Seven Prayers of St. Gregory on the Passion of the Lord

Holy Mother Church honors Pope St. Gregory the Great with a feast on March 12.  Well-educated and pious, St. Gregory worked tirelessly for the Church.  He was chosen Pope in 590 and reigned until 604.  During that time he fought against heresies, sent missionaries to convert pagans, including to England, and took care of the poor and sick.  He watched over the priests and the sacred traditions of the Church, and he is also well-known for his influence over the Church's music with Gregorian Chant. From the words from an antiphon in his office, he was called, "the Father of the City, the joy of the World."

The following prayer, penned by St. Gregory the Great, was a well-known medieval prayer often found in prayer books containing the Hours.  Pious tradition holds that one day while St. Gregory was celebrating Mass, Christ Himself appeared during the Consecration as a sign of His True Presence in the Eucharist. Thus, often accompanying the prayer in these prayer books was a picture of St. Gregory, genuflecting at the Consecration, with Christ appearing on the Crucifix in front of the Altar.

+       +       +

 Seven Prayers of St. Gregory on the Passion of the Lord

I. O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee hanging on the Cross, wearing a crown of thorns upon Thy head. I beg Thee that Thy Cross may free me from the deceiving Angel. Amen. 
1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary. 

II.  O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee hanging wounded on the Cross, given vinegar and gall to drink. I beg Thee that Thy wounds may be the remedy of my soul. Amen. 

1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary.

III. O Lord Jesus, I ask by the bitterness of Thy Passion, which Thou didst undergo in the hour of Thy death, so much so when Thy most holy soul left Thy blessed body, have mercy upon my soul when it leaves my body, and lead it to eternal life. Amen. 

1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary.

 
IV. O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee placed in Thy tomb, anointed with myrrh and aromatic spices. I beg Thee that Thy death may be my life. Amen. 

1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary. 

V.  O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee descending into hell and freeing the captives from there. I beg Thee, that Thou mayest never permit me to enter there. Amen.  

1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary. 

VI. O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee rising from the dead, ascending into heaven, and sitting at the right hand of the Father. I beg Thee that I may be worthy to follow Thee and be with Thee. Amen. 

1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary. 

VII. O Lord Jesus, O good Shepherd, preserver of the just, justifier of sinners, have mercy upon all the faithful and be gracious to me, a wretched and unworthy sinner. Amen. 

1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary. 

Prayer:  I beseech Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, that Thy Passion may be a strength to me by which I may be strengthened, protected and defended. May Thy wounds be to me food and drink by which I may be nourished, inebriated, and delighted. May the sprinkling of Thy Blood be to me an ablution for all my sins. May Thy death be eternal glory to me. In these may my refreshment, joy, health, zeal, delight, and desire of my body and soul, now and forever. Amen. 

Prayer: O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, place Thy Passion, Cross, and Death between Thy judgment and my soul, now and in the hour of my death. Deign to grant me grace and mercy, pardon to the living, eternal rest to the dead, peace to Thy Church, and life and eternal glory to all sinners. Thou who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen

--from the Paradisus Animae (1670)

God bless!

+JMJ+

A Very Useful Manner of Hiding Oneself in the Five Sacred Wounds

 According to a private revelation of St. Bridget of Sweden, our Lord revealed to her that during His Passion His Wounds totaled 5,480.  The five primary wounds upon which meditations are often made, however, are the wounds in His Hands and Feet and the Sacred Wound in His side.  Devotion to our Lord's Wounds began early within the Church, especially increasing in devotion among the Faithful during the time of St. Francis of Assisi.

The following prayer honoring our Lord's Wounds was taught to St. Mechtilde by Christ Himself as she went to kiss the Cross one Good Friday.  It is a beautiful prayer on which to meditate and to recite throughout Lent, but it especially is fitting now as Passion Sunday approaches and, soon after, Holy Week.

May this simple prayer help us to unite ourselves with the Passion of our Lord throughout the remainder of Lent and always.

+

In Honor of the Five Sacred Wounds

I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for the painful Wound of Thy left foot, from which flowed the Precious Blood that washes away our sins. In it I sink and hide all the sins I have ever committed. Amen. 

I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for the painful Wound of Thy right foot, from which the fountain of peace flowed to us. In its depths I sink and bury all my desires, that they may be purified and remain unspotted by any earthly stain. Amen. 

I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for the painful Wound of Thy left hand, from which the well of grace flowed to us. In it I enclose all my spiritual and bodily ills, that in union with Thy sufferings they may become sweet to me, and by patience become a fragrant odor before God. Amen. 

I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for the painful Wound of Thy right hand, from which the medicine of the soul was poured forth. In it I hide all my negligences and omissions which I have committed in my virtuous exercises, that they may be atoned for by Thy zealous works. Amen. 

I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for the healing Wound of Thy sweetest Heart, from which living Water and Blood and the riches of all good flowed to us. I place myself in this Wound, and there unite all my imperfect love to Thy Divine love, that thus it may be perfected. Amen.

God bless!

+JMJ+

Little Chaplet of the Five Wounds of Jesus Christ

 

"He was pierced for our transgressions....and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)

During the Middle Ages a form of prayer that increased in popularity was the practice of meditating upon the wounds of Christ.  While some mystics, such as St. Gertrude the Great, numbered the wounds Jesus suffered during His Passion to be 5,466, popular piety focused on the five wounds of Christ suffered during His Crucifixion, those of His hands, feet, and side.  Many Medieval saints, such as St. Francis of Assisi and St. Bernard of Clairvaux encouraged the faithful to incorporate devotions that honored the Five Wounds of Christ into their spiritual lives.  Gradually numerous prayers and devotions arose for this purpose.  One example of this type of devotion is the Little Chaplet of the Five Wounds of Jesus Christ, composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori.  The meditations comprising this chaplet may help us remember and reflect upon the perfect love, the sacrificial love, Christ has for each one of us.  Throughout Lent may we ponder these wounds with love, making small sacrifices in reparation for the sins committed against Our Lord.

Meditation 1: O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the Wound in Your left Foot. I thank You for having suffered this Wound for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I feel compassion for Your pain and for the pain of Your afflicted Mother. By the merit of this Sacred Wound, I pray that You would grant me the pardon of my sins of which I repent with my whole heart, because they have offended Your infinite goodness. O Sorrowful Mother, pray to Jesus for me.
Recite an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be and the following prayer: By all the wounds which Thou didst bear with so much love and so much pain, oh, let a sinner's prayer Thy mercy, Lord, obtain!


Meditation 2: O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the Wound in Your right Foot. I thank You for having suffered this Wound for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I feel compassion for Your pain and for the pain of Your afflicted Mother. By the merit of this Sacred Wound, I pray that You would give me the strength not to fall into mortal sin and to persevere in Your grace until my death. O Sorrowful Mother, pray to Jesus for me.
Recite an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be and the following prayer: By all the wounds which Thou didst bear with so much love and so much pain, oh, let a sinner's prayer Thy mercy, Lord, obtain!


Meditation 3: O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the Wound in Your left Hand. I thank You for having suffered this Wound for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I feel compassion for Your pain and for the pain of Your afflicted Mother. By the merit of this Sacred Wound, I pray that You would deliver me from hell which I have so often deserved, a place where I could never love You again. O Sorrowful Mother, pray to Jesus for me.
Recite an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be and the following prayer: By all the wounds which Thou didst bear with so much love and so much pain, oh, let a sinner's prayer Thy mercy, Lord, obtain!


Meditation 4: O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the Wound in Your right Hand. I thank You for having suffered this Wound for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I feel compassion for Your pain and for the pain of Your afflicted Mother. By the merit of this Sacred Wound, I pray that You would give me the glory of paradise where I shall love You perfectly and with all my strength. O Sorrowful Mother, pray to Jesus for me.
Recite an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be and the following prayer: By all the wounds which Thou didst bear with so much love and so much pain, oh, let a sinner's prayer Thy mercy, Lord, obtain!


Meditation 5: O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the Wound in Your Side. I thank You for having suffered this Wound for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I feel compassion for Your pain and for the pain of Your afflicted Mother, who alone felt all Your pain. By the merit of this Sacred Wound, I pray that You would grant me the gift of holy love for You, so that I may love You in this life and in the other life--face to face, for all eternity in paradise. O Sorrowful Mother, pray to Jesus for me.
Recite an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be and the following prayer: By all the wounds which Thou didst bear with so much love and so much pain, oh, let a sinner's prayer Thy mercy, Lord, obtain!

Composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori