Before Mass

Lord,
what I need I labour in vain,
to search out the manner of thy mysterious presence in the Sacrament,
when my Love assures me thou art there?
All the faithful who approach thee with prepared hearts,
they will know thou art there,
they feel the Virtue of Divine Love going out of thee,
to heal their infirmities and to inflame their affections,
for which all Love, all Glory be to thee.
O merciful Jesus,
let that immortal food which in the Holy Eucharist thou vouchsafest me,
instil into my weak and languishing Soul,
new supplies of Grace,
new life,
new Love,
new Vigour,
and new Resolution,
that I may never more faint, or droop or tire in my duty.
To God the Father, who first loved us,
and made us accepted in the Beloved;
to God the Son who loved us,
and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood;
to God the Holy Ghost, who sheds the Love of God abroad in our hearts,
be all Love and all Glory for time, and for eternity. Amen.

Bishop Thomas Ken (1637-1711)