| ACT
OF REPARATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
O sweet Jesus, whose overflowing charity for men
is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold
us prostrate before Thy altar eager to repair by a special act of
homage the cruel indifference and injuries, to which Thy loving
Heart is everywhere subject.
Mindful alas! that we ourselves have had a share
in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths
of our hearts, we humbly ask Thy pardon and declare our readiness
to atone by voluntary expiation not only for our own personal offenses,
but also for the sins of those, who straying far from the path of
salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow Thee,
their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the vows of their baptism,
have cast off the sweet yoke of Thy law.
We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable
outrage committed against Thee; we are determined to make amends
for the manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming
dress and behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare
the feet of the innocent, for the frequent violation of Sundays
and holidays, and the shocking blasphemies uttered against Thee
and Thy Saints. We wish also to make amends for the insults to which
Thy Vicar on earth and Thy priests are subjected, for the
profanation, by conscious neglect or terrible acts of sacrilege,
of the very Sacrament of Thy divine love;
and lastly for the public crimes of nations who resist the rights
and the teaching authority of the Church which Thou hast founded.
Would, O divine Jesus, we were able to wash away
such abominations with our blood. We now offer, in reparation for
these violations of Thy divine honor, the satisfaction Thou didst
once make to Thy eternal Father on the cross and which Thou dost
continue to renew daily on our altars; we offer it in union with
the acts of atonement of Thy Virgin Mother and all the Saints and
of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make
reparation, as far as we can with the help of Thy grace, for all
neglect of Thy
great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the
past. Henceforth we will live a life of unwavering faith, of purity
of conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the gospel
and especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power
to prevent others from offending Thee and to bring as many as possible
to follow Thee.
O
loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary
our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering
we make of this act of expiation; and by the crowning gift of perseverance
keep us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe
to Thee, so that we may all one day come to that happy home, where
Thou with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest God,
world without end. Amen.
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