Glory be to the Father, three times. A Prayer to our Blessed Lady of Sorrows. HOLY Mother, most afflicted by the bitter sorrow which thou didst endure at the foot of the Cross during the Three Hours' Agony of Jesus: vouchsafe to assist all of us, the children of thy sorrows, in our last agony, that through thine intercession we may pass from the bed of death to form a crown for thee in the heavenly Paradise. Hail Mary, three times. O Mary, Mother of grace, Protect us from the enemy, And receive us at the hour of death. (i) V. From sudden and unlooked-for death, V. From the snares of the devil, R. O Lord, deliver us. V. From everlasting death, R. O Lord, deliver us. Let us pray. GOD, who for the salvation of mankind didst give an example and a help in the Passion and Death of Thy Son: grant, we beseech Thee, that in the hour of our death we may experience the effects of this Thy charity, and deserve to be partakers in the glory of Him our Redeemer, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. R. Amen. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist me in my last agony. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul in peace with you. HE devotion called the ROSARY consists of fifteen Pater Nosters and Glorias, and one hundred and fifty Ave Marias, to be recited on Indulgenced beads. It is divided into three parts, each containing five Decades, or Tens; a Decade consisting of one Pater, ten Aves, and one Gloria.* To each of these Decades is assigned one of the principal Mysteries of the life of our Saviour or of His Blessed Mother, as matter of meditation, whereon the mind is to exercise itself while at prayer, and therefore it is prefixed to every Decade. The fifteen Mysteries, as we have said, are divided into three parts-viz., five Joyful, five Sorrowful, and five Glorious Mysteries. Now, the method consists in raising corresponding affections in the will during the recital of each Decade, such as the devotion of each one may suggest: for example, in the first part, sentiments of joy for the coming of our Redeemer; in the second, of compassion for the sufferings of our Lord, and contrition for our sins, which were the occasion of them; in the third, of thanksgiving for the exaltation and glory of our Saviour and His Blessed Mother, hoping through the merits of His Passion, and her Intercession, to be made partakers of their glory. To assist the mind in this exercise a short Meditation *It is customary to preface these prayers with the Apostles' Creed, one Pater, three Aves, and one Gloria, as in the chaplet introduced by St. Bridget of Sweden. and prayer are usually given to be used before and after each Decade. In order to say the Rosary well, we should not be satisfied with merely pronouncing the words of the prayers, or with a vague and general reflection on the Mysteries; but we should endeavor to acquire the habit of reciting them with great attention and reverence, at the same time dwelling in a vivid manner upon the different Mysteries. In order to do this the better it is sometimes the custom, in addition to the short meditation on the Mystery (which is usually read before the recital of each Decade, and which contains, either expressed or understood, a prayer for the particular Virtue to which it has relation), to subjoin a short ejaculation in reference to the subject of the Mystery, which may be inserted after the holy name of Jesus in the Hail Mary, or to divide the meditation into ten points, one for each Ave. The reading of the meditation, ejaculation, or prayer are only pious practices to assist in the more devout recitation of the Rosary, which consists essentially only in the recitation of the vocal prayers while the mind dwells upon the subject of the Mystery contemplated. THE FORM OF BLESSING ROSARIES. PROPER TO THE ORDER OF PREACHERS. The Priest, vested in surplice and white stole, says: propter eximiam charita- out of the wondrous love tem tuam qua dilexisti whereby Thou hast loved nos, Filium tuum unigeni- us, that Thou mightest detum Dominum nostrum liver us from the power of Jesum Christum de cœlis the devil, didst will that in terram descendere, et de Thine Only-begotten Son, Beatissimæ Mariæ Domi- our Lord Jesus Christ, næ nostræ utero sacratis- should come down upon simo, Angelo nuntiante, carnem suscipere, crucemque ac mortem subire, et tertia die gloriose a mortuis resurgere voluisti, ut nos eriperes de potestate diaboli obsecramus immensam clementiam tuam, ut hæc signa Rosarii in honorem et laudem ejusdem Genitricis Filii tui ab Ecclesia tua fideli dicata bene dicas et sancti fices, eisque tantam infundas virtutem Spiritus Sancti, ut quicumque horum so abundantly pour forth quodlibet secum portaverit, upon them the power of earth, and at the message of an Angel take flesh from the most sacred Womb of our Lady, Blessed Mary, and undergo the death of the Cross, and the third day rise gloriously from the dead: we implore Thine abounding mercy that Thou wouldst bless and sanctify these Rosaries, dedicated by Thy faithful Church to the honor and praise of the same Mother of Thy Son, and wouldst |