Prayer of St. Augustine to Our Lord in His Passion and DeathO Most adorable Lord, Who for the redemption of the world didst deign to be born, to be circuмcised, to be rejected by the Jєωs, to be betrayed by Judas with a false kiss, to be bound with cords and chains, as an innocent lamb to be led to the slaughter, to be ignominiously exposed before Annas, Caiphas, Pilate, and Herod; to be accused by false witnesses, scourged, and shamefully loaded; to be denied with spittle, crowned with thorns, beaten with blows, struck with a reed, buffeted in the face, despoiled of thy clothes, fastened with nails to a cross, and then raised upon it, and placed between two thieves; to be offered gall and vinegar to drink; and, last of all, to be pierced with a lance. Do Thou, O my Lord Jesus Christ, by the virtue of thy most holy sufferings, which Thou didst so undeservedly undergo, for the merit and in memory of thy most holy death and cross, deliver me from the pains of hell, and deign to carry me, as Thou didst the good thief who was crucified with Thee, to the kingdom of thy Father, where Thou reignest with Him and the Holy Spirit one God, world without end. Amen.
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Prayer to the Blessed Virgin MaryO blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily repay thee thy just dues of praise and thanksgiving, thou who by the wondrous assent of thy will didst rescue a fallen world? What songs of praise can our weak human nature recite in thy honor, since it is by thy intervention alone that it has found the way to restoration? Accept, then, such poor thanks as we have here to offer, though they be unequal to thy merits; and, receiving our vows, obtain by thy prayers the remission of our offenses. Carry thou our prayers within the sanctuary of the heavenly audience, and bring forth from it the antidote of our reconciliation. May the sins we bring before Almighty God through thee, become pardonable through thee; may what we ask for with sure confidence, through thee be granted. Take our offering, grant us our requests, obtain pardon for what we fear, for thou art the sole hope of sinners. Through thee we hope for the remission of our sins, and in thee, O blessed Lady, is our hope of reward. Holy Mary, succour the miserable, help the fainthearted, comfort the sorrowful, pray for thy people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God; may all who keep thy holy commemoration feel now thy help and protection. Be thou ever ready to assist us when we pray, and bring back to us the answers to our prayers. Make it thy continual care to pray for the people of God, thou who, blessed by God, didst merit to bear the Redeemer of the world, who liveth and reigneth, world without end. Amen.--Saint Augustine
(Indulgence of 3 years)
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Verses to St. Monica by Father Russell, S.J.
Among the sainted matrons whom we honour
With Mass and matin song,
One draws the gaze of filial love upon her
From all the throng.
Next to St. Anne, the Blessed Virgin's mother,
I prize St. Monica o'er ev'ry other.
Great is the glory of Augustine--high
His place on earth, in heaven.
But if St. Monica, with prayer and sigh,
Less hard had striven
To bring the child forth to his truer birth,
What were his fame in heaven, and e'en on earth?
His father's name to us is nothing strange--
"Patrick" but, ah! no saint.
Saint surely she, who all so soon could change,
That pagan taint--
Who wept and prayed, and suffered till she won,
Her heathen husband, her half-heathen son.
Have you not seen them sitting on the beach?
The younger face less fair--
They talk not, 'tis society for each
The other's there--
Hands interlaced, deep eyes upturned in thought:
Their hearts bless God, whose grace the change hath wrought.
Hid in her son, yet many a touching trace
In Agustine's page we find,
Which shows her like to him not more in face
Than royal mind.
Another item for the common story--
How large a mother's part in hero's glory.
St. Monica, still many a mother shares
Thy strong maternal faith.
Still sheds such bitter tears, still breathes such prayers,
To save from death
Some soul perchance from all hearts else exiled,
As vile or wicked, yet her child, her child!
Pray for the wretched mothers who this hour
Weep for the doubly dead,
Weep for the cherished wanderer, and shower
Tears on his head
Whose faults and sins would weary out all others.
Save the meek Heart of Jesus, or a mother's.
When thou hadst longer been away from earth
Than she (God rest her!) yet
Who did far more for me than give me birth,
Whose cheek was wet
With tears less bitter (God be thanked!) than thine,
Augustine asked prayers for thee--and I for mine.
Be Monicas, oh, mothers! pray and weep,
Send ceaseless sighs to heaven.
That ye for heaven and God secure may keep
Whom God has given.
Love them, but save their souls at any cost--
"The child of holy tears cannot be lost."
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Lessons of St. AugustineSaint Augustine, Sermo ad Caesariensis Ecclesiae plebem 6:
"No man can find salvation save in the Catholic Church. Outside the Catholic Church he can find everything save salvation. He can have dignities, he can have the Sacraments, can sing 'Alleluia', answer 'Amen,' accept the Gospels have faith in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and preach it too, but never save in the Catholic Church can he find salvation."
St. Augustine, De Spiritu et littera, lviii
But "God wills all men to be saved to come and to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy, ii, 4); not, however, so as to take away their will, for the good or bad use of which they are most justly judged. When this happens it is true that unbelievers act contrary to God's will, when thy do not believe in His Gospel; but that does not mean that they conquer God, but that they deprive themselves of the great good and involve themselves in evils as their reward, afterwards to experience in their punishment His power whose mercies they despised in His gifts."
"Sinners do not hope for the pardon of the sins of which they repent: but they hope that, though they continue to commit sin, God will have mercy upon them: and thus they make the mercy of God serve as a motive for continuing to offend Him. This hope will make God hasten the execution of His vengeance: for surely a master will not defer the punishment of servants who offend him because he is good. God is good: I will do what I please!"--St. Augustine
We can be guilty of no greater folly than to delay our preparation for death, repentance, the reception of the sacraments, and the amendment of our life, from day to day, from the time of health to the time of illness, and in illness to the very last moments, thinking that even then we can obtain pardon. St. Augustine observes: "It is very dangerous to postpone the performance of a duty on which our whole eternity depends to the most inconvenient time, the last hour."
"Let no one say to himself. I do penance to God in private. I do it before God. Is it then in vain that Christ hath said: 'Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven?' Is it in vain that the keys have been given to the Church? Do we make void the Gospel? void the words of Christ?"--St. Augustine
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