O sweet Jesus, Whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much
forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Your
altar eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference
and injuries, to which Your loving Heart is everywhere subject.
Mindful alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great
indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we
humbly ask Your pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary
expiation not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins
of those, who, straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their
obstinate infidelity to follow You, their Shepherd and Leader, or,
renouncing the vows of their baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of Your Law.
We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage
committed against You; we are determined to make amends for the
manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and
behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the
innocent, for the frequent violations of Sundays and holidays, and the
shocking blasphemies uttered against You and Your Saints.
We wish also to make amends for the insults to which Your Vicar on earth
and Your priests are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect
or terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very Sacrament of Your Divine
Love; and lastly for the public crimes of nations who resist the rights
and teaching authority of the Church which You have founded.
Would, O divine Jesus, we were able to wash away such abominations with
our blood. We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Your divine honor, the satisfaction You once made to Your eternal
Father on the cross and which You continue to renew daily on our
altars; we offer it in union with the acts of atonement of Your Virgin
Mother and all the Saints and of the pious faithful on earth; and we
sincerely promise to make recompense, as far as we can with the help of
Your grace, for all neglect of Your great love and for the sins we and
others have committed in the past.
Henceforth we will live a life of
unwavering faith, of purity of conduct, of perfect observance of the
precepts of the gospel and especially that of charity. We promise to the
best of our power to prevent other from offending You and to bring as
many as possible to follow You.
O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our
model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make of
this act of expiation; and by the crowning gift of perseverance keep us
faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to You, so
that we may one day come to that happy home, where You with the Father
and the Holy Ghost live and reign, One God, world without end. Amen.
