Truly it is worthy and just, right and profitable to salvation, that we give Thee thanks always and in every place, Lord, Holy Father, almighty and eternal God, and bowing down, beseech Thy majesty with devotion, that looking upon the small measure of our earthly fragility, Thou may not reprove us in Thine anger for our wickedness, but in Thy boundless clemency purify, instruct and console us. For since without Thee we can do nothing that may please Thee, Thy grace alone shall grant to us, that we live in a salutary manner. Through Christ our Lord, through whom the angels praise Thy majesty... (An ancient preface for Quinquagesima Sunday)
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| The Virgin Mary suckling the Baby Jesus, surrounded by the Cardinal Virtues (to either side) and the Theological Virtues (above.) Fresco made in 1393 by the Florentine painter Cenni di Francesco di Ser Cenni, in the city hall of the town of San Miniato. (Image from Wikimedia Commons by Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0.) |
