This Exercise may be used daily after each of the foregoing ones with great spiritual profit and advancement.

SWEET Jesus! Alas! I have grievously offended Thee through the whole course of my life; I have never ceased to be ungrateful to Thee, hindering in many ways the workings of Thy grace, and continually adding new sins to old ones. My sins are many and very great, but Thy mercy is vast and infinite. I confess that I am altogether unworthy to be called Thy son, but yet I acknowledge Thee as my Father. Thou art my true Father; Thou art all my confidence; Thou art the fountain of mercy, who dost not reject poor sin-stained 68souls when they fly unto Thee, but dost mercifully wash them. Behold, O Thou that art my sweetest refuge, behold, I, the very off-scouring of all Thy creatures, come unto Thee, bringing nought with me save thee, burden of my sins. I humbly cast myself at the feet of Thy love; I humbly implore Thy mercy: pardon me, I beseech Thee, Thou that art my surest hope, and save me for Thy name’s sake. For I believe that there are no sins, however dreadful and enormous, but can be expiated by the merits of Thy most sacred passion.

Sweet Jesus! I offer to Thee for the remission of my sins that stupendous love by which Thou, the God of everlasting majesty, didst not disdain to become man, and capable of suffering for our sakes, and for more than thirty years, didst undergo the pain and weariness of labours and persecutions. I offer Thee that agony, that bloody sweat, that anguish of soul with which Thou wert afflicted, when on bended knees, Thou prayedst in the garden to Thy heavenly Father. I offer Thee that exceeding desire of suffering with which Thou didst burn, when, of Thine own accord, Thou gayest Thyself up into the hands of Thine enemies. I offer 69Thee the bands, the stripes, the reproaches; the slanders, the blasphemies, the blows, the smitings on the cheek, the spitting, and every other injury which, for a whole. night, Thou didst endure in the house of Annas and Caiaphas. These I. offer unto Thee with thanksgiving, beseeching Thine infinite goodness, that by the merits of all these Thy sufferings, Thou wouldest cleanse my soul and bring me to everlasting life.

Sweet Jesus! I offer unto Thee for all mine iniquities that unheard-of shame which Thou didst bear when Thou wert led in the morning to Pilate, with blows and spittings, and bound with chains; then from him to Herod, and again from Herod to Pilate. I offer Thee that most holy silence which Thou didst observe when they wantonly insulted and slandered Thee. I offer Thee the scorn, and the shame of that ridiculous garment, with which Herod overwhelmed Thee. I offer Thee that most bitter punishment which Thou didst endure when Thou wert bound to a pillar and scourged. I offer Thee those gashes which the scourging made in Thy flesh, those streams of purple blood which gushed forth on all sides from Thy most holy limbs. 70These I offer unto Thee with thanksgiving, beseeching Thine infinite goodness, that for the merits of all these Thy sufferings, Thou wouldst cleanse my soul and bring me to everlasting life.

Sweet Jesus! I offer Thee for all my crimes, those most dreadful agonies, which Thou didst suffer when the wounds on Thy most holy body were opened afresh by the pulling off of Thy garments, when Thy hands and feet were fastened to the cross, when the joints of Thy limbs were loosened, when Thy precious blood gushed forth in streams from Thy sacred wounds as from a fountain. I offer Thee each drop of that ruddy blood. I offer Thee that incomprehensible gentleness and kindness with which Thou didst most patiently bear the wanton insults of Thine enemies, so that Thou didst even beseech Thy Father in their behalf. All this I offer unto Thee with thanksgiving, beseeching Thine infinite goodness that for the merits of all these Thy sufferings, Thou wouldst cleanse my soul and bring me to everlasting life.

Sweet Jesus! I offer Thee for all my faults, my vanity, my negligences, and my distractions, those incomprehensible torments 71which Thou didst endure when exposed in every way to anguish, and bereft of all consolation, Thou wert hanging shamefully upon the cross between two thieves, and when burning with excessive thirst they gave Thee to drink vinegar and gall. I offer Thee that most perfect charity by which Thou didst bend Thine adorable head, and for our sakes didst give up the ghost. I offer Thee that precious blood and life-giving water which flowed from Thy side when pierced with the lance. All this I offer unto Thee with thanksgiving, beseeching Thine infinite goodness, that for the merits of these Thy sufferings, Thou wouldst cleanse my soul and lead me to everlasting life.

Sweet Jesus! I offer Thee, for the entire remission of all the sins that I have over at any time of my life committed against Thee, I offer Thee all the mysteries of our redemption which Thou hast accomplished; I offer Thee Thine incarnation, Thy nativity, Thy life, Thy passion, and Thy death, I offer Thee whatsoever was pleasing to Thee in Mary Thy most glorious Mother, and in all. Thy Saints. Ah! sweetest Jesus! may Thy most perfect innocence satisfy Thy Father for my sins. Wrap my whole life, unworthy 71and exceedingly wicked as it is, in the clean linen cloth of Thy merits, that what is unclean in me, when united to Thee, may become clean, and what is imperfect may be made perfect when joined to Thee. And thus may I please Thee during the course of this life, and when my miserable pilgrimage is accomplished, may I come to Thee who art eternal salvation. Amen.