Benediction

“ And Thy fullest benediction
⁠Shed within its walls for aye.
Here vouchsafe to all Thy servants
⁠That they supplicate to gain:
Here to have and hold for ever
⁠Those good things their prayers obtain ”

“ HE Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is a Rite in which Jesus, in the Sacrament of His love, is not only exposed to the adoration of the faithful, but in which He, present in that Sacrament, is implored to bless the faithful present before the Altar. ”

“ For just as I was going along full of kindly thoughts, and had turned into the sign of (I think it was) the 'Sun' to drink wine and leave them my benediction--
LECTOR. Why your benediction?
AUCTOR. Who else can give benedictions if people cannot when they are on pilgrimage? Learn that there are three avenues by which blessing can be bestowed, and three kinds of men who can bestow it.
(1) There is the good man, whose goodness makes him of himself a giver of blessings. ”

“ It is to be hoped that where religion once truly dwells it will abide for ever. The Spirit of Christianity, we may suppose, will not be totally extinguished: Which shall be with us for ever.
III. The salutation, which is indeed an apostolical benediction: Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love, v. 3. Sacred love pours out blessings upon this honourable Christian family; to those who have shall more be given. ”

“ Our body will be glorified by the absence of all suffering; our understanding, by the Beatific Vision; our heart, by the possession of every possible happiness and felicity; our will, by the accomplishment of its desires. [Pg 655] God will to all eternity do the will of his saints.” Then the Benediction, the procession chanting the Laudate Pueri and the In exitu Israël, the hymn of deliverance—what splendor! O festival of Easter! ”

“ As I have many things to do, to pray—to read Thy Holy Word—to preach accordingly—to offer up supplications for the sick, and thanksgivings for those to whom Thou hast shewed mercy—to baptize— to receive the blessed Sacrament of Thy Body and Blood—to administer it—to lay in the grave those of our brethren whom it hath pleased Thee to take from us unto Thyself,—help me, Holy Jesus, in all these acts of devotion, that the spirit of devotion may be sustained throughout, that all my ministrations may be done with a single mind, and may be blest unto myself and unto those to whom I minister. ”

“ And now, my dearest Lord, I have come in humble adoration before Thee, with a heart full of thanks for abiding with us "all days," for having protected and preserved me during the past night, and for having given me another day to labor for Thy greater honor and glory, and for the salvation of my soul. In reparation for all the sufferings that Thy Sacred Heart endures in the Blessed Sacrament, I offer Thee the adoration and praise of all the just on earth, of all the angels and saints in heaven, and especially of Thy blessed Mother. ”

“ May the Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen. May the Almighty and merciful Lord, grant us pardon, absolution and remission of all our sins.
Amen. Then all secretly invoke the Holy Ghost, and beg of Him the light, love and recollection to make a good meditation. After which the following prayer is said:
COME, O holy Spirit, replenish the hearts of Thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of divine love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit, and our hearts shall be regenerated. ”

“ Prayer is the offering up of the sincere desires and feelings of our hearts to God. It consists of adoration, confession, supplication, intercession, and thanksgiving. Adoration is an expression of our sense of the infinite majesty and glory of God. Confession is an humble acknowledgment of our sins and unworthiness. By supplication, we ask for pardon, grace, or any blessing we need for ourselves. By intercession, we pray for others. By thanksgiving, we express our gratitude to God for his goodness and mercy towards us and our fellow-creatures. ”

“ All we go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Give rest, O Christ, to thy servant (s) with thy saints,
where sorrow and pain are no more,
neither sighing, but life everlasting.
The Celebrant, facing the body, says
Into thy hands, O merciful Savior, we commend thy servant N. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech thee, a sheep of thine own fold, a lamb of thine own flock, a sinner of thine own redeeming. Receive him into the arms of thy mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen. ”

“ May the Lord direct me by his counsel and wisdom! May he overshadow me with his presence, that I may sit beneath the banner of his love, and find the consolations of his blessed Spirit sweet and refreshing to my soul.
“When I feel that I am nothing, and God is all in all, then I can willingly fly to him, saying, ‘Lord, help me; Lord, teach me; be unto me my prophet, priest, and king. Let me know the teaching of thy grace, and the disclosing of thy love.’ What nearness of access might we have, if we lived more near to God! What sweet communion might we have with a God of love! ”

“ A Prayer, with Thanksgiving, Declarative of God’s Providence Over the Beings He Has Made.
XXXV. Great art thou, O Lord Almighty, and great is Thy power, and of Thy understanding there is no number. Our Creator and Saviour, rich in benefits, long-suffering, and the bestower of mercy, who dost not take away Thy salvation from Thy creatures: for Thou art good by nature, and sparest sinners, and invitest them to repentance; for admonition is the effect of Thy bowels of compassion. ”

“ So that Christ and his faithful ministers, through the operation of the blessed Spirit, are co-workers together. Yet without Him we can do nothing: our strength is his strength, and his is all the glory from first to last.
“It is my heart’s prayer and desire, sir, that you may, by a living faith, cleave close to that blessed exalted Lamb of God, who died to redeem us from sin—that you may have a sweet communion with Father, Son, and Spirit—that you may sink deep in love and rise high in the life of God. ”

“ O cleanse, sanctify, and preserve my soul, that nothing in future may ever separate me from Thee. Behold, O Eternal Father, Thy Holy Jesus, and look upon the race of Thy Christ, in whom Thou art well pleased. Hear the voice of His blood crying out to Thee, not for vengeance, but for mercy and pardon. Accept this divine oblation, and through the infinite merits of all the sufferings that Jesus endured on the Cross for our salvation, be pleased to look upon us, and upon all Thy people, with an eye of mercy. ”

“ Let thy Priests be clothed with justice, and let thy saints rejoice. I will freely sacrifice to thee, and will give praise, O God, to thy Name, because it is good.
Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.
AFTER MASS.
Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; save me in thy mercy, O Lord; let me not be confounded, for I have called upon thee.
I stretched forth my hands to thee; my soul is as earth without water to thee. ”

“ With the help of Thy grace I will endeavor to manifest my gratitude to Thee by greater devotion to Thee in the sacrament of Thy love, by obedience to Thy holy commandments, by fidelity to my duties, by kindness to my neighbor, and by an earnest endeavor to become more like to Thee in my daily conduct. Blessed be Thy holy name! O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine, All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine! ”

“ Alleluia, or, Praise be to Thee, O Lord, King of everlasting glory.
Ant. Have mercy.
Ant. Alleluia.
Psalm IV. Cum Invocarem.
WHEN I called upon Him, the God of my justice heard me: when I was in distress, Thou hast enlarged me.
Have mercy on me: and hear my prayer.
O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart: why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?
Know ye also that the Lord hath made His holy One wonderful: the Lord will hear me when I shall cry unto Him.
Be ye angry and sin not: the things you say in your hearts, be sorry for them upon your beds. ”

“ Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has left power to his Church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive you all your offenses; and by his authority committed to me, I absolve you from all your sins: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Priest concludes
Now there is rejoicing in heaven; for you were lost, and are found; you were dead, and are now alive in Christ Jesus our Lord. Go (or abide) in peace. The Lord has put away all your sins. ”

“ And is not just this the lesson that many earnest seekers after holiness need? They know all that the Word teaches of the blessed Atonement, and the full pardon it has brought. They believe in the Father’s wonderful love, and what He is ready to do for them. And yet, when they hear of the childlike simplicity, the assurance of faith, the loving obedience, and the blessed surrender with which the Father expects them to come and receive the blessing, their heart fails for fear. ”

“ POUR forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that as we have known the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son by the message of an Angel, so, by His Passion and Cross, we may be brought to the glory of His resurrection ”

“ Our prayers should be suitable to our expectations. Thus the apostle prays for them, 1. That God would begin his good work of grace in them; so we may understand this expression: That our God would count you (or, as it might be read, make you) worthy of this calling. We are called with a high and holy calling; we are called to God's kingdom and glory; and no less than the inheritance of the saints is the hope of our calling, nothing less than the enjoyment of that glory and felicity which shall be revealed when Christ Jesus shall be revealed from heaven. ”

“ Prayer is, for me, an outburst from the heart; it is a simple glance darted upwards to Heaven; it is a cry of gratitude and of love in the midst of trial as in the midst of joy! In a word, it is something exalted, supernatural, which dilates the soul and unites it to God. ”

“ Most sacred Heart of Jesus, pour down Thy blessings abundantly on Thy holy Church, on the Supreme Pontiff, and on all the clergy; grant perseverance to the just, convert sinners, enlighten infidels, bless our parents, friends, and benefactors, assist the dying, free the souls in purgatory, and extend over all hearts the sweet empire of Thy love. ”

“ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all, Amen. Observe, Spiritual blessings are first and especially to be sought for ourselves and others. The favour of God and peace with him, as in itself it is the best and most desirable good, so is it the cause of all other, and what puts sweetness into every mercy and can make happy even in the want of all earthly things. ”

“ O good Jesus, by Thy sacred Heart, overflowing with sweetness and mercy, to bless our Holy Father, the Pope, and our Holy Mother, the Church; to take under Thy special protection this congregation, our homes, our country, our rulers, our legislators, our bishops, our priests, and all Religious Orders. We recommend to Thee all our concerns, our friends, relatives, benefactors, and all those who have asked us to pray for them; those who are sick and those who are dying, and all who are under any affliction. Cast an eye of compassion on obstinate sinners and heretics and unbelievers. ”

“ Pray for all saints—God’s holy ones—throughout the Church, that the Spirit of holiness may rule them. Specially for new converts. For the saints in your own neighbourhood or congregation. For any you are specially interested in. Think of their special need, weakness, or sin, and pray that God may make them holy.
HOW TO PRAY.—
The things that are impossible with men are possible with God. When we think of the great things we ask for, of how little likelihood there is of their coming, of our own insignificance. Prayer is not only wishing, or asking, but believing and accepting. ”

“ May our Lord then grant unto all of us to find mercy before Him, through the supplication and prayer of all His saints, and through the grace and love for man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory and dominion, together with His Father and His Holy Spirit, now, and always, and for ever and ever. ”

“ DIVINE LORD, we adore Thee, really present in our midst, and we consecrate ourselves to Thy Sacred Heart forever. We are here to ask pardon for all the sins, errors and omissions of our whole lives; we are here to promise reparation and atonement; we are here to offer thanksgiving for every grace and favor, spiritual and temporal, that each soul has received from life's beginnings up to this hour. We are here to pray for all our beloved ones, absent and present, living and dead. ”

“ When the love of God fills the heart of a saint, he will pray,—and God will hear, and the blessings of heaven will come to him as softly and as sweetly as the zephyrs of even. Where there is humility, and faith, and prayer, the Lord delights to bless. ”

“ Just as reasonably would a pagan justify his worship of the sun, the moon, and the stars, by this passage of Scripture, as our Roman Catholic brethren would justify themselves by the former passage in their ascription of praise and glory to the holy angels, and saints, and the blessed Virgin. We honour the holy angels, we praise God for the glory which He has imparted to them, and for the share which He has been pleased to assign to them in executing his decrees of mercy in the heavenly work of our salvation ”

“ Remember all Thy people everywhere, give us all the grace of devotion to Thy will; fulfill our desires with good gifts, and crown us with Thy mercy. When we serve Thee with faithful devotion, pardon our sins and correct us with Fatherly tenderness. Grant that, being delivered from all adversity, and both here and eternally justified, we may praise Thee forever and ever, saying Holy, Holy, Holy; through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, Who with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end. ”