close, and you are again to commune with God; to appear in the presence of that God to whom in the morning you made so many professions of adoration, homage, love, and fear. Alas! you cannot but feel that many of your promises have been broken, many of your good resolutions forgotten. Full of confusion, then, recall to your mind the awful presence of God, and reflecting on this, read a chapter in some spiritual book, and having attentively prepared the matter of your morning meditation, kneel down to recite your evening prayers. Say them attentively, in the doubt whether you may open your eyes again to the rising sun.

Evening Prayers.

In the name of the and of the Holy Ghost.

Father, and of the Son,
Amen.

Blessed be the holy and undivided Trinity, now and for evermore.

Come, O Holy Spirit, replenish the hearts of Thy faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of Thy Divine love.

V. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created.

R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. O God, Who hast instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us, in the same Spirit, to relish what is right, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Amen.

1. ACT OF ADORATION.

Almighty Lord of heaven and earth, I prostrate myself before Thee: with all the angels and

saints I adore Thee; I acknowledge Thee to be my Creator and my Sovereign Lord, my first beginning and my last end. I render Thee the homage of my being and life, and devote myself to Thy holy service, this day and forever.

I believe in Thee, because Thou art truth itself; I hope in Thee, because Thou art infinitely good; I love Thee with my whole heart, because Thou art infinitely amiable; and I love my neighbor as myself, for the love of Thee.

(The fuller acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity, may be here used, if preferred.)

2. THANKSGIVING.

Enable me, O Lord, to return Thee due thanks for all Thy inestimable blessings and favors. Thou hast thought of me and loved me from all eternity; Thou hast created me out of nothing; Thou hast redeemed me by the precious blood of Thy Divine Son, shed on the cross for me; and, not satisfied with this, Thou hast preserved me from falling into the abyss of eternal misery, when my repeated sins provoked Thee to cut the slender thread of my life; Thou hast, in spite of my repeated rebellions, given me time and grace to repent, and especially hast borne with me this day. Alas! my God, what return can I make for the innumerable blessings Thou hast conferred upon me during the whole course of my life, as well as for the particular favors of this day? O, all ye angels and Saints! unite with me in praising a God of mercy, Who is so bountiful to so unworthy

a creature.

3. PETITION FOR LIGHT.

O Eternal Source of Light! "True light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world," enlighten my eyes that I sleep not in the death of sin; illuminate the darkness of my understanding, and dispel those shades of ignorance and error which conceal from me the filth and enormity of my offences. Let me see myself as I am in Thy sight. Discover to me, I beseech Thee, all the sins I have committed this day, whether in thought, word, deed, or omission; grant me a lively sense of their enormity, in order that I may hold them in the utmost detestation, and dread nothing so much as to commit them hereafter.

4. EXAMINATION.

Recite the first part of the Confiteor, and pause to examine your conscience; either,

I. Running over the various actions of the day, from rising, remembering the places where, the persons with whom, the employments in which you have been engaged, and see whether in any you have sinned by thought, word, deed, or omission of any duty of your state of life; or,

II. By examining whether you have during the day sinned:

Against God.—By omission or neglect of any devotion or religious duty, or by performing it in a careless, irreverent, or distracted manner; resistance to Divine grace; murmurings; want of confidence and resignation.

Against our Neighbor.-Disobedience to our superiors ; neglect of duties of our state of life; neglect of those committed to our care; quarrelling; anger; fraud; scandal; leading our neighbor into sin by counsel, provocation, bad example, bad books, or otherwise; imprecation; detraction; raillery; hardness of heart; of forgiveness; uncharitableness.

Against Ourselves. By sloth; anger; idleness; intem. perance; impurity in thought, word, or deed; by vanity; human respect; lies; waste of time in reading bad or useless books; or in giving too much of our time to the recreation or entertainment of the body, by neglecting the care of our soul.

Consider also whether you have been faithful to your resolutions of the preceding night, especially with regard to the subject of your particular examen, and endeavor to see whether you have advanced in the ways of God's service.

Then finish the Confiteor.

"Therefore," &c.

5. AN ACT OF CONTRITION.

O Father of mercies! Who desirest not the death of sinners; look upon me, a miserable sinner, according to the multitude of Thy mercies. I acknowledge and confess, and am heartily sorry for all the sins of my past life, and of this day in particular. I cast myself at Thy feet, and beseech Thee to cover all my sins with that infinite love with which Thou hast loved us from all eternity. I grieve from the bottom of my heart that I have been so ungrateful to Thee for Thy benefits, and have so often offended Thee, my God and my chief good. Spare me, I beseech Thee, by the death and love of Jesus Christ Thy Son; and mercifully forgive me whatsoever sins I have this day, or heretofore, committed against Thee, my neighbor, or myself.

(Here you may say the Miserere, or any other act of penance.)

6. A RESOLUTION OF AMENDMENT.

O Almighty God! I firmly resolve, here in Thy presence, and before the whole company of heaven, to live more exactly in conformity to Thy will,

and to the rule of Thy commandments, hereafter I resolve to keep a more strict watch over myself; to correct my faults and evil habits; to attend more diligently to my duties; and to avoid more carefully all sin, and all temptations and occasions

of sin.

But without Thy assistance, O Lord, there is no strength in man. Thou, therefore, Who makest me to will that which is good, give me also the power to perform it. Give grace to do what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt, that I may live soberly, righteously, and piously in this world, and praise Thee forever with Thy saints in the world to come.

If in your examination you have remembered a mortal sin, be filled with a sense of your fearful position. Renew your act of contrition from the pure love of God, and resolve to confess it as soon as you can find an opportunity of doing so.

7. INTERCESSION.

Here say the Our Father, Hail Mary, and the Apostles' Creed.

Send down Thy blessings, O Lord, on my parents, benefactors, friends, and enemies; protect those whom Thou hast appointed my superiors, temporal and spiritual; comfort the poor, the af flicted, the agonizing, and all prisoners and travellers. God of mercy and compassion! have pity on the souls suffering in purgatory; shorten the period of their torments, and admit them speedily. to the mansions of light, repose, and everlasting bliss, purchased for them by the blood of Thy Son, our Redeemer.