Remember not, O Lord, the sins or ignorance of his (_her_) youth; but according to thy great mercy be mindful of him (_her_) in thy eternal glory. Let the heavens be opened to him (_her_,) and the angels rejoice with him (_her_). May St. Michael the archangel, the chief of the heavenly host, conduct him (_her_). May blessed Peter, thy apostle, to whom were given the keys of the kingdom of heaven, receive him (_her_.) {305} May holy Paul thy apostle, and chosen vessel of election, assist him (_her_.) May St. John, thy beloved disciple, to whom were revealed the secrets of heaven, intercede for him (_her_.) May all thy holy apostles, to whom was given the power of binding and loosening, pray for him (_her_.) May all the chosen servants and martyrs of God, who in this world have suffered torments for thy sake, O Christ, intercede for him (_her_,) that being delivered from this body of corruption, he (_she_) may be admitted into the kingdom of heaven; through the assistance and merits of thee, our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen. [Should the sick person still continue in distress of agony, it may be proper for the assistants to continue on in prayer, saying Psalms xxi. cxviii.] Litany For A Happy Death; _Composed by a young Lady who was converted to the Catholic Faith, and afterwards died at eighteen, in the odour of sanctity._ O Lord Jesus, God of goodness, and Father of mercies, I approach to thee with a contrite and humble heart: to thee I recommend the last hour of my life, and the decision of my eternal doom. {306} When my feet, benumbed with death, shall admonish me that my mortal course is drawing to an end, _Merciful Jesus, have mercy on me._ When my eyes, dim and troubled at the approach of death, shall fix themselves on thee, my last and only support, _Merciful Jesus, have mercy on me._ When my face, pale and livid, shall inspire the beholders with pity and dismay; when my hair, bathed in the sweat of death, and stiffening on my head, shall forebode my approaching end, _Merciful Jesus, have mercy on me._ When my ears, soon to be for ever shut to the discourse of men, shall be opened to the irrevocable decree which is to cut me off from the number of the living, _Merciful Jesus, have mercy on me._ When my imagination, agitated by dreadful spectres, shall be sunk in an abyss of anguish; when my soul, affrighted with the sight of my iniquities, and the terrors of thy judgments, shall have to fight against the angel of darkness, who will endeavour to conceal thy mercies from my eyes, and to plunge me into despair, _Merciful Jesus, have mercy on me._. When my poor heart, yielding to the pressure, and exhausted by its frequent struggles against the enemies of its salvation, shall feel the pangs of death, _Merciful Jesus, have mercy on me._