Simple Daily Prayers to Prepare you for The Four Last Things

ACT OF CONTRITION 
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O MY GOD, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen. 
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Prayer of Resignation in Death
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My most sweet Jesus, I accept the death Thou has destined for me; with all the pains that may accompany it; I unite it to Thy death, I offer it to Thee. Thou hast died for love of me; I will die for love of Thee and to please Thee.
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A sure means of salvation
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From the writings of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church: “Many people are tormented at death with the remembrance of their sins, and seeing that they have done no penance, are tempted to despair.” He tells us that there is a perfect remedy – Namely, “to accept death and unite your death with that of Jesus Christ. And I do not at all doubt that he who is grieved for having offended God and accepts death willingly in satisfaction for his sins will immediately obtain pardon.”
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From the book “Preparation For Death” by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church: “To accept death in order that the will of God may be fulfilled, merits for us a reward similar to that of the martyrs, because they accepted death to please God. He who dies in union with the will of God makes a holy death; and the more closely he is united to it, the more holy death he dies. The Venerable Blosius declares that an act of perfect conformity to the will of God at the hour of death not only delivers us from Hell but also from Purgatory.”
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THE DAILY PRACTICE OF ADOPTING 
AN UNKNOWN DYING SOUL 
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He who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins.( JAMES CH. 5:20)
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This daily practice, so simple, so helpful should appeal to every Catholic. One soul saved each day means 365 each year. What a rich harvest of souls to present unto God. St. James says: “He who causeth a sinner to be converted….shall save his own soul from death.”
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“If every night, before we went to sleep,” says Father Faber, “we begged our dear Lady to offer up to God the Precious Blood of her Divine Son for grace to hinder one mortal sin somewhere in the world, during that night, and then renewed the same offering in the morning of the hours of daylight, surely such an offering, and by such hands, could not fail to win the grace desired, and then each one of us might hinder numbers of mortal sins every year.”
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A PRAYER FOR THE DYING AND A SPECIAL SOUL
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O MOST MERCIFUL JESUS, lover of souls, 
I beseech Thee, by the agony of Thy most Sacred Heart, and by the sorrows of Thine Immaculate Mother, wash clean in the Thy Blood the sinners of the whole world who are to die this day.
Remember most especially the soul I spiritually adopt with the intention of entrusting him or her to Thy Shepherd’s care: 
I beseech Thee for the grace to move this sinner, who is in danger of going to Hell, to repent. I ask this because of my trust in Thy great mercy.
If it should please Thy Majesty to send me a suffering this day in exchange for the grace I ask for this soul, then, it, too, shall please me very much, and I thank Thee, Most Sweet Jesus, Shepherd and Lover of Souls; I thank Thee for this opportunity to give mercy in thanksgiving for all the mercies Thou hast shown me. Amen.
Heart of Jesus, once in agony, have mercy on the dying.
(1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, 1 Glory Be)
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Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 
(St. Matthew 5:7)
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THE THREE HAIL MARYS DEVOTION
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”It is impossible to save one’s soul without devotion to Mary and without her protection.”
(Saint Anselm, Doctor of the Church)
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One of the greatest means of salvation and one of the surest signs of predestination, is unquestionably, the devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin. All the holy doctors of the Church are unanimous in saying with St. Alphonsus of Liguori: “A devout servant of Mary shall never perish.” The chief thing is to persevere faithfully till death in this devotion.
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Numerous examples show how agreeable the three Hail Marys Devotion is to the Divine Mother and what special graces it draws, during life and at the hour of death, on those who never omit it for a single day.
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This practice was revealed to St. Melchtilde (13th century) while she was beseeching Our Blessed Mother to assist her in her hour of death. Our Lady appeared to her and said: “I will, certainly. But I also want you to say three special Hail Marys to me every day.
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“The first will be in honor of God the Father, Whose omnipotence raised my soul so high above every other creature that after God I have the greatest power in heaven and on earth. In the hour of your death I will use that power of God the Father to keep any hostile power far from you.
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“The second Hail Mary will be said in honor of the Son of God Who communicated His inscrutable wisdom to me. In the hour of your death I will fill your soul with the light of that wisdom so that all the darkness of ignorance and error will be dispelled.
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“The third Hail Mary will be in honor of God the Holy Ghost Who filled my soul with the sweetness of His love and tenderness and mercy. In your last hour I will then change the bitterness of death into divine sweetness and delight.”
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Our Blessed Mother also revealed to St. Gertrude the Great: “To any soul who faithfully prays the Three Hail Marys, I will appear at the hour of death in a splendor so extraordinary that it will fill the soul with heavenly consolation.”
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St. Leonard of Port Maurice, the celebrated missionary, had the Three Hail Marys recited morning and evening in honor of Mary Immaculate, to obtain the grace of avoiding all mortal sins during the day or night; moreover he promised in a special manner eternal salvation to all those who proved constantly faithful to this practice. He gave this devotion of Three Hail Marys as a penance in the confessional, especially for those who were struggling with sins of impurity.
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Practice: Recite morning and evening, three Hail Marys in honor of the three great privileges bestowed upon Our Blessed Mother by the most Blessed Trinity with this invocation at the end: for the morning: “O my Mother preserve me from mortal sin during this day.” For the evening: “O my Mother preserve me from mortal sin during this night.”
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(Pope St. Pius X gave his Apostolic Blessing to this practice and the devotion was raised to an Archconfraternity by Pope Benedict XV.)
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The Hail Mary: Hail Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with Thee: blessed art Thou amongst women and blessed is the Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
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A Prayer For Daily Neglects
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Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with all its love, all its sufferings and all its merits.
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First — To expiate all the sins I have committed this day and during all my life.
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(Glory be to the Father and to the Son and the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.)
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Second — To purify the good I have done badly this day and during all my life.
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(Glory Be to the Father…)
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Third — To minister for the good I ought to have done, and that I have neglected this day and during all my life.
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(Glory Be to the Father…)
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A poor Clare nun who had just died, appeared to her Abbess, who was praying for her, and said to her, “I went straight to Heaven, for, by means of this prayer, recited every evening, I paid all my debts.”
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He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has life everlasting, and I will raise him up on the last day. 
(St. John 6:55)
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PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH FOR A HAPPY DEATH
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O Glorious St. Joseph, behold I choose thee today for my special patron in life and at the hour of my death. Preserve and increase in me the spirit of prayer and fervor in the service of God. Remove far from me every kind of sin; obtain for me that my death may not come upon me unawares, but that I may have time to confess my sins sacramentally and to bewail them with a most perfect understanding and a most sincere and perfect contrition, in order that I may breathe forth my soul into the hands of Jesus and Mary. Amen 
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WORDS OF THE QUEEN. (The Virgin Mary speaks to Venerable Sister Mary of Agreda, Spain.)My daughter, although thou hast described my spouse, saint Joseph, as the most noble among the princes and saints of the heavenly Jerusalem; yet neither canst thou properly manifest his eminent sanctity, nor can any of the mortals know it fully before they arrive at the vision of the Divinity. Then all of them will be filled with wonder and praise as the Lord will make them capable of understanding this sacrament. On the last day, when all men shall be judged, the damned will bitterly bewail their sins, which prevented them from appreciating this powerful means of their salvation, and availing themselves, as they easily could have, of this intercessor to gain the friendship of the just Judge. The whole human race has much undervalued the privileges and prerogatives conceded to my blessed spouse and they know not what his intercession with God is able to do. I assure thee, my dearest, that he is one of the greatly favored personages in the divine presence and has immense power to stay the arms of divine vengeance.
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I desire that thou be very thankful to the divine condescension for vouchsafing thee so much light and knowledge regarding this mystery, and also for the favor which I am doing thee therein. From now on, during the rest of thy mortal life, see that thou advance in devotion and in hearty love toward my spouse, and that thou bless the Lord for thus having favored him with such high privileges and for having rejoiced me so much in the knowledge of all his excellences. In all thy necessities thou must avail thyself of his intercession. Thou shouldst induce many to venerate him and see that thy own religious distinguish themselves in their devotion. That which my spouse asks of the Lord in heaven is granted upon the earth and on his intercession depend many and extraordinary favors for men, if they do not make themselves unworthy of receiving them. All these privileges were to be a reward for the amiable perfection of this wonderful saint and for his great virtues; for divine clemency is favorably drawn forth by them and looks upon saint Joseph with generous liberality, ready to shower down its marvelous mercies upon all those who avail themselves of his intercession.
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Prayer for Perseverance in Faith
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But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.(MATTHEW Ch. 24:13)
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Most gracious and merciful God, who, of Thy pure bounty, hast bestowed on me, in preference to so many others, the precious gift of faith, which is the beginning of salvation; who hast made me, before reason could direct my choice, a member of the one only and true Catholic Church, wherein I am secured from error, and guided in the road that leads to eternal bliss. Grant, O my God, that I may never prove so ungrateful as to waver in this faith, or to contradict it by my conduct; but that, till the end of my life, firmly believing what it teaches, and earnestly endeavouring to comply with the duties it lays down, I may merit the eternal reward thou hast promised to those who persevere to the end in the profession of Thy faith and the observance of Thy commandments. This grace, O my God, I ardently implore, through the death and passion of my Saviour Jesus Christ, who, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.

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