# St. Joseph's manual/For the dying

INSTRUCTIONS AND PRAYERS
FOR THE SICK, DYING, DEAD,
ETC.
WHENEVER God shall please to visit you with sickness, you ought to prepare diligently to die well. For that purpose, endeavor to disengage your heart from the cares of this world, and from all inordinate attachments; receive devoutly the sacraments of the Church, and implore the Almighty most earnestly to g^ant you all the graces you stand in need of.
Recall to mind the passion and death of our Redeemer Jesus Christ, embrace in your heart his cross, kiss his sacred feet, take refuge in his wounds, that you may now escape the snares which beset you, earnestly beseeching him to cleanse your soul with his precious blood, and to pardon you all your transgressions; but, inasmuch as your own life has been unprofitable and imperfect, be careful to offer up to the Father of mercies the infinite merits of his eternal Son, his incarnation, his labors, his agonies, his sufferings, and his death.
Recommend yourself moreover to the powerful intercession of his Virgin Mother, and to the prayers of all the saints, hoping most confidently that if you are truly sorry for your sins, if you detest them from your heart, these charitable intercessors will obtain for you the graces most necessary to conduct you safely through this dangerous passage.
A PROFESSION TO BE MADE BY THE SICK.
I SINCERELY profess and acknowledge, O my God, that the pains I now suffer are most justly due to my manifold offences. I accept them at thy hand with the most profound submission, abandoning myself entirely to thy will. I forgive from my heart ​all those who at any time have offended or injured me; and I humbly entreat all those whom I have unhappily offended to vouchsafe to pardon me in turn.
PRAYER.
O MY God, behold, I receive this sickness with which thou art pleased to visit me, as coming from thy hand. It is thy will it should be thus with me, and therefore I submit. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May this sickness be to the honor of thy holy name, and for the good of my soul. For this end I offer myself with an entire submission to all thy appointments, to suffer whatever thou pleasest, as long as thou pleasest, and in what manner thou pleasest; for I am thy creature, O Lord, who have most ungratefully offended thee; and since my sins have a long time cried to heaven for justice, why shall I now complain if I feel thy hand upon me? No, my God; thou art just in all thy ways; I have truly deserved this punishment, and therefore I have no reason to complain of thee, but only of my own wickedness.
Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy fury nor chastise me in thy wrath, but have regard to my weakness. Thou knowest how frail I am; that I am nothing but dust and ashes. Deal not with me according to my sins, neither punish me according to my iniquities, but according to the multitude of thy most tender mercies have compassion on me. O, let thy justice be tempered with mercy, and let thy heavenly grace come to my assistance, to support me in this my illness. Confirm my soul with strength from above, that I may bear with true Christian patience all the uneasiness, pains, disquiets, and difficulties of my sickness, and that I may cheerfully accept them as the just punishments of my offences. Preserve me from all temptations, and be thou my defence against ​all the assaults of the enemy, that in this illness I may nowise offend thee. And if this is to be my last, I beg of thee so to direct me by thy grace that I may never neglect thee, nor be deprived of those helps which thou hast, in thy mercy, ordained for the good of my soul, to prepare it for its passage into eternity; that, being perfectly cleansed from all my sins, I may believe in thee, put my whole trust in thee, love thee above all things, and, through the merits of the death and passion of thy most beloved Son, be admitted into the company of the blessed, where I may praise thee forever. Amen.
O BLESSED Jesus, the fountain of mercy, I humbly crave thy grace so effectually to spend this my transitory life in virtuous and holy exercises, that when the day of my death shall arrive, though I should feel pain in my body, grant that I may find comfort in my soul, and with a lively hope in thy mercy, a sincere love of thee, and in perfect charity with the whole world, depart out of this vale of misery, and be received into the mansions of everlasting glory and happiness. Amen.
PRAYER OF ST. VINCENT FOR A HAPPY DEATH.
O MY sovereign Lord Jesus, who diedst for the salvation of the whole world, and desirest not that any one should perish, to whom I never present my prayers without confidence, relying on thy gracious promise that whatsoever shall be asked in thy name shall be granted; I beseech thee, by that sweet and sacred name, that, at the hour of my death, thou wilt be pleased to give me the perfect use of my senses, true contrition for my sins, a lively faith, a firm hope, and a perfect charity, that I may then say to thee, with a pure and sincere heart: “Into thy hands, O my Saviour Jesus, I commend my spirit."
​Page:StJosephsManual1877.pdf/789 ​Page:StJosephsManual1877.pdf/790 ​Page:StJosephsManual1877.pdf/791 ​Page:StJosephsManual1877.pdf/792 ​Page:StJosephsManual1877.pdf/793 ​Page:StJosephsManual1877.pdf/794 ​to me; command my soul to be received in peace, for thou hast redeemed me, O God of truth. Lord Jesus, let those sweet words sound in my ears: “This day thou shalt be with me in paradise.”
Receive me, my crucified Jesus, into thy loving arms, which were stretched forth on the cross for me; receive me into those embraces of thy infinite charity, and draw my soul to thee; receive me, good Jesus, in thy mercy; receive my soul in peace.
Enlighten, O Jesus, my eyes, that I sleep not in death; that my enemy may never say he has prevailed against me.
Remember not, O Lord, my iniquities; let thy mercies make haste to help me; for behold, I am poor and miserable.
Lord Jesus, by the merits of thy sufferings, command me to be received among the number of thy chosen servants.
Enter not, Lord, into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight no man can be justified but by thee.
This one thing I ask of our Lord, that I may dwell in his house forever.
Receive me according to thy promise, and I shall live, and not be disappointed of my hope.
OTHER SHORT PRAYERS.
Eternal Father, I am that unworthy servant whom thou hast so loved as to give thy only Son for me. Show mercy to me now at this hour, and let not his precious blood be lost on me.
JESUS CHRIST, I am that lost sheep whom thou hast sought with so much pains, and brought back upon thy shoulders. I have run astray like a lost sheep; but thou art the good Shepherd, who givest thy life for thy sheep. Seek now thy servant, and ​let me be lost no more; let the enemy have no more power over me, but take me into thy protection.
O JESUS, I am that miserable one, who, going from Jerusalem, fell among thieves, was wounded and left half dead; thou art my Physician, and that good Samaritan, who, having compassion on me, hast bound up my wounds, and healed them with thy blood; thou hast borne all our infirmities, and by thy anguish have we been healed. Have mercy on me. Lord, in this my last hour. Lord, make haste to help me, that my soul die not forever.
O JESUS, I am an unhappy sinner, and guilty of many crimes; but thou art my advocate with the Father, and the propitiation for my offences. Thou wiliest not the death of a sinner, but that he live; thy coming into this world was to save us sinners; have mercy therefore on me in this my extremity; be now my Mediator and Advocate with the Father. O good Jesus, be merciful to me, a sinner. Into thy hands I commend my spirit.
PRAYER OF ST. JEROME, IN TIME OF AGONY.
Merciful Jesus, thou art my strength, my refuge, and my deliverer. In thee I have believed and hoped; thee have I loved. Call me now, I beseech thee, and I will answer; stretch forth thy hand of mercy to the work of thy hands, and let me not perish, whom thou hast redeemed with thy sacred blood.
It is now time for dust to return to dust, and my spirit to thee, who gavest it. Open then, O Lord, the gates of life and receive me. Receive me, most merciful Lord, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, who received the thief on the cross, and pre​Page:StJosephsManual1877.pdf/797 ​Page:StJosephsManual1877.pdf/798 ​Page:StJosephsManual1877.pdf/799