Preparation for Mass; attributed to St Thomas Aquinas(c. 1225-1274): Almighty and ever-living God, I approach the sacrament of your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Lord in your great generosity, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness.
May I receive the bread of angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with humble reverence, with purity and faith, with the repentance and love and the determined purpose that will help to bring me to salvation. May I receive the sacrament of the Lord’s body and blood and its reality and power. Kind God, may I receive the body of your only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born from the womb of the Virgin Mary, and so be received into his mystical body and numbered among his members.
Loving Father, as on my earthly pilgrimage I now receive your beloved Son under the veil of a sacrament, may I one day see him face to face in glory, who lives and reigns with you for ever. Amen. Adoro Te Devote: Attributed to St Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274): Hidden here before me, Lord, I worship you, Hidden in these symbols, yet completely true. Lord, my soul surrenders, I am longing to obey, And in contemplation wholly faints away. Seeing, touching, tasting; these are all deceived; Only through the hearing can it be believed.
Nothing is more certain; Christ has told me so; What the Truth has uttered, I believe and know. Only God was hidden when you came to die; Human nature also here escapes the eye. Both are my profession, both are my belief; Bring me to your Kingdom like the dying thief. I am not like Thomas, who could see and touch; Though your wounds are hidden, I believe as much. Let me say so boldly, meaning what I say. Loving you and trusting, now and every day.
Record of the Passion when the Lamb was slain, Living bread that brings us back to life again; Feed me with your presence, make me live in you; Let that lovely fragrance fill me through and through. Once a nesting pelican gashed herself to blood For the preservation of her starving brood; Now heal me with your blood, take away my guilt; All the world is ransomed if one drop is spilt. Jesus, give me what I ask; Let me see your glory in a blaze of light, And instead of blindness give me, Lord, my sight. Amen.
