When the last tear, the forerunner of my dissolution, shall drop from my eyes, receive it as a sacrifice of expiation for my sins; grant that I may expire the victim of penance; and in that dreadful moment, _Merciful Jesus, have mercy on me._ {307} When my friends and relations, encircling my bed, shall shed the tear of pity over me, and invoke thy clemency in my behalf, _Merciful Jesus, have mercy on me._ When I shall have lost the use of my senses; when the world shall have vanished from my sight; when my agonizing soul shall feel the sorrows of death, _Merciful Jesus, have mercy on me._ When my last sigh shall summon my soul to burst from the embraces of the body, and to spring to thee on the wings of impatience and desire, _Merciful Jesus, have mercy on me._ When my soul, trembling on my lips, shall bid adieu to the world, and leave my body lifeless, pale, and cold, receive this separation as a homage which I willingly pay to thy divine Majesty; and in that last moment of my mortal life, _Merciful Jesus, have mercy on me._ When at length my soul, admitted to thy presence, shall first behold the splendour of thy Majesty, reject me not, but receive me into thy bosom, where I may for ever sing thy praises; and in that moment, when eternity shall begin to me, _Merciful Jesus, have mercy on me._ Let Us Pray. O God, who hast doomed all men to die, but hast concealed from all the hour of their death, grant that I may pass my days in the practice of holiness and justice, and that I may deserve to quit this world in the peace of a good conscience, and in the embraces of thy love: through Christ our Lord. Amen. {308} The Soul Being Now Departed, The Following Responsory is Said: Come to his (_her_) assistance, all you saints of God; meet him (_her_) all you angels of God; receive his (_her_) soul, and present it now before its Lord. May Jesus Christ receive thee, and the angels conduct thee to thy place of rest; may they receive thy soul, and present it now before its Lord. V. Eternal rest grant him (_her_,) O Lord. R. And let perpetual light shine unto him (_her_.) May the angels present him (_her_) now before the Lord. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Our Father, &c. V. And lead us not into temptation; R. But deliver us from evil. V. Eternal rest grant him (_her_,) O Lord. R. And let perpetual light shine unto him, (_her_.) V. From the gates of hell; R. Deliver his (_her_) soul, O Lord. V. May he (_she_) rest in peace; R. Amen. V. O Lord, hear my prayer; R. And let my cry come unto thee. {309} Let Us Pray. Unto thee, Lord, we commend the soul of thy servant (_N_.) that being dead to this world, he (_she_) may live to thee; and whatever sins he (_she_) has committed through human frailty, we beseech thee, in thy goodness, mercifully to pardon: through Christ our Lord. Amen.