Preserving a 1701 French Book of Prayers

The oldest book I have in my possession is a book of prayers published  in Paris and bearing the date 1701. The pages are intact and legible but the binding is in very poor condition. The book measures 11 cm x 7.5 cm and has 527 pages.

The title of the book is: "Christian Hours, dedicated to the King." The word "Hours" refers to the prayers or offices appointed to be said at the seven stated times of the day allotted to prayer (the canonical hours). The King in question was none other than Louis XIV, the Sun King (1638-1715). 

My intention is to post excerpts from the pages of this book in their original French and Latin, accompanied by my translation and notes. I offer the project today as a birthday present to Our gentle Queen and Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, entreating her to intercede for my family, EEKPTEE & EA, so that through God's mercy we may merrily meet in heaven.[1]

Frontispiece

The Christian Hours

Dedicated

To the King

Containing

The Offices, Vespers,

Hymns and Chants[2] of the Church

In French and in Latin

Newly supplemented with several 

Prayers and Orisons[3] most holy.

By the Rev. Father Le Bossu of the 

Society of Jesus

Paris

La Veuve Senecart

rue des Carmes, at the tree of Life.

M. DCCI.

[1] Farewell ... pray for me, and I shall for you and all your friends, that we may merrily meet in heaven. These are from the last letter of Sir Thomas More to his family and friends, written on 5 July 1535, the day before his execution. More wrote with a stick of charcoal on cloth; King Henry VIII had ordered his books and writing materials to be removed.

[2] Prose : Chant liturgique strophique et versifié, souvent rimé et qui, à certaines messes, prend place après le graduel. (Par exemple Veni, Sancte Spiritus ; Lauda Sion ; Dies iræ.) Liturgical chant in strophes and verses, often rhyming and which in certain Masses follow the gradual (e.g., Veni, Sancte Spiritus ; Lauda Sion ; Dies iræ.)

[3] Oraiʃons: 1. Prière liturgique de la messe et de l'office des heures. 2. Prière mentale sous forme de méditation, dans laquelle le cœur a plus de part que l'esprit. 1. Liturgical prayer of the Mass and the Office. 2. Mental prayer in the form of meditation, in which the heart has a greater role than the mind. SAINTE CATHERINE, DE SIENNE [CATERINA BENINCASA] (Sienne 1347-Rome 1380) Qu'est-ce qui nous rend forts et persévérants ? L'oraison humble et continuelle faite dans la cellule de la connaissance de soi-même et de la bonté de Dieu en soi. What gives us strength and perseverance? Humble and continual prayer in the cell of self-knowledge and God’s goodness in oneself. 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.