The Fifteen Prayers of Saint Bridget of Sweden: Part 1 of 3

<p id="eow-description" class="">"I received 5480 blows on My Body. If you wish to honor them in some way, say 15 Our Fathers and 15 Hail Marys with the following Prayers for a whole year. When the year is up, you will have honored each one of My Wounds." (Jesus, to Saint Bridget.) These beautiful prayers take less than twenty minutes each day. Sometimes I like to say five in the morning, five in the afternoon, and five in the evening. (The prayers are written below, if you'd like to follow along.) Here's the list of Our Lord's promises to those who recite these prayers for a year: http://www.catholictradition.org/Pass...

O Jesus Christ! eternal sweetness to those who love who You, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, salvation and hope of all sinners, who proved that You have no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings You endured from the instant of Your conception and especially during Your Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from eternity in the Divine plan. Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with Your disciples, having washed their feet, You gave them Your most precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time You sweetly consoled them, You foretold to them Your coming passion. Remember the sadness and bitterness which You experienced in Your soul as You Yourself bore witness, saying: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death." Remember all the fear, anguish, and pain that You suffered in Your delicate Body before the torment of the crucifixion, when after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, You were betrayed by Judas, Your disciple, arrested by the people of a nation You had chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Your youth, and during the solemn Paschal season. Remember that You were despoiled of Your garments and clothed in those of derision, that Your face and eyes were veiled, that You were buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Your hands, that You were crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages. In memory of all these pains and sufferings which You endured before Your Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction, and the remission of all my sins. Amen.

O Jesus! true liberty of Angels, paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which You endured when Your enemies, like furious lions, surrounded You, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations, and other unheard-of cruelties, tormented You at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech You, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Your protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.

O Jesus! Creator of heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit, Who enfold and hold all under Your loving power, remember the very bitter pain You suffered when the Jews nailed Your sacred hands and feet to the cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding You in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged Your wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Your Body on the Cross, pulling You from all sides, thus dislocating Your limbs. I beg of You, O Jesus, by the memory of this most loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear You and to love You. Amen.

O Jesus! heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Yours, remember the bruises which You suffered and the weakness of all Your members which were distended to such a degree that never was their pain like unto Yours. From the crown of Your head to the soles of Your feet, there was not one spot on Your body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Your sufferings, You did not cease to pray to Your Heavenly Father for Your enemies, saying: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Through this great mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Your most bitter Passion may effect in us the perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.

O Jesus! mirror of eternal splendor, remember the sadness which You experienced, when contemplating in the light of Your Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Your sacred Passion, You saw at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and You complained bitterly of those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners. Through this abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which You displayed to the good thief when You said to him: "This day you shall be with Me in Paradise," I beg of You, O sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, You will show me mercy. Amen.

Music from The Passion of The Christ soundtrack, by John Debney.</p>