, I resign myself
to Thy hands. Deal with me according to Thy loving-kindness, not
according to my wickedness and iniquity.
4. I offer also unto Thee all my goodness, though
it is exceedingly little and imperfect, that Thou mayest mend and
sanctify it, that Thou mayest make it well pleasing and acceptable in
Thy sight, and ever draw it on towards perfection; and furthermore
bring me safely, slothful and useless poor creature that I am, to a
happy and blessed end.
5. Moreover I offer unto Thee all pious desires
of the devout, necessities of parents, friends, brothers, sisters, and
all who are dear to me, and of those who have done good to me, or to
others for Thy love; and those who have desired and besought my
prayers for themselves and all belonging to them; that all may feel
themselves assisted by Thy grace, enriched by consolation, protected
from dangers, freed from pains; and that being delivered from all
evils they may joyfully give Thee exceeding thanks.
6. I offer also to Thee prayers and Sacramental
intercessions for those specially who have injured me in aught, made
me sad, or spoken evil concerning me, or have caused me any loss or
displeasure; for all those also whom I have at any time made sad,
disturbed, burdened, and scandalized, by words or deeds, knowingly or
ignorantly; that to all of us alike, Thou mayest equally pardon our
sins and mutual offences. Take away, O Lord, from our hearts all
suspicion, indignation, anger, and contention, and whatsoever is able
to injure charity and diminish brotherly love. Have mercy, have
mercy, Lord, on those who entreat Thy mercy; give grace to the needy;
and make us such that we may be worthy to enjoy Thy grace, and go
forward to the life eternal. Amen. |