An Invitation to the Blessed Virgin to be Present at our Death

Invitation to the Blessed Virgin Mary to be Present at Our Death

O Most holy Virgin Mary, in union with that most faithful love wherewith thy Son commended thee from His cross to the blessed John, I commend to thee my soul and my body, my thoughts, my words, and my actions, my life and my death, and more especially that one last moment of my life on which eternity hangs. And as thou didst invite thy Son to thine own blessed departure, so I invite thee now to mine; beseeching thee, by that love wherewith thou didst stand beneath the cross on which thy Son was dying, and by the bitter tears thou didst shed when thou sawest Him bow in death His sacred head, that thou be not absent from me then, but be there to succour me with a mother's tenderness: for without thee I can not die in peace.

Refuse not, O most tender Mother, this my request, which I make to thee with all the earnestness and devotion of my heart; for if I die without thee, I most justly fear lest I perish everlastingly. For how shall I, fearful and frail as I am, stand then amidst the manifold and most grievous assaults of my enemies, unless thou be near to succour me? How shall I appear in the dread day of judgement, unless thou be my companion and my advocate? How give an account of my innumerable, my enormous, my most exceeding sins, unless thou plead my cause with thy Son, and obtain for me forgiveness from them all? Incline now thine ear to my supplication, O my Blessed Mother; and by the love of thy Son come unto me in my last moments, that by thy availing succour, I may be rescued from that appalling peril, and with thee attain to everlasting gladness. Amen

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