The Prayer a Renewal of the Baptismal Vows

O my Lord and my God,

I humbly prostrate in spirit before Thy Divine Majesty,

I adore Thy sovereign justice and Thine infinite mercy.

I am penetrated with fear

at the consideration of Thine awful judgments,

and my great ingratitude for Thy benefits,

since I was ranked by baptism among Thy children,

raised to the glorious dignity of a Christian

and thus entitled to enjoy Thee eternally in heaven.

I was not then conscious

of the precious grace bestowed upon me,

nor of the awful obligations I contracted

when I promised to renounce the devil,

the world, and the flesh.

But I am now fully conscious of both;

I most humbly thank Thee

for having brought me safely to the waters of baptism,

and I detest,

from the bottom of my heart,

every thought, word and action of my life

which has been unworthy of a Christian.

Thou knowest, O my God,

how often I have stained the robe of innocence

with which I was then clothed,

and how frequently I have violated my sacred promises;

but Thou seest the contrition of my heart,

and the sincerity with which I now renew,

in the presence of heaven and earth,

my profession of faith in the doctrines

proposed to my belief by the Holy Catholic Church;

as well as the promises made for me

when I was regenerated in the waters of baptism.

I firmly believe in God the Father Almighty,

Creator of heaven and earth;

in Jesus Christ,

His only Son our Lord,

Who was born and suffered for us;

in the Holy Ghost;

the holy Catholic Church;

the Communion of Saints;

the forgiveness of sins;

the Resurrection of the body,

and life everlasting.

I renounce the world, with its pomps, vanities, and false maxims,

which I despise because they are accursed by Thee.

I renounce the flesh, with all its temptations,

and sincerely resolve to endeavour to amend my faults,

to conquer my passions, and to sacrifice all that is most dear to me

rather than again deliberately sully that robe

which I promised to carry unstained before the judgment seat of Christ.

O my good God, Who didst love me before I could love Thee,

and didst apply to my soul the merits,

of Jesus Christ when I was unable to implore that favour,

look on me with compassion, and grant me all those graces,

which will enable me to keep my baptismal engagement without reproof.

Increase in my soul the heavenly virtues of faith, hope and charity,

which I received at baptism,

and teach me to make faith the rule of my conduct,

that it may avail me to life everlasting;

through the infinite mercies and merits

of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Who, with Thee and the Holy Ghost,

liveth and reigneth,

one God, world without end.

Amen.