Prayer to the shoulder wound of Jesus (St. Bernard?)

Prayer to the shoulder wound of Jesus
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   This Roman Catholic prayer is variously attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux^[1] or to St. Gertrude or St. Mechtilde. ^[2]

Fifth Station, Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus to Carry the Cross
by Fr. Gabriel, Nunraw Abbey

In English:

'"O Loving Jesus, Meek Lamb of God, I, a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy Flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross, to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen."

According to St. Bernard, he asked Jesus which was His greatest unrecorded suffering and the wound that inflicted the most pain on Him in Calvary and Jesus answered:

"I had on My Shoulder, while I bore My Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound which was more painful than the others and which is not recorded by men. Honor this Wound with thy devotion and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through its virtue and merit and in regard to all those who shall venerate this Wound, I will remit to them all their venial sins and will no longer remember their mortal sins."^[3]

The modern version of the prayer bears the imprimatur of Bishop Thomas D. Bevan ^[4].

[edit] The Prayer in Latin

O Iesu amantissime, Agne Dei mansuetissime, ego miser peccator saluto et veneror sacratissimum vulnus, quod in humero tuo, dum gravem crucis tuae trabem portares, persensisti : ob quod singularem dolorem et cruciatum in benedicto corpore tuo sustinuisti. Adoro te, Iesu afflictissime, et ex intimo corde laudo, benedico et glorifico te gratiasque ago pro hoc sacratissimo poenosissimoque vulnere humeri tui, humiliter deprecans, ut ob nimium illum dolorem, quem illud tibi inflixit, et propter grave onus crucis tuae, quod te tam dire afflixit, miserearis mihi peccatori, peccata mea venialia et mortalia remittas meque per viam crucis tuae ad caelum deducas. Amen.

[edit] References

1. ^ Catholic Online - Prayers
2. ^ Preces Gertrudianae sive vera et sincera medulla precum potissimum ex revelationibus BB. Gertrudis et Mechtildis excerptarum. Editio nova, accurate recognita et emendata a monacho ordinis S. Benedicti Congregationis Beuronensis, 1903
3. ^ Catholic Tradition http://www.catholictradition.org/Children/st-bernard.htm
4. ^ Prayer to the Shoulder Wound of Jesus http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=31

[edit] See also