On Jesus’ wounds and the shedding of his precious blood
On Jesus’ wounds and the shedding of his precious blood
LORD JESUS CHRIST, Author of our salvation and most gracious Dispenser of pardon, and most patient in tolerating man’s wickedness, I bless and thank you for the great pain, the many stripes, and the bloody wounds inflicted on your tender and noble body From the soles of your feet to the crown of your head there was no area without its injury or lesion—either swellings or smarting wounds—with warm red blood flowing over your body.
I praise and glorify you with the greatest reverence of which I am capable and with full interior humility for the abundant shedding of your precious blood from your five sacred wounds as well as the other wounds, both great and small. In bleeding they give forth the most effective medicine for our sins, more precious than balm.
Most gentle Jesus, you were so mistreated and manhandled by cruel men that you had no bodily strength left in you. Your veins were opened wide—not even the least drop of blood remained in you, and whatever of that sacred fluid had been in you in life has now in death been poured out for our souls’ benefit as the price of our salvation.
O five precious wounds, supreme signs of incomparable love, abounding with divine sweetness, it is from you that the sinner learns abiding trust—otherwise his guilty conscience would cause him to despair. In these wounds we find the medicine for life, abundant grace, full forgiveness, unstinting mercy, and the gateway to promised glory Whatever defilement I incur or whatever sins of the flesh I commit, it is in these five fountains that I wash myself clean, am purified, and again made new.
I praise and honor you, Christ, only beloved Spouse of the Holy Church, for your uncommon charity by which you chose, through this covenant in your blood, to redeem my soul from the effects of Adam’s transgression, to cleanse it of all sin, to enrich and adorn it with the merits of your holiness. Sanctified by your grace, may I be found worthy of being united to you and later of being blessed in your glorious kingdom of light.
Faithful soul, attend carefully and see with what great and noble a price he has ransomed you—he, who out of his own gracious goodness created you in his image and likeness. You were redeemed from Adam’s sin as well as your own many sins, which you willingly and knowingly committed, and this not by anything corruptible like silver or gold, but by the precious blood of the immaculate Lamb, Jesus Christ. He shed his blood on the Cross not only for your cleansing, but also that he might leave that same blood in a chalice for you to drink with deep faith, when you partake of the sacrament of Communion, through which the sins of the world are daily purged and washed away.
How grave will be the punishment of him, who considers the sacrament of the Son of God’s covenant as something unworthy, and does not offer suitable gratitude to the Crucified’s wounds! Strive, therefore, to give thanks to so great a lover and generous a benefactor, at least by offering a short prayer or by making a brief meditation sometime during the day or night. Many faithful souls, aflame with love of him, have gladly shed their blood for him, and many others, sharing in his sufferings by following the hard path of penance, have offered the bitter waters of contrition in exchange for the chalice of his blood.
Learn from their example to crucify your flesh with all its desires and vices, to resist temptation manfully and to bear the yoke of voluntary obedience until death. On the altar of your heart, offer to Christ your Redeemer the sacrifice of a contrite spirit rather than a martyrdom in blood. By serious meditation call to mind the benefits that come from the Cross and in the depths of Jesus’ wounds seek, as in the clefts of a rock, a place of refuge from the face of your enemy and those pursuing you.
Most kind Jesus, come to my aid in all my needs and in every difficult moment. Stretch out your hands over me and with your right arm protect me always. Instill devotion in my heart, put truth on my lips, and grant me strength in my labors. Cleanse me from sin’s corruption and by your precious blood heal my wounds.
Let nothing dark remain within me, nothing impure or what can defile me, but may your sacred blood, that was shed so abundantly, cleanse me of everything harmful and sanctify all that I do. May my spirit and soul, for whose redemption you, my Creator, endured so many cruel sufferings and paid such a price from your inestimable treasury, be presented to you, at the final judgment, pure and undefiled.