ee, sorrowing Mary, for all thy sorrows. I beseech
thee, dear Mother, by thy heart pierced through by them, obtain for me
full abandonment to the will of God in everything and perseverance to
the end.

Hail Mary, etc.

Ejaculation (located on the first day of the novena).

V

Novena for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

[Illustration: The Assumption]

FIRST DAY

Mary's Death was without Pain

[Illustration: Mary's Death]

PREPARATORY PRAYER

O MARY, Virgin most blessed and Mother of Our Lord and Redeemer Jesus
Christ, through thy mercy I beseech thee to come to my aid, and to
inspire me with such confidence in thy power, that I may have recourse
to thee, pray to thee, and implore thy aid in all needs of soul and
body.

MEDITATION

MARY, the virgin Mother of God, was conceived without original sin. She
never dimmed the luster of sanctifying grace which beautified her soul
by actual sin. Nevertheless she had to pass through the dark portal of
death before she was assumed, body and soul, into heaven. She had not
been endowed with the privilege of immortality with which God had
invested our first parents in paradise. It was meet that she should be
like unto her divine Son in everything, even in death. But as she had
drained the bitter cup of suffering during her whole life, and
especially when standing beneath the cross, her death was to be free
from pain and suffering. She quietly passed away yielding up her spirit
in a yearning desire to be united forever with her divine Son in heaven.

PRACTICE

IF YOU have dispossessed your heart of all unruly attachment to the
goods and enjoyments of this earth, you, too, may hope for a happy and
tranquil transition from this land of exile to your home in heaven.
Therefore, if you are still attached to the transitory things of this
life, disengage your heart from them now. The voluntary renouncement of
earthly goods alone is meritorious before God. The separation from them
enforced by the strong hand of death is of no supernatural value.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

WE BESEECH Thee, O Lord, pardon the shortcomings of Thy servants; that
we who, by our own works, are not able to please Thee, may be saved by
the intercession of the Mother of Thy Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Litany of Loreto (located in the final section of the book).

_Prayer_

O MOST benign Mother Mary! I rejoice that by thy happy and tranquil
death the yearning of thy