The paradise of the Christian soul/Chap. V. Various Prayers on the Passion of our Lord.
CHAPTER V.
Various Prayers on the Passion of our Lord.
A VERY HOLY PRAYER, TO BE SAID BEFORE AN IMAGE OF THE CRUCIFIED.
From the German Prayers of F. Canisius.
O Jesus Christ, King of heaven and earth, our most sweet Saviour and Redeemer! I adore and bless thee, be- cause thou hast, by the holy Cross, so wonderfully and lovingly redeemed me and the whole world. Oh, how excellent, precious. and efficacious a victim hast thou immolated for us on the altar of the Cross! Oh, how greatly hast thou toiled, how much wast thou straitened, until thou hadst accomplished the sacrifice which thou hadst begun![1] By a tree Satan seduced and ruined us of old; but by a Tree again thou hast overcome our enemy, redeemed us graciously, and obtained for us eternal salvation!
O precious wood! O potent sign! O glorious mystery, worthy of all veneration! O excellent Tree, that hast borne the fruit of life!
But alas! most loving Jesus, with what toil, what weariness hast thou carried on thy shoulders that heavy burden of the Cross along that steep and tedious road to Mount Calvary! With what pain and torture were thy most holy Hands and Feet pierced through with nails, and fastened to the Cross! How cruelly hast thou endured to have thy whole body stretched out upon it, so that the joints and ligatures of thy limbs were loosened, and all thy bones could be numbered! And why all this, but to blot out the handwriting of the decree that was against us, and take it out of the way, fastening it to the Cross? To wash away, I say, our sins with thy own innocent Blood, and rescind the sentence of condemnation passed upon us, and so reconcile all things, making peace, by the Blood of the Cross, both as to the things on earth, and the things that are in heaven.[2]
Henceforth, O most sweet Saviour Jesus Christ, most faithful Pastor of my soul, receive me, thy unworthy creature, and silly, wandering sheep! Open to me thy Heart and thy Wounds, that in them I may hide myself, with my miseries and sins, and be protected and purified. Crucify in me my flesh, with its vices and concupiscences. Extinguish all my pride, and tear out of me my vanity, with all my evil affections. Renew also a right spirit within my bowels. Awaken in me an earnest and effectual will towards every good work, with sincerity of love, unweariedness of service, and constancy of obedience to thee alone; that so it may be far from me to glory, save in the Cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, by whom may the world be crucified to me, and I to the world.[3] Thou hast said, If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself.[4] Now there fore draw me after thee, that nothing may ever be able to separate me from thee, who for me hast ascended that the Cross, and camest not own from thence, until thou hadst fully accomplished the work of my salvation! Amen.
Short and Forcible Prayers
TO CHRIST IN HIS PASSION.
I. O Jesus Christ, my only Saviour! let not, I beseech thee, thy most bitter Passion and Death be lost or deprived of its fruit in a wretch like myself. By all thy ignominy, thy most bitter death, and thy wounded heart, bestow on me thy grace, now and in the hour of my death. Amen.
II. O Jesus Christ, the crucified Saviour of the world! interpose all thy pains, thy precious Blood and Death, and all thy mercies, between thy stern justice and my wretched soul. Amen.
III. O Jesus Christ, good Shepherd! who feedest and purifiest thy sheep with thy own precious Blood; let the abundant outpouring of thy most holy Blood, and all thy Passion, be for comfort and salvation to me and to all sinners. Amen.
IV. O innocent Lamb of God! who by thy Cross and Death takest away the sins of the world; by thy innocence, thy tortures, thy pains, and anguish of thy Heart endured upon the Cross, spare me in the day of thy terrible judgment, and have mercy on the living and the dead. Amen.
V. O Son, obedient to God the Father! who so readily and cheerfully drankest the cup of thy awful Passion, and in thy thirst wast also given gall and vinegar to drink. By all thy most cruel torments and wounds, make me to be meek and patient, and obedient to the eternal Father even to death. Amen.
VI. O Jesus, our High Priest! who offeredst to God the Father a clean Oblation, that is fully effectual for the reconciliation of sinners to God; by the infinite merits of thy Life, Passion, and Death, grant that I may die to the world, and live only to thee, and finally be dismissed from hence in peace. Amen.
VII. O Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews! by the victory and triumph which thou hast gained over thy enemies and ours, preserve me from my enemies. Defend my body and soul from all danger. Bestow on thy Church peace and concord, on the departed pardon and rest, on sinners penitence and forgiveness, and grace and mercy upon all. Amen.
SHORT PRAYERS OF ST. GREGORY
On our Lord's Passion.
1. O Lord Jesus Christ! I adore thee hanging on the Cross, wearing on thy Head thy crown of thorns. Let thy Cross, I pray thee, deliver me from the destroying Angel. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
2. O Lord Jesus Christ! I adore thee wounded on the Cross, given gall and vinegar to drink. Let thy Wounds, I pray thee, be medicine to my soul. Our Father. Hail Mary.
3. O Lord Jesus Christ! I pray thee by that bitterness of thy passion which thou enduredstat the hour of death, especially at the moment thy most holy Soul departed from thy blessed Body; have mercy on my soul at its departure out of my body, and bring it to eternal life. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
4. O Lord Jesus Christ! I adore thee laid in the Sepulchre and embalmed with myrrh and spices. I pray thee that thy Death may be my life. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
5. O Lord Jesus Christ! I adore thee descending into hell, and delivering thence thy captives; I pray thee, suffer me never to enter therein. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
6. O Lord Jesus Christ! I adore thee rising again from the dead and ascending into heaven, and sitting on the right hand of the Father; I pray thee that I may merit to follow thee thither, and there be presented to thee. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
7. O Lord Jesus Christ! good Shepherd, preserve the just, justify sinners, have mercy on all the faithful, and be favourable to me, a wretched and unworthy sinner. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
PRAYER.
I implore thee, O Lord, Jesus Christ, that thy Passion may be my strength, to fortify me, protect me, and defend me. Let thy Wounds be my meat and drink, to feed me, inebriate me, and delight me. May the sprinkling of thy Blood be the washing away of all my sins. May thy Death be my eternal glory. In these let me have my refreshment, my triumph, my health, my study, my joy, my desire both of body and soul, now and for ever. Amen.
ANOTHER PRAYER.
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God! interpose thy Passion, Cross, and Death between thy justice and my soul, now and at the hour of my death.
Vouchsafe to give grace and mercy to myself, pardon to the living, rest to the departed, peace to thy Church, and life with eternal glory to all sinners. Who livest and reignest.
The Prayers of St. Bridget
Equalled in devotion by none,
ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
PRAYER I.
O Jesus Christ! eternal Sweetness of them that love thee, delight that exceedest all joy and all desire, Saviour and lover of sinners, who hast declared that thy delight is to be with the sons of men, for man’s sake becoming man in the end of times. Remember all thy premeditation and inward grief, which in thy human body thou enduredst as the time of thy most saving Passion drew near, that was preordained in thy divine heart.
Remember the sadness and bitterness which, by thy own testimony, thou hadst in thy soul, when at the last Supper thou gavest to thy disciples thy own Body and Blood, washedst their feet, and, in sweetly consoling them, foretoldest thy impending Passion.
Remember all the fear, anguish, and sorrow which thou sufferedst in thy tender Body before thy Passion on the Cross, when, after thy thrice uttered prayer and Bloody Sweat, thou wert betrayed by thy disciple Judas, taken by thy chosen people, accused by false witnesses, judged unjustly by three judges, condemned, though innocent ; in the chosen city, at the paschal season, in the prime of manhood, stripped of thy own garments, and arrayed in the garments of others; wert buffeted, hadst thy Eyes and Face blindfolded, wast struck, bound to a pillar, scourged, crowned with thorns, struck on the Head with a reed, and assailed with numberless other insults. Grant me, I beseech thee, O Lord God, in memory of these thy sufferings that preceded thy Passion on the Cross, true contrition before my death, full confession, meet satisfaction, and the remission of all my sins. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
PRAYER II.
O Jesus! Maker of the world, whom no measure can truly mete, who enclosest the earth in the hollow of thy hand; remember the most bitter grief which thou susstainedst when the Jews first fastened to the Cross thy most holy Hands with blunted nails; and in order to drive them through thy most tender Feet, when thou wert not conformable to their will, added to thy Wounds pain upon pain, and so cruelly dragged thee apart, and stretched thee on the length and breadth of the Cross, as to loosen the joints of thy Limbs.
I pray thee, by the memory of thy most sacred and bitter agony on the Cross, to grant me thy fear and love. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
Prayer III.
O Jesus! heavenly Physician, remember the languor, the bruises, and the agony, which, when raised upon the lofty gibbet of the Cross, thou sufferedst in all thy torn Limbs, not one of which had remained in its own proper state, so that no sorrow was ever found like thy sorrow;[5] for from the sole of the foot to the top of the head there was no soundness [6] in thee; and yet, regardless of all thy pains, thou lovingly prayedst thy Father for thy enemies, in saying: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!
By this mercy, and in remembrance of that agony, grant that this memory of thy most bitter Passion may be the full remission of all my sins, Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
PRAYER IV.
O Jesus! true freedom of Angels, paradise of delights, remember the grief and horror thou enduredst, when all thy enemies stood around thee, like fiercest lions, and tormented thee with buffetings, spittings, scratchings, and all thy other untold pains.
By those pains, and by all the insulting words and most cruel torments with which, O Lord Jesus Christ, all thy enemies afflicted thee, deliver me, I pray thee, from all my visible enemies; and grant me under the shadow of thy wings to attain the completion of my eternal salvation. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
PRAYER V.
O Jesus! mirror of eternal love, remember the sorrow which thou hadst, when in the mirror of thy most serene majesty thou beheldest the predestination of the Elect, who are saved by the merits of thy Passion; and the reprobation of the wicked, who are to be damned by their own demerits; and the infinite depth of thy mercy, with which thou then condoledst with us lost and desperate sinners, and which thou displayedst to the thief on the cross, in saying, This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise; I pray thee, O Jesus, shew mercy to me in the hour of my death. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
PRAYER VI.
O King! my Beloved and Friend, who art all lovely,[7] remember that sorrow which thou hadst when thou hangedst naked and miserable on the Cross, and when all thy friends and thy acquaintance stood against thee,[8] and when thou foundedst none to comfort thee, save thy beloved Mother alone, who, in the bitterness of her soul, most faithfully stood by thee, and whom thou commendedst to thy disciple, saying, Mother, behold thy son!
I pray thee, most loving Jesus, by the sword of sorrow which then pierced through her soul, to compassionate me in all my troubles and afflictions, corporal and spiritual, and to give me consolation in the time of trouble and in the hour of my death. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
PRAYER VII.
O Jesus! the Fountain of inexhaustible love, who of thy inmost affection saidst upon the Cross, I thirst, namely, for the salvation of mankind; inflame, I beseech thee, the desires of our hearts to every perfect work, and utterly dry up and extinguish within us the thirst of concupiscence and the heat of worldly pleasure. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
Prayer VIII.
O Jesus! the Sweetness of hearts and the exceeding Delight of souls, by the bitterness of the vinegar and the gall which thou tastedst for us, vouchsafe to us at the hour of our death, worthily to receive thy Body and Blood, for the medicine and comfort of our souls. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
Prayer IX.
O Jesus! kingly in might, and triumph of the soul, remember the anguish and sorrow that thou sufferedst, when, because of the bitterness of death, and the insulting of the Jews, thou criedst with a loud voice that thou wast forsaken by thy Father, in saying, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? By this anguish, I pray thee not to forsake us in our anguish, O Lord our God. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
PRAYER X.
O Jesus, Alpha and Omega, our life and strength at all times! remember that from the top of thy head to the sole of thy foot thou sankest thyself for us in the water of thy Passion.
For thy Wounds’ sake, that were so long and so broad, teach me, that am deeply sunk in sins, to keep, by true charity, thy broad commandment. Amen. Our Father. Mail Mary.
PRAYER XI.
O Jesus! most deep abyss of mercy, I pray thee, by the depth of thy Wounds, which passed through thy heart and the marrow of thy bones, to drag me out, sunken as I am in sins, and hide me in the holes of thy Wounds from the face of thy anger, till thy wrath, O Lord, pass away. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
PRAYER XII.
O Jesus! the Mirror of truth, the Seal of unity, and the Bond of charity, remember the countless number of thy Wounds, with which thou wert wounded from the top of thy head to the sole of thy foot, and the greatness of the anguish, which, reddened with thy most holy Blood, thou enduredst for us in thy virgin Flesh! O loving Jesus, what is there that thou oughtst to do more for us that thou hast not done!
Write, O loving Jesus! I beseech thee, in my heart, all thy Wounds with thy most precious Blood, that, reading in them thy sorrow and thy death, I may persevere in thanksgiving constantly to the end. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
PRAYER XIII.
O Jesus! most strong Lion, immortal and invincible King, remember the agony which thou sufferedst when all the powers of thy heart and body utterly failed thee, and bowing thy head thou saidst, It is consummated!
By this anguish and sorrow, have mercy on me in the final consummation of my departure, when my soul is in anguish and my spirit troubled. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
PRAYER XIV.
O Jesus! Only begotten of the Father Most High, Splendour and figure of his substance,[9] remember the earnest commendation with which thou commendedst thy spirit to the Father, in saying, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and with torn body and broken heart, when the bowels of thy mercy were opened for our redemption, didst expire with a great cry.
By this thy most precious Death, I beseech thee, O King of saints, strengthen me to resist flesh and blood, the devil and the world, that, being dead to the world, I may live to thee: and in my departure’s last hour receive my spirit, returning as an exile and a pilgrim to thee!
Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
PRAYER XV.
O Jesus! the true and fruitful Vino, remember the overflowing and abundant shedding of thy Blood, which thou pouredst out as plentifully as though it were pressed out of a cluster of grapes, when upon the Cross thou troddest the wine-press alone, and from thy side, pierced by the soldier’s lance, gavest us to drink Blood and Water, so that there remained in thee not the least drop, and wert at last suspended on high like a bundle of myrrh, and thy delicate flesh shrunk away, and the moisture of thy bowels was dried up, and the marrow of thy bones was wasted away.
By this most bitter Passion, and outpouring of thy most precious Blood, O loving Jesus, I pray thee, receive my soul in the agony of death. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.
CONCLUSION.
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God! in that surpassing love, in which thou enduredst all the wounds of thy most holy Body, receive this prayer, and have mercy on me thy servant, and on all sinners; and to all the faithful, both living and dead, give mercy, grace, remission of sins, and eternal life. Amen.
PRAYER ON THE SEVERAL POINTS OF THE PASSION.
O God, who for the redemption of the world wert willing to be born, circumcised, rejected by the Jews, betrayed by the traitor Judas with a kiss, bound in chains, led as an innocent lamb to the sacrifice, and shamefully exposed before Annas, Caiphas, Pilate, and Herod, accused by false witnesses, tormented with scourging and insult, spit upon, crowned with thorns, buffeted, struck with a reed, blindfolded, stripped of thy garments, fastened to a Cross with nails, lifted up on a Cross, reckoned among robbers, given gall and vinegar to drink, and wounded with a lance! By these thy most holy sufferings, O Lord, which I unworthily commemorate, and by thy holy Cross and Death, deliver me from the pains of hell, and vouchsafe to conduct me whither thou hast conducted the thief that was crucified with thee. Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, livest and reiguest for ever and ever. Amen.
A MOST DEVOUT PRAYER BEFORE THE CROSS OF OUR LORD.
Most good and gracious Christ Jesus, behold, I have recourse to thee; to thee, O loving Jesus, I return; but I blush with the deepest shame and confusion when I look upon those wounds of thine, when I see that crown of thorns, and learn that it is for me that thou hast suffered it all. I indeed it was who inflicted on thee all those dreadful wounds; I pressed down that crown of thorns upon thy sacred Head; I fastened thee upon that Cross.
But, oh, the greatness of thy charity, clemency, and mercy! It is I that have sinned, and it is thou that art tortured, and payest for me the penalty of the death which I deserve. It is I who have been myself thy enemy, but by thy Cross thou makest me thy son. It is I who have been a slave, but thou, by thy Blood, proclaimest me free.
Oh, if once thou wouldst permit me to be all on fire with thy love, then would I most cheerfully devote to thee my very life, for I owe thee myself and my all Amen.