Prayers & Reflections for March 30

The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime

CHAPTER XI
Evening Prayers

EVENING PRAYER TO OUR BLESSED MOTHER

Night is falling, dear Mother - the long day is o'er,
And before thy loved image I'm kneeling once more:
To thank thee for keeping me safe through the day,
To ask thee this night to keep evil away.
Many times have I fallen today, Mother, dear;
Many graces neglected since last I knelt here;
Wilt thou not in pity, my own Mother mild,
Ask Jesus to pardon the sins of thy child?
I am going to rest, for the day's work is done,
Its hours and its moments have passed one by one;
And the God who will judge me has noted them all -

He has numbered each grace, He has counted each fall,
In His Book, they are written against "the last day;"
O Mother, as Jesus to wash them away!
For one drop of His Blood, which for sinners was spilt,
Is sufficient to cleanse the whole world from its guilt.
And if ere the dawn I should draw my last breath,
And the sleep that I take be the long sleep of death,
Be near me, dear Mother, for dear Jesus' sake,
When my soul on eternity's shore shall awake.

- Anon.


[Continued tomorrow]
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From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons